Abandoned cinema, Filipino market - and a nuclear shelter: a journey into the secrets of Tel Aviv's central bus station
Tel Aviv's new central bus station, a white elephant and a concrete maze, hides parallel worlds: abandoned floors, a Yiddish museum, a Filipino market, an abandoned cinema, a nuclear shelter, and a bat colony. The article reviews the architectural failure of architect Ram Karmi, the closure plans that are repeatedly postponed, and the severe environmental hazard created by hundreds of buses in the heart of residential neighborhoods.
Tel Aviv's new central bus station, known as the most hated building in Israel, is much more than a concrete maze and an environmental hazard. Beneath the surface lie fascinating parallel worlds: entire abandoned and sealed-off floors, the 'Yung Yiddish' Yiddish museum housing tens of thousands of books, a bustling Filipino market on weekends, an abandoned 1990s cinema with dusty seats and projectors, a massive nuclear shelter capable of housing tens of thousands of people, and a huge colony of fruit bats in the lower floors. Architect and Israel Prize laureate Ram Karmi designed the station as a 'city within a building' inspired by brutalist concepts, but the complex design, lack of natural light, and numerous changes turned it into a navigational nightmare. Despite repeated promises by the Ministry of Transport and Tel Aviv Municipality to evacuate the station and move operations to alternative terminals, closure plans are repeatedly postponed due to legal, budgetary, and logistical difficulties. The article presents the contrast between the grandiose vision of the 1960s and the neglected reality of one of Israel's most complex buildings.