7 Ruppin St. | ODO Architects

7 Ruppin Street

Original Architect: Moshe Mühlbaur and Aharon Mittelman, 1937.

Preservation Architectect: Orna Shatil – Odo Architects, 2008.

Three of the building's Facades are visible, thanks to its unique location. One of the facades faces a public park and the other two face the street. The building refers to the corner in an airy, floating manner. Standing on pilotis, the ground floor is freed for gardening. The ribbon windows stretching along the façade are prominent element accentuating horizontality. The balcony parapets seem to hang in the air and their free-flowing, continuous lines wrap around the building's corner. Protruding balconies on either side of the building also contribute to the sense of lightness and floating, as well as to the horizontal emphasis.

                The building extension continues these design characteristics by horizontal, uniform and continuous ribbon windows that extend along the long façade facing the park (which used to be a service façade). The added floor is built in direct continuous of the preexisting building, an integral part of it and identical in every way. It concludes in a horizontal decorative beam, which likewise accentuates the building's design.