Basic design a
2016
The course dealt with canonical, historical structures and sites and the analytic and creative interpretation of paradigmatic structures through theoretical interpretation of architectural models. The historical building that I dealt with was the Shrine of the Book - a wing of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The buildingh serves as a residence for some of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, including rare ancient manuscripts (the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Aleppo Codex). The Shrine of the Book was not only built as a functional structure, which preserves and presents the scrolls, but as an ideological building. The planners thought of building as a "temple" that would be characterized by its architectural components, and would express the idea of a new state (Israel) relating to its past. The planners used architectural tools such as: rich materials, changing the intensity of quantity and type of light, continuous flow of external and internal spaces, sculptural character and use of various geometric shapes to convey spiritual and universal messages that will make the visit a "religious" experience. The "success" of the Shrine of the Book is rooted in an extraordinary combination of architectural design with the symbolism experienced by the visitor during the visit. The main focal point of my analysis of this building is the ‘contrast’.
The above image presents the analysis of the ‘contrast’ in the Shrine of the Book. The first is the contrast between two architectural forms, monumental and special, between a white dome, round and feminine, and a basalt square wall, black and masculine. A second contrast is the tiers of the structure – the structure is built both above and below ground, contrasting the ‘built’ and the ‘burrowed’. The third contrast is the linear axis in front of a circular axis. Two further contrasts are in the theoretical aspect of the role and location of the building. The role of the building is the presentation and preservation of the hidden scrolls of the Essenes sect that describe the war of the sons of light against the sons of darkness. The location of the building: the visitor emerges from a narrow opening outside the building, into the light, where there is a view of contemporary Jerusalem, a modern construction. This is the connection between the past and the present.
Led by: Heli Rachmimov, Tamar Alon & Gilead Browman