Designing in Israel/ Michal Cederbaum

D-Vision/ Photography by Yanai Toister

This presentation is Michal Cederbaum’s private research on Israeli design, which attempts to demonstrate a narrative that emerges between Israeli culture and contemporary experimental design. What defines Isreali design is an ongoing discussion, and this project provides a lens through which to observe this discourse.

“Israeli urbanity can be seen as a unique phenomena. Among its most unique characteristics are the disparate factors that change a city’s environment. Building booms cause a city to become a permanent construction site for a multitude of improvised spaces that are planned and built in an amateur and unsupervised manner. Bursts of creativity allow people to reclaim their rights within the urban space and utilize it as a stage for self expression. The blurry distinction between the definitions of private and public space reflects the Israeli mentality of occupying spaces and territories. All of these elements are even more compounded by the inherently low standards of maintenance. In the Israeli urban set of priorities, order and uniformity are not as important. While walking the streets of Israeli cities, it is unavoidable to notice how this frame of mind has impacted the overall aesthetics, or lack thereof.

This is the visual environment in which design is evolving in and reflecting upon, it is also the main breeding ground for Israeli design. The following examples show how this logic of disorderly aesthetics finds its way into design practices.

All the following examples are of products by local designers. The comparisons between the urban landscape and the products do not suggest a link of inspiration, but rather, point out the similarities of the Israeli attitude of dealing with forms and materials and its presence articulated through designed objects.

Israeli design isn’t easy to define. However, the influx of Israeli designers, as well as the growing demand within the contemporary international design world for Israeli design, displays a heighten interest and momentum that has never been seen before.”

-Michal Sara Cederbaum