Givatayim Theater is a theater and center for the arts in

Givatayim Givatayim ( he, גִּבְעָתַיִים, lit. "two hills") is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. In it had a population o ...

, Israel.

History

In 1996, the

deconstructivist Deconstructivism is a movement of postmodern architecture which appeared in the 1980s. It gives the impression of the fragmentation of the constructed building, commonly characterised by an absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry. ...

building designed by architects Bracha Chayutin and Michael Chayutin won the Israeli

Rechter Prize The Rechter Prize is an Israeli architecture prize awarded bi-annually and intended to "encourage landmark projects of Israeli architecture". It was established in 1962 and name in honour of Ze'ev Rechter. References Israeli awards Architectu ...

for architecture. The building was built by Givatayim Municipality via target corporation, the Municipal Economic Company. At first it was called ''Communal Culture Center'', as it was to be its purpose, then ''Beit Esslingen'' after the rooms on the top floor served as a

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

for a youth delegation from Esslingen, Germany, who had contributed to the construction of the building by donating money. On 23 July 1998, the building was officially renamed ''Givatayim Theater''. At the beginning of 2014, David Kigler was appointed substitute director of the theater, after the theater had fallen into debt of 1.5 million

shekels Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...

. Public and political criticism arose due to the fact that Kigler held the seventh place under the mayor Ran Konik's political party "Our Givatayim". The theater has a large central hall, a smaller space named for Arbelli Almozalino (which also displays dolls from her collection) and a theater club. The theater also has a cafe, a guesthouse and a sculpture garden. A storytellers festival takes place there on an annual basis.

References

External links

* {{coord, 32, 4, 2.03, N, 34, 48, 14.82, E, display=title Buildings and structures in Tel Aviv District Givatayim Theatres completed in 1998 Theatres in Givatayim Tourist attractions in Tel Aviv District