A Small and Stylish Contemporary Home in Tel Aviv, Israel

Jaffa Garden Apartment is a stylish contemporary home located in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel. It was designed by Itai Palti, with a simple and chic interior and a mish-mash of small rooms and corridors.

by Ciprian Aug 11, 2020 15 Images

Jaffa Garden Apartment by Itai Palti

The space we began with was a mish-mash of small rooms and corridors – the result of years of informal additions and alterations to the building. In essence, the Jaffa apartment was originally created by joining two neighbouring rooms separated by a narrow passage. Our first priority was to check and strengthen the structure and from there reorganise the spaces.

The arrangement of spaces echoes the building’s history, two ‘houses’ face an open living area. The floor throughout the ground level continues into the garden, blurring the line between inside and out. One ‘house’ holds the sleeping quarters (bathroom, toilet, bedroom), the other a kitchen. Wood is the marker of privacy, framing the day-to-day activities of living: sleeping, eating, washing.

Since the interior of the apartment wasn’t tall enough for a stacking of two rooms, the bedroom and washrooms are composed in such a way to allow a full-height space for each.

Photos by: Itai Palti & Gidon Levin