Rachel Neiman
August 2, 2015, Updated January 3, 2016

Graphic designer Avner Gicelter  is a Tel Aviv resident with a great love for the city’s historic buildings. Inspired by designer José Guízar’s ode to Big Apple architecture, “Windows of New York”, Gicelter launched his own “Big Orange” project, TLV Buildings,  a series of illustrations of Tel Aviv’s most beautiful structures.

In his artist’s statement, Gicelter writes, “During my childhood and adult life, I was always surrounded and fascinated by the local architecture style.”

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“In Tel Aviv’s central area (where you can find most of my illustrated buildings) there are two major architecture styles: the Eclectic style which was active during the 1920s and 30s, and the International style which was the major architecture movement during the 1930-50s and led UNESCO to name Tel Aviv as a World Heritage Site for its International style architecture in 2003.”

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“I think that the difference between these two styles creates an unique and very interesting dialogue throughout the street of the city. In my opinion this dialogue is the best way to describe Tel Aviv’s architecture.”

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“This curiosity became an obsession when my partner and I were looking for an apartment to live in. At some point I got more interested in the outer facade of the buildings rather in the apartment we were looking for. When I saw the blog Windows of New York I got inspired by the simplistic way the designer, José Guízar, decided to show his favorite windows, and wanted to use this simple yet very honorable way of design to show my love for my hometown and its most beautiful buildings.”

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“The design process was composed of a few steps. At first I went to a few of the city’s old areas and started taking photos of buildings I found interesting. … After choosing the buildings and shooting them, I illustrated the buildings with the pictures as reference. Like some designers, I prefer a more minimalistic design, and each building had its own very interesting and unique features.

Gicelter also took into consideration the graphic element of typography and background colors representative of Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s Mediterranean feel.

“My aim was to capture these unique features in my illustrations, using the minimal set of graphic elements. The last, more technical step, was to create a color palette and to choose a typeface that will reflect what I refer to as a ‘Tel Aviv’-ian atmosphere.”

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“I want to share my love for Tel Aviv and its unique and stunning architectural styles,” states Gicelter, adding, “TLV Buildings is a dedicated to my love and obsession to my cities beautiful houses and architecture.”

For more about Avner Gicelter’s TLV Buildings, visit his website and his Facebook page.

Framed original handmade architectural illustration prints are on sale at Etsy.com.

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