Pre-war design, post-war sovereignty: four plans for one city in Israel/Palestine

Abstract

Architectural theory, the British Garden City concept, and the precedent of post-war British cities were central to Zionist planning before the establishment of the State of Israel during the 1948 war, and in its immediate aftermath. The national conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel/Palestine was pivotal for the interpretation of British precedents in the work of senior Zionist architects such as Richard Kauffmann, Alexander Klein, and Arieh Sharon. This article examines these sources of inspiration and their various interpretations through a case study of the former Arab, and now predominantly Jewish, city of Beersheba.