Lessin Tower development is situated in the central heart of Tel Aviv within walking distance to the Mediterranean beaches and sea, the new tower belt district, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Hayarkon Park, west, east, south and north respectively. Located in a predominantly residential neighborhood, the tower development also encompasses within its vicinity the light restoration of Beit Lessin, a 3 storey mid-century structure, exemplifying the cultural ideals and architectural aesthetics of the time. Influenced by global and local themes alike, those include the simplicity of volumes, the brut honesty of concrete and stucco, and the rhythmic manipulation of form ingrained with brise soleil sensibilities responding to climatic conditions such as wind and sun. Building on those themes, Lessin Tower contrasts and reinvents its own.
In terms of massing, the new tower volume can be seen as a quartet ensemble of the existing horizontal Beit Lessin mass, turned on its side and lifted upward for pedestrian circulation and greenery within the site.
In terms of materiality and climate sensitivity, the airy and light appearance of the new form contrasts the solid and grounded existing condition nonetheless incorporating shading and brise soleil adaptations. Programmatically, Beit Lessin consists of existing commercial spaces on the upper floors with retail and cafes on the ground level while the 98.3 meters, 27-story Lessin Tower boosts 58 apartments from one to three per floor and a triplex penthouse.
With its didactic reinterpretation of local mid-century modernism and the overall flirtation between performative program, vegetation, materiality, and environmental sensibilities extending to an innovative dematerialization effect, the resulting tower and compound stand as a testimonial mark to the ongoing dialog of architecture today.
