paritzki & liani shapes tel aviv residence around an old eucalyptus tree

a tel Aviv home inspired by Japanese traditions

israeli architecture studio paritzki & liani looked to japanese zen gardens and sacred spaces to design this family dwelling in the neve tzedek neighborhood of tel aviv. called ‘eucalyptus house’, the residential project takes its name from an old tree on the street-facing elevation that shaped the design.

images by amit geron

paritzki & liani considered the existing tree as a ‘himorogi’, a sacred space or altar in japanese that literally translates to ‘divine fence’. with this in mind, the architects inserted a gap in the front elevation to make space for the tree’s roots and branches.

‘like in an enclosed holy place, typical of japanese zen gardens, the ancient eucalyptus creates a ritual area, around which the façade and the whole disposition of the volumes were conceived,’ explain the architects.

the elevational treatment also features perforated metal, allowing a glimpse inside the house. the entrance is marked by a charred timber door made using the traditional ‘yakisugi’ method of preserving wood by burning it. this material is also partially used in the interior.

a gap in the façade provides space for the existing tree

to organize the program, paritzki & liani’s idea was to create a house of four misaligned levels. the architects created two sections, vertically divided into two and three floors; a raumplan, with a difference in height of only half a meter, which keeps the private rooms separated from the social core of the house.

the living room is located between two patios on the ground floor and has a double height of 4 meters. it’s designed as a place of intimacy and domestic sharing and at the same time, it contains the most public area of the house. the internal courtyard placed between the living room and the street contains the old eucalyptus tree and is designed to creates a deepness among the sections and enhance natural ventilation.

a small courtyard visually connects the living room to the tree at the entrance

from the entrance, it is possible to go down to the basement level, where independent apartments for the two sons are located. this area faces a small courtyard visually connected to the upper tree patio.

the volume above the living room contains a small study and the private rooms of the other two sons. these rooms are considered as independent units and are situated on different levels in order to maintain the sons’ privacy. this difference of height continues until the roof/terrace, where the private apartment of the parents can be found together with a roof garden and swimming pool.

view of the living room at night

the internal joints and meeting points of the different volumes are articulated by cuts of light that pass through the two parts of the house. the independent patterns of the paths that weave together inside the house and tie together with the flying branches and the wood trunk of the eucalyptus tree, create a constant visual line between the greenery of the ground floor and the light of the upper floors. this allows the four sons and the parents to develop their own artistic activities independently and privately inside the house.