Under Israeli Rule
(1948 - Present)
by Yishai Eldar
Following are descriptions of the architectural style of building in Jerusalem since 1948 as well as some of the more outstanding
buildings designed and built in Jerusalem over this time period.
- Introcution
- Hebrew University
- Yad Vashem
- Hebrew Union College
- Israel Museum
- Knesset
- Center for Performing Arts
- Center for Middle Eastern Studies
- Supreme Court
- Jerusalem Municipality
- Belz World Center
- Preservation, Restoration & Renovation
- Landscape Architecture
- New Neighborhoods
- High Rise vs Urban Sprawl
- Looking Ahead
Introduction
Contemporary architecture in Jerusalem is essentially Post-Modern, with lingering influences of
the International Style (Bauhaus)
and Functionalism. This trend was a late-20th Century reaction
to Modernism, which itself was a post-World War One reaction
against established forms and designs.
The International Style of architecture (flat roof;
unornamented, sheer façade) developed at the Bauhaus School of
Design, appeared in Jerusalem in the 1930s, and came to dominate architectural
design for the next half century, partly because of its simplicity and
low-cost. But it was tempered by the 1920 municipal ordinance requiring
all buildings in the city to be faced in stone - including public lavatories
and gas stations - and, because of climatic considerations, the architectural
purity was further compromised by the addition of pitched roofs covered
with the ubiquitous red Marseilles tiles.
The most severe examples of Functionalism in Jerusalem
are the public housing projects constructed in the 1950s. So urgent
was the need for housing the masses of new immigrants, that the requirement
for stone-facing was waived for some projects and stucco façades
can still be seen in the Gonen, Kiryat Moshe and Kiryat Yovel neighborhoods.
Constructivism, an extreme form of Functionalism,
leaves exposed parts of the skeletal framework and infrastructure
(piping, air-ducts) exposed. A suggestion of this style can
be seen in the main building of the New Jerusalem City Hall
complex where the structural steel lintel beams over the
large window areas have been left unconcealed. Similar elements
were used in a recently completed apartment building in Rabbi
Akiva Street in downtown Jerusalem.
High-Tech architecture is riotously functional and
brightly colored. It is also a case of "the inside being on the
outside" so as to provide large, unobstructed areas. An example
is the Teddy Stadium in the Manhat neighborhood. The facility is Jerusalem's
premier league soccer stadium. When first opened in 1989, the stadium
seated 12,000 spectators; after recent renovations, including raising
the level of the playing field, the stadium now seats 21,000, with plans
for an eventual seating capacity of 26,000.
Post-Modern architecture developed as a reaction against
the severity and monotony of the International Style. In Jerusalem,
the Post-Modern trend has somewhat resolved the 100-year conflict between
continuity and modernity, incorporating, as it does, any number of historical
styles and classical elements (arches, columns, domes, etc.). Examples
are the David Citadel Hotel (Moshe Safdie, 1998), the Jerusalem Shopping
Mall and the nearby Technology Park. Designed by South African architect
Harry Brand, the Technology Park complex comprises seven buildings housing
high-tech companies and also the Open University's computer sciences
unit.
The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem
Opened in 1925, the Hebrew University Mount
Scopus campus was inaccessible from 1949 to 1967, when the
city was divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule and Mount
Scopus was an isolated, demilitarized zone. For the first
few years, classes were held in various locations in western
Jerusalem; then a new campus was built at Givat Ram, which
opened in 1958. Most of the buildings there are nondescript
functional. An exception is the National and Hebrew University
Library, which houses more than three million volumes, many
of them rare books and manuscripts. The outstanding feature
of the Library is not its architecture, but the monumental
stained-glass window designed by Mordechai Ardon, which covers
the entire east wall of the mezzanine lobby to the General
Reading Room. Based on the opening verses of Genesis, the
abstract design includes symbols from Jewish mysticism and
modern physics.
Similarly, a series of stained-glass synagogue
windows by Marc
Chagall depicting the 12 tribes of Israel are the outstanding
artistic feature of the Hadassah-Hebrew
University Hospital at Ein Kerem. Built in the late 1950s
to replace the then inaccessible facilities on Mount Scopus,
the hospital complex includes the Hebrew University schools
of medicine, dentistry and nursing.
Following re-unification of the city in 1967, the Mount
Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University was reopened, restored and expanded.
