Naama Barak
July 22, 2019, Updated July 20, 2022

The battle against climate change is all around us – in theaters, newspapers, the corner recycling bin. It’s even made its way to a place usually reserved for more traditional forms of art: the museum.

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is opening an exhibition dedicated to climate change that addresses cities as tools for instigating change, showing how activist developments and innovations in architecture and design can all aid in the environmental battle.

The Oasia Hotel Downtown in Singapore is a tropical ‘living’ tower. Photo by K. Kopter/WOHA

Called “Solar Guerrilla: Constructive Responses to Climate Change,” the exhibition is organized into six thematic sections.

The Sense domestic energy monitor developed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo by Sense

Each presents a professional approach (social, political, environmental or technological) that promotes a different relationship with our planet. An accompanying book details all the projects showcased in the exhibition.

Bedzed, Britain’s first largescale, mixed-use sustainable community. Photo by Tom Chance/BedZED Bioregional

On display are various projects from Israel and around the world that combat climate change in new and innovative ways. Israeli projects include, for example, the Check Point building in Tel Aviv. The building, which houses one of Israel’s leading software giants, is covered in “green walls” that provide organic, sustainable shading.

Another Israeli project on display is Vertical Field, which develops “vertical agriculture” for indoor and outdoor spaces that allows for cultivating produce even where land resources are sparse.

An Israeli Vertical Field solution displayed at the 2015 Milan Expo. Photo: courtesy

International projects in the exhibit include the Warka Tower in Italy, designed to collect water from the atmosphere’s rain and even fog and dew; an environment-friendly personal rapid transit system in the United Arab Emirates; and the Dutch Smog-Free Tower that produces clean air for the public to enjoy in open spaces.

The Warka water collection tower in Italy. Photo: courtesy
Personal Rapid Transport system in Masdar City, United Arab Emirates. Photo by 2GETTHERE

“Extreme climate events, which are growing increasingly frequent, are among the most urgent concerns currently faced by our world,” says Tania Coen-Uzzielli, the museum’s director. “Given the limited amount of time remaining to instigate significant change, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art has sought to contribute to the public discourse on this subject through an exhibition and book.”

The Dutch Smog-Free Tower. Photo by Studio Roosegaarde

“The Solar Guerrilla: Constructive Responses to Climate Change” is at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art from July 18 to December 15. For more information, click here.

More on Earth

More on Spotlight on Israel