Dizengoff Center ( he, דיזנגוף סנטר) is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

at the intersection of

Dizengoff Street Dizengoff Street ( he, רחוב דיזנגוף, ''Rehov Dizengoff'') is a major street in central Tel Aviv, named after Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. The street runs from the corner of Ibn Gabirol Street in its southernmost point to the ...

and King George Street in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The mall is named for

Meir Dizengoff Meir Dizengoff ( he, מֵאִיר דִּיזֶנְגּוֹף, russian: Меер Янкелевич Дизенгоф ''Meer Yankelevich Dizengof'', 25 February 1861 – 23 September 1936) was a Zionist leader and politician and the founder and fi ...

, the first mayor of Tel Aviv.

History

Dizengoff Center, designed by Israeli architect Yitzhak Yashar, was Israel's first mall. The center was built on the site of the Nordiya neighborhood. Construction began in 1972, and the first store opened five years later in 1977. The rest of the mall was finished in 1983. On March 4, 1996, during the Jewish holiday of

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

, the Dizengoff Center suicide bombing outside Dizengoff Center killed 13 people, many of them youngsters in costume. On July 13, 2022, the first Lego store in Israel opened in Dizengoff Center.

Overview

The mall has around 420 stores, one movie theater (Lev Dizengoff, with 6 screens), restaurants, an internet cafe, a design center holding exhibitions from around the world (Soho), specialty stores (comic books, video games, gadgets, stamp-collecting, posters), a rooftop swimming pool and two gyms. The mall is divided into two parts and straddles both sides of

with the two parts linked by

skywalk A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...

s and underground passages. The underground parts of Dizengoff Center include a

bomb shelter A bomb shelter is a structure designed to provide protection against the effects of a bomb. Types of shelter Different kinds of bomb shelters are configured to protect against different kinds of attack and strengths of hostile explosives. Air ...

fully equipped with toilets and showers using underground aquifer waters, and rooms for families. The mall also hosts weekly events. Every Friday (except for Jewish holidays) the mall hosts the "Food Fair", Israel's largest food festival, with foods from a large variety of cuisines.Tourist tip #238 / Dizengoff Center food fair
- Haaretz On Thursdays and Fridays it hosts a designers boutique, which includes fashion and jewelry from 40 designers. Also on Thursdays and Fridays, it hosts an " alternative therapies fair." The mall is visited by about 40,000 people on weekdays, around 45,000 people on Fridays, and about 80,000 during the holidays.

Towers

Two towers were built upon the mall – a residential tower above the northern part of the mall commonly referred to as the "Dizengoff Tower," and an office tower above the south-western part of the mall commonly referred to as "Top Tower". The mall also has a big underground parking lot. Dizengoff Tower was commissioned by developer Abraham Pilz and Azorim, and designed by the architect Mordechai Ben Horin. The building was inspired by the shape of a rose. It has 21 floors and stands tall. The architect wanted to maximize the perimeter of the building and allow each apartment to have a view in two directions, hence the zig-zag shape. The original design called for 320 small apartments of approximately , but many were combined, for an eventual total of 226. The floor area is . An expansion to the base of the tower was approved in the 2010s, but the plan was rejected following an appeal.

Gallery

File:Dizengoff Center.jpg, Dizengoff Center northern façade File:Dizengoff Center suicide bombing, 1996 I Dan Hadani Archive.jpg, Dizengoff Center after a Suicide Bombing in the area, 1996 File:Dizengof Center Tel Aviv.jpg, Dizengoff Center - outside eastern view File:Tel aviv22dc.jpg, Aerial view of the mall and surrounding area File:Disngof-T.jpg, The Dizengoff Tower File:Underground Dizengoff Center.jpg, Dizengoff Center's underground bomb shelters File:Inside Dizengoff Center1.JPG, Inside view of Dizengoff Center

References

External links