Abandoned Tel Aviv: Photographs From An Urban Explorer

Empty doorways, shadows, lit stairwells and broken windowsills – this is what makes a run-down, decrepit site so full of beauty and mystery. Walking through corridors where there once was life fuels an urban explorer with imagination and excitement. This photo series aims to reflect on the many hidden stories and personalities encompassed in Tel Aviv, with all its eclecticism that leaves the passerby wanting more.
Tel Aviv is full of abandoned buildings and derelict construction sites. Many of these highlight the dominant architecture of the city, made up of different schools of design, from Brutalist to Bauhaus and the International Style.

One of the main streets in Tel Aviv, the lively Allenby Street is contrastingly dotted with many derelict buildings, making it one of the most eccentric parts of the city. Found in abandonment, each building makes you wonder who used to live there, what was their story? For some, it makes the street feel less appealing. But if you walk down the street and simply look up, you’ll notice an entirely different and parallel story of the city.

The history of Tel Aviv and Jaffa is what creates such a unique and magnificent energy to the place. Tel Aviv’s largest neighborhood, Jaffa, grew and was established as an urban center since in the early 18th century. The first Jews to settle outside of Jaffa – in what is known today as ‘modern’ Tel Aviv – were the Jews that hailed from Yemen. These first homes were built in the late 1800s and became the cultural, culinary and historically rich neighborhood of today, the Kerem HaTeimanim or “Vineyard of the Yemenites” in English.

Just nearby, Nachalat Binyamin, near the Carmel Market, also has many abandoned buildings. One that stands out is in this area. It is so beautiful that it can even be frightening. The building seems like something out of a movie but is home to many squatters and the homeless.

Among the array of beautiful abandoned places are homes that are barred up. From afar, you can see on the 5th floor the graffiti-covered walls. These mysteries leave the passersby curious as to what was. What makes the abandoned buildings of Tel Aviv so beautiful is how nature and life continue to grow around it, dissolving the nostalgia for the past.

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