The law school returned to its original building, but the humanities,
the social sciences, the school of education, a new undergraduate library,
various student services, the university senate and a residential faculty
club were relocated in a long, inter-connected, fortress-like series
of buildings (humorously referred to by some as the "Maginot Line").
Meant to protect students, faculty and visitors from the winter winds
and rain, the warren has already provided the setting for at least one
"who-dunnit" murder-mystery novel.
Yad Vashem
Yad
Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance
Authority, was established in 1953 by an act of the Knesset to commemorate the six million Jewish men, women and children
murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the
years 1933-1945. The Authority also commemorates the heroism
and fortitude of the Jewish resistance fighters in the ghettos and the camps, the Jewish partisans,
and the "Righteous
Among the Nations" (non-Jews who risked their lives
in the effort to rescue Jews from the Holocaust). Located
on Har Hazikaron (Heb., Hill of Remembrance), a ridge on
the western outskirts of Jerusalem, the Yad Vashem Memorial
and Institute includes commemorative monuments, a historical
museum, a central archive and research center for the documentation
of the Holocaust and an
educational facility.
The main memorial is the Hall of Remembrance, designed
by Israeli architect Arieh Elhanani. The severe concrete-walled structure
with a low tent-like roof stands empty save for an eternal flame. Engraved
in the black basalt floor are the names of 21 Nazi concentration and
extermination camps and killing sites in central and eastern Europe.
A crypt in front of the flame contains ashes of victims. The monumental
entrance gates were designed by artist David Palombo.
Approximately 1.5 million Jewish children perished
in the Holocaust. They are specially remembered in the Children's Memorial,
an underground cavern in which the flickering flames of five memorial
candles are reflected in an infinity of tiny lights within the prevailing
darkness. This memorial was designed by Moshe Safdie.
The two-and-a-half acre Valley of the Destroyed Communities
commemorates the Jewish communities of Europe destroyed during the Holocaust
by the Nazis and their collaborators. Designed by Israeli landscape
architects Dan Tsur and Lippa Yahalom, the canyon-like passages are
inscribed with the names of some 5,000 towns, cities and villages.
The educational task of Yad Vashem is to perpetuate
the memory and the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations.
The International School for Holocaust Studies, designed by Jerusalem
architects and town planners Guggenheim/Bloch includes halls and classes
for study sessions, teacher training courses and research by educators
around the world.
Hebrew Union College
The synagogue and original classroom and administrative buildings of the
Jerusalem Campus of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute
of Religion were designed in 1963 by Heinz Rau. The building
(with white limestone facing and an entrance staircase) is
a fine example of late International Style. When the facilities
were expanded in 1989 with a library and additional classrooms,
the successor architect, Moshe Safdie, abandoned his signatory
half-circle Roman arch in favor of a linear, Mediterranean-style
that compliments the severity of the earlier architectural
elements. Safdie's courtyards, covered walkways and stairs
are also adapted to the hillside terrain. The school and
its parent institution in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the principal
rabbinical seminary of the Reform Movement in Judaism.
The Israel Museum
Completed in 1965, the main buildings of
the visually magnificent Israel
Museum complex were designed by A. Mansfeld and D. Gad
to sit atop a ridgeline, like a Mediterranean hill-top village.
The museum is in fact several "museums" in one,
housing several major collections, such as Judaica, archeology,
ethnography and fine arts. The Shrine of the Book, which
houses the Dead Sea
scrolls, was designed by Frederick J. Kiesler and Armand
Bartos. The white-tiled dome replicates the lids of the ceramic
jars in which some of the scrolls had been hidden. Most of
the shrine is subterranean, and the stylized entrance corridor
is deliberately cave-like.
The Billy Rose Sculpture Garden was designed by the
Japanese-American artist and sculptor Isamu Naguchi.
The popular success of the Israel Museum, with its
ever-growing number of visitors, has required several expansions - all
of which have given rise to controversy, as might be expected when the
building itself is considered an aesthetic treasure. The currently proposed
new entrance facility is a case in point, with objections raised within
the Association of Architects amid charges that some of the suggested
renovations would violate the architectural integrity of the original
design. To allay such fears, the Museum has invited public comment and
suggestions.
The Knesset
Inaugurated in 1966, the building housing
the Knesset, Israel's
unicameral parliament, was designed by Joseph Klarwin in
a modern, functional style that suggests the Classical. The
pillars (actually the pre-stressed supports for the roof)
which frame the building suggest the colonnades of the Greco-Roman
style so often favored in republican civic architecture -
especially in the design of buildings housing legislative
assemblies. Initial construction was made possible by a contribution
from the Rothschild family.
