Israel's Tel Aviv port wins prestigious architecture award

An Israeli husband-and-wife team won first prize this autumn at the European Biennial of Landscape Architecture in Barcelona for their design of Tel Aviv port.

For the first time, a project from Israel has won the European Biennial of Landscape Architecture, the world's most prestigious European award for landscape architecture.

More than 420 entrants competed for the prize, but Israeli architects Ganit Mayslits Kassif and Udi Kassif of Mayslits Kassif Architects were the ones who won first prize for their work that transformed Tel Aviv's once-derelict port into a thriving and popular destination for locals and tourists alike.

With a budget of $5 million, the husband-and-wife team took five years to develop the port project, which was completed in 2008.

In addition to busy shops, clubs and restaurants that are open for business day and night, the port also attracts fisherman, cyclists, joggers and people of all ages. Everyone enjoys the long wooden boardwalk that runs alongside the sea, from the north of Tel Aviv to the popular beaches of Tel Baruch and beyond.