Ilan Pivko
Israeli Architectural Diva Introduces Designer Homes to the Masses
Ilan Pivko has climbed down from his ivory tower by offering affordable off-the shelf homes
TEL AVIV - By day Ilan Pivko runs a prestigious architecture office in Jaffa and lives in the impressive Jaffa Sea Shell building he designed himself. At night, bejeweled and with bleached hair, he dons his skimpy tank tops and fashionably torn shirts and sets off on his rounds of Tel Aviv's nightclubs and gay bars.
This architectural diva, whose resume includes the Freudian building on the Ayalon freeway and the decadent Vox nightclub in Tel Aviv, is now in the throws of adapting his marketing image to the clientele of build-it-yourself neighborhoods.
Pivko debated over the name of his new line of houses: Pivko Collection, Pivko Studio, Pivko House or Pivko Concept. His extravagant nature helped him decide. He opted for Pivko Studio.
About a year ago, Pivko's name appeared on the list of the 10 most influential architects in Israel. He was labeled the yuppie architect, who had the most influence on the design of the typical Israeli villa during the 1980s and ’90s.
Pivko started out by building private homes in Kfar Shemaryahu, an affluent neighborhood north of Tel Aviv.
He called his designs "neo-localism" or "larger than life" designs. Pivko was the first to introduce style and design elements that turned into de rigueur of Israeli architecture.
It was Pivko who introduced the light rattan furniture manufactured in his own Gazebo company. He was the first to incorporate wrought iron doors and window frames on the homes of private residences, it was he who made colored plaster and Jerusalem stone flooring de rigueur in high-class living.
By the end of the 80's, when the Israeli dream of a house and garden was officially endorsed, the government began subsidizing land by issuing bids for build-it-yourself housing projects.
The middle-class realized its dream of a house and garden with the most ridiculous design fantasies. Pivko was there to foresee and cater to this new-born culture.
After an interview on the Channel 10 talk show "London and Kirschenbaum" last year, Israeli journalist Benni Tziper labeled Pivko the "new hedonist representative," charging that he catered to the Israeli "industry of illusions" that followed the trendy pursuit of purchasing outrageously expensive high-rises overlooking the Dan area.
Tziper charged that those living in the Garden Tower overlooking the Ayalon freeway had lost touch with reality. He called them "the Rasputins of our time who buy the sewers of the Ayalon as the Hudson River and the sparse cluster of eucalyptus trees as Central Park."
The so-called “hedonist representative” was not taken aback by the attack.
"I love that tower," Pivko said. "I would move in tomorrow morning if I could afford it. From high above, the tower overlooks the Ayalon River and affords a 360-degree panoramic view. There's the Ramat Gan skyline, and the Ayalon freeway with a river of red and orange lights below. It looks like Manhattan."
He said each floor comprises a single apartment, like a detached home hovering in the skies.
“I think Israel should seriously consider high-rise buildings, because it is one of the three most crowded countries in the world and our land resources are scarce," he said.
The recent recession and the Intifada, however, have given Pivko a different type of buzz, which almost left him penniless.
The architectural diva commissioned to design the homes of the upper percentile found himself in dire economic straights.
His partnership with Yehoshua Kastiel, the joint owner of the Sea Shell project in Jaffa, broke up with a loud media bang and was accompanied by a string of lawsuits. Pivko lost the lion's share of the project.
The slump in real estate value took a further toll on Pivko's business.
"'Nobody came through the door of my office for two years," he said.
To top off the bad times, Pivko's home was broken into, he and his wife were tied and gagged and all their valuables stolen. But Pivko has remained in Jaffa, where he has lived for the past 20 years. His wife, on the other hand, left and has spent the last three years in Osho's Ashram in Pune, India.
Pivko is currently designing a residential building there where he has allocated himself an apartment. The house he is living in today has been put up for sale.
"I could never afford to live in the houses I design. I know how to increase the value of my own home, so I put them up for sale and build myself a new one," he said.
Pivko said architecture is a satisfying profession but he could never become rich from it.
"I am not in the same league as my multi-millionaire clientele," he said.
Perhaps that's why Pivko is currently launching his "popular league" project, which aims to bring the designer villa to the masses.
"What triggered the project was the widespread imitation of my designs. I decided to give buyers original Pivko designs at affordable prices," he said.
Pivko's projects undermine the common assumption that each house requires a separate design. Customers with a plot of land can choose from a range of designs to suit their needs, each incorporating the unique Pivko touch and construction standards.
The starting price for this off-the-shelf product begins at $170,000 including.
Pivko is confident that this trend will catch on.
"In five years from now this is how houses will be marketed. I am just the harbinger of a future trend," he said.
Piko said hardly anything is made to order nowadays, but there is still a broad range to choose from. Top fashion designs were once only available to the rich.
"Today you can buy an Armani in any size and design. The fact that architecture doesn't work that way shows how conservative and stagnant the industry is," he said.