The interior decorations include mosaics and tapestries designed by Marc
Chagall, and various Israeli artists, among them Reuven
Rubin and sculptor Danny Karavan. The modernistic, monumental
entrance gates were designed by Israeli sculptor David Palombo,
who also designed the eternal flame monument in memory of
Israel's fallen soldiers, which stands beside the entrance
to the building. The main structure contains the Knesset
Chamber, which seats the 120 members of Knesset as well as
a visitors gallery. Other areas of the building contain the
State Hall (used for official ceremonies), offices, committee
rooms, members' and visitors' dining rooms, etc. In 1982,
a wing was added to provide more offices. An annex is now
planned for additional offices and committee rooms. Care
has been taken that the additions blend into the architectural
landscape.
The Jerusalem Center
for the Performing Arts
Located in the elegant Talbieh neighborhood, the center
was designed by Shulamit Nadler, Michael Nadler and Shmuel Bixon. The
stone and textured concrete building was constructed in two stages.
The 900-seat Sherover Theater was completed in 1971. Later construction
added the 750-seat Henry Crown Symphonic Hall (home of the Jerusalem
Symphony Orchestra), the 450-seat Rebecca Crown Auditorium; and the
150-seat Little Theatre. The walls of the theater lobbies are used for
exhibitions of art and photography. The Center is the venue for the
annual Israel Festival of the Performing Arts.
The Jerusalem Center
of Middle Eastern Studies
Situated on the southern slope of Mount Scopus, the
Jerusalem Center of Middle Eastern Studies was built in 1988 as a branch
of the Latter-day Saints Church-affiliated Brigham Young University
(Provo, Utah). The step design takes advantage of the situation and
view, especially in the glass-walled concert hall, where the audience
looks out on the Old City and the Temple Mount. The complex also includes
a library, classrooms and living accommodations for students and faculty.
The Supreme Court Building
Considered the finest achievement in contemporary Israeli
architecture, the Supreme Court Building was opened in 1992. It was
designed by Israeli architects Ram Carmi and Ada Carmi-Melamed.
Constructed of local limestone, the eclectic,
post-modern style incorporates various historical references
that reflect the continuity of law in Jewish history and
tradition (just as the positioning of the court building
on a hilltop above the Knesset was a deliberate emphasis
on the supremacy of the law). Israel's Supreme
Court actually sits as two courts - as the Supreme Court;
and as the High Court of Justice, which hears petitions against
government bodies and agencies. The building contains five
courtrooms, chambers and a library. The entrances to the
courtrooms are framed with monumental blocks of limestone
in architectural reference to the gateways that once gave
access to the Royal Stoa. The courtrooms replicate a Roman
basilica with columns and a vaulted ceiling. The inner courtyard
is bisected by a narrow water channel.
The Jerusalem Municipality
The new Jerusalem Municipality complex and plaza (Safra
Square) was completed in 1993. Located just outside the walls of the
Old City near the old, British-built municipal building, the new complex
includes two new office blocks and ten renovated historic buildings
which house municipal offices. The project was designed by Jack Diamond
and Ofer Kolker & Associates.
The new municipality building is a successful blend
of old and new. The arcaded, six-story main building - a Post-Modern
structure of stone, smoked glass and structural steel - contains suggestions
of traditional design, including the decorative use of alternating bands
of white and red limestone (in the characteristic Mamluk manner). At
the east end of the plaza, a canopied stage frames the Mount of Olives.
(The plaza and stage are used for public events, concerts and exhibitions.)
The project included the renovation and preservation of several 19th-
and 20th-century public and private buildings, including the former
Imperial Russian Consulate General and the old City Hall. All the buildings
are now interconnected below ground level, and the large central plaza
covers an underground parking garage for 800 vehicles. Subterranean
facilities also house the city archives and the Jerusalem Center for
Planning in Historic Cities and its 1:500 scale model of the city center,
which is used to judge the visual impact of proposed construction. The
initial model was built by Richard Harvey with the help of students
of architecture at the Technion in Haifa; it took 15 years to complete
(see photo on page 15).
The Belz World Center
The monumental, ten-storey Center in the
Romema neighborhood was dedicated by the Rabbi of the Hassidim
of Belz in April 2000. The design, by Jerusalem architect
Isaac Blatt, includes elements reminiscent of the synagogue
of Belz (Poland),
which was built in the 19th century and destroyed during
the Holocaust.
