HaBima Complex, Tel Aviv

As is appropriate for a place which contains such well-established cultural institutions, HaBima (The Stage) Complex (or in its additional name: "Tel Aviv's Cultural Complex”), is considered to be one of Tel Aviv’s most important centers. This complex, into which flow main streets and from which begins Rothschild Boulevard, started its way in the mid 1930s. With time, it became the home of HaBima Theater, Heichal HaTarbut ("The Culture Hall”), the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art and the hidden and intimate Yaakov Garden. The structure which houses HaBima, Israel’s National Theater, has opened in the 1940s and has recently been through some massive renovation works, which turned it into one of the more architecturally intriguing structures in Tel Aviv. Heichal HaTarbut ("The Culture Hall”), which serves mainly for concerts and large scale performances, is the home of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. The Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art is a small charming branch of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In 2007, with the beginning of the renovation works of HaBima Theater, it was also decided to renovate the square next to it. The job of turning this square into a vibrant urbane center was given to the sculptor Dani Karavan, who created a space which corresponds with Tel Aviv’s past as a coastal city and the "White City”. This project is being completed in stages and is supposed to be done in 2011.