The Zina Dizengoff Square
The Zina Dizengoff Square, named after the wife of Tel Aviv’s first Mayor Meir Dizengoff, has been one of Tel Aviv’s focal points since 1934. The square was designed by the architect Genia Awerbuch, and the buildings that surrounded it were built in the same architectural style.
In the 1970s, it was redesigned as a bi level structure, in order to provide a solution to traffic issues. At the center of the plaza suspended above the roadway is a huge sculpture fountain designed by Yaacov Agam. The “Dizengoff Square Fountain,” otherwise known as the “Fire and Water Fountain,” was dedicated by Agam in 1986. It took ten years to construct and is considered to be one of Agam’s most famous kinetic sculptures. It has become one of the city’s most iconic symbols. The famous fountain was recently renovated and the result is spectacular.
The fountain is made up of an illusory dimension, as well as a moving dimension, and is built with several large saw-like wheels and colorful geometric shapes that can be viewed as different images from each angle of the fountain. Five large concentric metal rings are painted so that when the rings turn, the painted surfaces produce differing effects of light and color. At the same time, jets of water shoot upward from the rings, and at the top of the sculpture, in the midst of the shooting water, a jet of flame rises. Music accompanies the whole display in a show that lasts for 20 minutes. Agam's computerized sculpture begins to play at the beginning of each hour starting at 11am and continuing until 10pm.
Dizengoff Square is inhabited by many pigeon feeders during the day, teenagers in the evening and everyone else in between. It offers a great lookout point over Dizengoff Street, one of the most dynamic and vibrant streets in Tel Aviv. On Friday mornings and Tuesday afternoons a charming small second hand and bargains market opens here, where one can find nostalgic surprises, from jewelry to posters, watches and books.