Louis
Sullivan famously wrote: “form follows function” and that was originally true
of Łodzia House in Tel Aviv. It looks like an Old World factory plopped down in
the outskirts of the city, because that is exactly what it was. Tamar Tal Anati
chronicles its history and cultural significance in the short documentary, The Red House (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival.
The
building at 43 Nahmani Street was originally constructed as a hosiery factory
in 1924 by a recently immigrated Zionist. Alas, stockings were not in such high
demand during the pre-founding days of Israel. Eventually, they sold out and
the business relocated, leaving the building vacant, until it was repurposed as
a synagogue. Apparently, it was not a particularly comfortable synagogue, but
the unruly neighborhood kids enjoyed playing on its tenement-style external staircases.
The
buildings glory days logically came in the 1980s, back when everything was
great. A handful of artists turned it into Tel Aviv’s first New York-style loft-scene
gallery-complex, which immediately captured the attention of Israel’s media and
glitterati, much to their surprise. The building’s last hurrah as an arts space
before its long-overdue restoration came when the Batsheva Ensemble filmed
their dance short Home Alone in its
concrete halls. Just under two minutes, Home
Alone showcases some inventive editing, as well as the company’s impressive
dancers, so it really ought to screen along with Red House (you can find it here instead).
Tal
Anati primarily uses Łodzia House as a way to measure the evolution of Tel Aviv
and Israeli culture in general, sort of like the rings of a tree, but it also
invites viewers to examine how we relate to space. The building was a not
particularly reverent reflection of the industrial architecture of 1920s
Eastern Europe, but it was perfectly suited to its 1980s function. Clearly, the
Batsheva Ensemble’s video would have had a drastically different character and ambiance
if it had been made anyplace else.
Thanks
to Tal Anati and her interview subjects, we develop a rather thorough appreciation
for the building, in an economical twenty minutes. Recommended for viewers
interested in architecture and Israeli culture, The Red House screens with Praise
the Lard this Thursday (1/11) and Sunday (1/14) at the Walter Reade, as
part of this year’s NYJFF.
