Joseph Barsky

Born in Rzhyshchiv, near Kiev (today in Ukraine), Joseph Barsky attended the Odessa School of Art. He moved to St. Petersburg to continue his studies at the Imperial Academy of Art while also apprenticing with local architects. Barsky left in 1906 for Palestine, where he designed Jerusalem’s Bikur Ḥolim Hospital (1907). His design of the Herzliya Gymnasium was adopted from Charles Chipiez’s and Georges Perrot’s understanding of Palestinian antiquarian and vernacular architecture, combined with elements conceived as expressing “Oriental” and “Hebraic” spirit or tradition. Barsky also designed Tel Aviv’s first kiosk café on the city’s Rothschild Boulevard (1910).