Within the Center is the synagogue, four storeys high
and with a seating capacity of 5000 - making it the largest synagogue
in the world. The interior is splendidly decorated in abstract designs,
and the acoustics allow the voice of the cantor to be heard without
the aid of microphones (the use of which is forbidden on the Sabbath
and Holidays).
The building at present under construction, which will
house the Ministry, is located in Kiryat Ben-Gurion (the government
complex) near the Knesset. The building comprises separate units for
the different functions of the Ministry. In the outside walls of the
formal reception hall, plates of onyx have been included, which diffuse
an amber light. The designers, Jerusalem architects Kolker, Kolker and
Epstein in association with Diamond, Donald, Schmidt & Co. of Toronto,
were awarded the prize for excellence in architectural innovation by
the Royal Institute of Architects of Canada, in June 2001.
Preservation, Restoration
and Renovation
Any discussion of contemporary Jerusalem architecture
should include mention of efforts to preserve historic buildings through
restoration and renovation. One such project involved the reconstruction
of the Four Sephardi Synagogues in the historic Jewish quarter of the
Old City. The inter-connected complex includes the Ben-Zakkai Synagogue
(1610), the Prophet Elijah Synagogue (c. 1625), the Middle Synagogue
(c. 1830), and the Istambuli Synagogue (1857) - all of which suffered
severe damage and neglect during the 19 years when the Old City was
under Jordanian rule. Restoration of the synagogues was guided by photographic
records. The new residential buildings in the Jewish quarter were also
designed to blend in with the older architectural elements, rather than
replicate them.
The Post-Modern interest in traditional
elements has also resulted in the renovation and alteration
of older, late-19th and early 20th-century buildings, and
their adaptation to new uses. In some cases this has involved
the physical incorporation of the old façade into
a new building. In this category can be included some of
the buildings and facilities of Jerusalem's "Cultural
Mile", where several cultural institutions are situated
along the western edge of the Valley of Hinnom, across from
the walls of the Old City: the Jerusalem Music Center for
advanced musical education; the Mishkenot
Sha'ananim Guest House; the Jerusalem Cinemateque and
Israel Film Archive and the Khan Theater (a late-medieval
caravansary).
The Yemin
Moshe neighborhood, built on the western slope of the
Hinnom Valley facing the Old City, was the first Jewish neighborhood
built outside the city walls. It was established in 1860
with the construction of the Mishkenot
Sha'ananim housing project (a communal block of 16 apartments
for indigent Jewish families). Restored with alterations
in the 1970s and again in 1999-2001, the complex serves as
a guesthouse for visiting writers, artists, scholars and
musicians.
The renovation of architecturally interesting private
buildings has also been carried out in various neighborhoods of the
city. In some cases, only the façades of the original buildings
could be preserved; in others, where walls could be strengthened, additional
storeys have been added to the original frame, with details and materials
matching or complementing the older elements. The results are not uniformly
successful, but in most cases at least part of the architectural legacy
of the older structure has been preserved. Such efforts have also contributed
to a renewal of some neighborhoods - Nahalat Shiv'a in dowtown Jerusalem,
the Nahlaot near the Mahane Yehuda market, along the tree-shaded streets
of Rehavia and the equally tree- shaded and now "yuppified"
Emek Refaim area with its coffee houses, shops and monthly "slow-food"
market.
Landscape Architecture
Jerusalem has more than 350 parks and landscaped
gardens of all sizes. Some, such as the Rose Garden in Talbieh,
date from the 1920s, other parks and recreational areas are
of more recent creation. Of special note are the Gavriel
Sherover and Haas Promenades, the Jerusalem National Archeological
Park near the walls of the Old
City, and the Valley of the Destroyed Communities at Yad Vashem.
The Gavriel Sherover and Haas Promenades are a series
of paved paths and lookouts along the ridge extending south and east
from the Hill of Abu Tor, with a view over the Kidron Valley toward
the Temple Mount. Designed by the renowned landscape architect Shlomo
Aronson, the paved paths, pergolas and lookouts are landscaped with
indigenous trees, bushes and wild grasses.
The Jerusalem National Park around the walls
of the Old City was established after the 1967
Six Day War and the reunification of the city. The preservation
of a green belt had been suggested in part by the American
architect Louis Kahn, who advised then mayor Teddy
Kollek to keep the roads around the Old City as far away
from the walls as possible. Development of the project included
a series of preliminary archeological surveys and excavations.
