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Ink Hotel, Tel Aviv. An evolution in the sign of literature

Once you have passed the patio, one enters a large room in which what looks like a typewriter keyboard towers in the background. References to literature are scattered everywhere

IL Library. Peretz

Ceci n’est pas un livre – to adopt Magritte’s critical attitude toward representations one could be misled. In this case a correspondence between reality and the thing represented is recognizable. The architect’s pursued purpose has always been: bring back what has been in Brenner St 14, Tel Aviv-Yafo since the 1950s, namely the IL Library. Peretz.

Ink Hotel – the original building was built in the 1950s in memory of Poalei Zion members

The original building was built in the 1950s in memory of Poalei Zion members. It was done by activist state leaders and public figures of the time. The Poale Zion was a Marxist and Zionist movement that brought together Jewish workers’ circles founded in several cities of the Russian Empire after the rejection of Zionism by the General Union of Jewish Workers in 1901. The parties and organisations that make up the Poale Zion were born within the Jewish diaspora in the early 1900s. One of its branches saw the light of day in New York in 1903, other branches were established in London and then followed in the rest of the world.

The key principles of Poale Zion’s early ideology were the acceptance of the Marxist view of history and the role of nationalism. Ber Borochov – writer, linguist and researcher in the fields of Yiddish and the history of the Jewish people – believed could not be ignored as a factor in historical development. According to Poale Zion, a Jewish proletariat would settle in the land of Israel and then take part in the class struggle. These guidelines were laid down in Ber Borochov’s Our Platform, published in 1906.

Ink Hotel – The library functioned primarily for lending Yiddish books, but also Jewish and Polish books

The library and store where the anchor point of Yiddish literature and the cultivation of Yiddish culture for decades. They were recognized worldwide as the searching place for books in Yiddish, and had maintained professional relations with many universities around the world regarding the Yiddish culture. They also published a Hebrew-Yiddish dictionary as well as language learning courses.

Yiddish – which directly translates to Jewish, is the language of Ashkenazi Jews — the vernacular of Jewish communities in central and eastern European countries. In the 1940s, it is estimated that around 11 million people spoke Yiddish, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics. The Holocaust destroyed most of the world’s Yiddish population. The number of native Yiddish speakers has continued to decrease as we move further away from the pre-Holocaust world. Today, it is estimated that there are under 1 million total Yiddish speakers in the world. 

With the decline of Yiddish readers around the world, the library association had to close its gates. The building was sold and its use alternated between an office building and a cultural music performances center.

Ink Hotel, born from a library 

The building’s use alternated between an office building and a cultural center for musical performances. With the demolition of the old building and the design of the new hotel (opened in  2021), it was clear that the historical cultural values of the existing structure had to be used in the new facility. The goal was to preserve the spirit and symbolism of the cultural place and embody it in the hotel. The inspiration from the library theme comes alive in the design of the new structure, with its shape resembling a stack of books. The books are as if stacked on top of each other and their pages are simulated on the building like curtains. As Israeli Jewish architect Yoav Messer designed the facade to resemble a stack of heavy books stacked at a person’s bedside: the metonymy is perfected, the memory preserved.

About the architect: Yoav Messer

Yoav Messer was born in Israel, and was raised in Ramat HaSharon and Tel Aviv. He graduated from Tel Aviv’s Tichon Hadash high school. Messer served in the IDF’s special forces. After thirty years of reserve service was honorably discharged at the rank of lieutenant colonel. He studied architectural and city planning at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. Messer graduated with honors. He has taught arts at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem as well as at The College of Management Academic Studies, HaMichlala LeMinhal, in Tel Aviv. The city of Tel Aviv remains at the center of Yoav’s professional and personal life, where he lives with his wife and three children. Messer also designed an eleven million euro unhoused shelter in Tel Aviv, assisting one thousand unhoused people in the city. Some other projects by Messer are The Norman and Fabric Hotel.

Studio Yaron Tal – interiors of Ink Hotel

Studio Yaron Tal – along with his team of young architects and designers – created the interior design. Inside a succession of chapters (six floors) and paragraphs (fifty two rooms) a central role was given. The lobby, which contains a collection of vintage ink bottles – once you have passed the patio and the entry doors, one enters a large room in which what looks like a typewriter keyboard towers in the background. 

References to literature are scattered everywhere. A lounge on the right after the entrance invites one to read the books and magazines arranged on the shelves. The background music also contributes to this relaxed atmosphere. Along the corridors of the various floors, the restoration project of the building is recounted in a succession of paintings containing sketches of the progress of its realization. 

The Ambience of Ink Hotel

The Ink Hotel uses the green technologies in its construction and design. This reduces its carbon footprint while increasing efficiency and eliminating waste. Smart insulation is used to optimize temperatures. Natural light reduces electricity consumption – inside and outside, almost seamlessly. The windows, both on the ground floor and in the rooms on the upper floors, allow an invasion of light.

The hotel has partnered with suppliers around the world to install eco-friendly fixtures and faucets to save electricity and water. Materials such as concrete, paints, and high-gloss finishes were chosen based on their promise of being free of radiation and chemical odors to help preserve the health of guests and staff. Cleaning products are Green Line Global. Safe to produce, use and safe to dispose of, with no effect on humans, animals, aquatic life or earth.

Sun Young Restaurant & Bar

Sun Young Restaurant & Bar has 120 seats on the lobby level. The restaurant proposes an Asian fusion cuisine. It combines cooking techniques and raw materials from the Far East, with a touch and inspiration from the Mediterranean cuisine. Asian classics with a modern twist, sushi, a wine menu offering wines from around the world and a cocktail menu. It is open to hotel guests, tourists and locals – the advice is to make a reservation.

Ink Hotel

Ink Hotel was chosen as one of the leading hotels for business travellers in the Middle East by CNBC.

Brenner St 14, Tel Aviv-Yafo, 6382635, Israel

Matteo Mammoli

The writer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article.

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