Tel Aviv City Hall Roof

The breathtaking view from the roof of the Tel Aviv City Hall is one of my favorite vantage points. The impressive sight of the urban skyline, stretching from the modern towers of the business center to the low houses of the White City, the Sea, and the stunning Sunset, provides a breathtaking visual experience that cannot be forgotten. Therefore, I have photographed and created this panorama several times and will surely return again.

The significance of this panorama to me is expressed in several meaningful ways. Firstly, I chose to place it on the cover of the first edition of my book (in the second edition, I replaced it with a panorama of Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem).

I have exhibited this panorama in several exhibitions, one of the most significant being at Gan Ha’Ir, with a width of 3.50 meters. The fact that Gan Ha’Ir itself appears in the panorama creates an interesting circular effect – viewers can see the place where they stand from a different perspective, adding depth and additional meaning to the creation.

Moreover, I sometimes take a reduced version of the panorama, with a width of only 2.70 meters, to networking meetings. It serves as a starting point for conversations and discussions about art, architecture, and urban planning. I even appeared with it on television!

Shonra and Shlula enjoy the panoramas

In addition to all this, I recreated the panorama and pasted it on the wall in my living room as a central picture, alongside the panorama of the bridge in the Sergeants’ Grove. It is not just a decorative element but an integral part of the daily experience for me and my visitors.

The photography method of the panorama from the Tel Aviv City Hall roof was a unique and fascinating challenge, different from the technique I usually employ. While in most cases, I stand in one place and rotate 360 degrees, here a completely different approach was required, adapting to the unique architecture of the building.

The Tel Aviv City Hall building, designed by architect Menachem Cohen and inaugurated in 1964, is characterized by its unique rectangular shape. On the roof is a surrounding balcony that was renovated in 2012. As a result, to capture the full extent of the urban landscape, I must move along the building’s perimeter and photograph from different points along its boundaries.

This method creates unique challenges in the editing and stitching phase of the images. Unlike a regular panorama, where the central point remains fixed, here each image is taken from a completely different angle. This requires more precise and complex work to create a smooth and uniform sequence that faithfully reflects the reality seen from the roof. Especially when photographing the closer areas, like Ibn Gvirol Street, which is straight but here appears almost perpendicular with a slight diagonal along Rabin Square, horizontal under the building opposite the City Hall, and diagonally left towards the Century Tower.

At each point along the building’s perimeter, a slightly different urban view is revealed. Thus, the panorama is richer and more diverse, reflecting the complexity and diversity of the Tel Aviv urban landscape.