Many of the finds were incorporated into the landscaped walkway,
which includes the preserved and sign-posted elements of
earlier walls and buildings from all periods of the city's
history.
New Neighborhoods
The Psalmist speaks of Jerusalem as a city
that is built "compact together" (Psalm 122), but
archeological evidence indicates that urban sprawl was underway
by the 8th century BCE (possibly owing to the influx of refugees
from Samaria and Galilee, following the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom).
Mass immigrations and housing shortages in the first years of the State led
to government financed low-cost housing projects and the
creation of several new neighborhoods, among them Kiryat
Hayovel and Gonen. Infrastructure included commercial space
for grocery shops and other small businesses.
Construction of new housing estates again took place
after the 1967 Six-Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem. One such
project was the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood, built along part of the former
"No Man's Land" that had divided the city. Planning included
small parks, tree-lined streets and avenues, a neighborhood health clinic
and a small commercial center with a supermarket. Most of the new apartment
buildings were limited to a height of four storeys (five storeys would
have required a compulsory elevator). Construction included the use
of prefab elements, but the outside wall units were faced with a veneer
of "Jerusalem" stone, so that architecturally the new neighborhood
was considered more "up-scale" than the housing projects of
the 1950s. Even so, the close proximity of the buildings and the relatively
young age of the buyers (families with children) again created the problem
of high population density.
In an attempt to avoid some of these pitfalls and ensure
a better quality of life, the Ministry of Construction and Housing established
a committee of experts for advise and planning before starting construction
of the new Gilo neighborhood on the southern outskirts of the city.
Areas were again allocated for parks, educational facilities, shopping
centers and other urban requirements, including a community cultural
center; in one award-winning housing project, the apartment buildings
were built around a park-like central courtyard.
Despite such efforts, the neighborhood remains very
much a "bedroom suburb" dependent on vehicle transport even
for local shopping. Nor did all developers make adequate provision for
on-street parking, with the result that passage is sometimes difficult
in narrow side-streets. Similar problems can also be found in the neighborhood
of Talpiot Mizrah, and in the new suburbs built on the northern outskirts
of the city at Ramot and Pisgat Ze'ev.
High Rise versus Urban
Sprawl
Since the creation of the first master plan for Jerusalem
by the British in 1918, the question of how the city should develop
has continued to be a matter of debate. There are restrictions concerning
building height in and around the "scenic basin" of the walled
Old City, but controversy continues to rage concerning the necessity
and/or desirability of tower blocs in other parts of the city. Planners
and architects are divided, and the issue is complicated by the limited
availability of building sites, high real estate prices (among the highest
in the country) and the cost of construction on terrain where foundations
and basement levels must be cut and blasted out of bedrock. Proponents
of high-rise buildings argue that Jerusalem's increasing population
necessitates growth either upward or outward. Opponents say Manhattan-like
tower blocs would have a long-term negative effect on the environment,
the economy and the character of the city.
Looking Ahead
Since the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, various
advisory forums have been created to discuss urban planning and development.
The first of these, the international Jerusalem Committee, was established
in 1968 by then mayor Teddy Kollek. The Committee, which meets in Jerusalem
every two years, comprises some 70 prominent architects, urban planners,
historians and academics, who serve as an advisory council to review
and advise on municipal plans for the restoration and development of
the city. They are especially concerned with the preservation of Jerusalem's
specific character and unique heritage.
The Jerusalem Seminar on Architecture, established
in 1992 by Yad Hanadiv (the Rothschild Foundation in Israel), is an
international forum for public deliberation on significant topics in
architecture and urban design. Held every two years, the seminars allow
broad discussion of major issues in contemporary architecture through
the presentation of individual case studies. One recent seminar addressed
the effect of large public buildings and commercial institutions on
the urban landscape. The proceedings of each seminar are video-taped
and are available for rent or purchase.
The Forum for Mediterranean Cultures was founded in
1995. A joint project of Mishkenot Sha'ananim (the Jerusalem guest house
for visiting writers, artists and musicians) and the Jerusalem Van Leer
Foundation, the Forum initiates and conducts academic seminars, artistic
workshops and other cultural events to facilitate cultural dialogue
among the peoples of the Mediterranean basin. One of the four discussion
groups is devoted to architecture and the preservation of historic buildings
in contemporary urban planning and development.
Sources: Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Yishai Eldar is a journalist, resident in Jerusalem.
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