hiding | city
2016
The semester dealt with the interrelations between space, time and culture, where the binding concept is the human body- the body’s movement in space. For the first half of the semester we explored our existing environment, and our new found observations served as tools in preparation for the second half of the semester. These observations were used for programmatic interpretation and the establishment of transformative action. Moreover, these tools were implemented on our observed space with which at times we also intervened. In the second half, my studio partner Alon Rovovitz and I, searched the city with these two words in mind: City-Hiding. We searched for spaces that can serve as a place of hiding, a place of refuge from the city. Likewise, we defined the act of ‘pause’, to ‘stop in one’s path’ as a means to take refuge from the dynamic rhythm of life and the intense daily tasks and actions. In order to ‘pause’ the flux of life and to create inner-contemplation, one needs in a physical sense to ‘stop’! In the great potential of tensions between ‘private’ and ‘public’, the ‘pause’ in the city has greater effect.
We began looking for a place within walking distance of us, where there was no need to deviate from our daily route and where physical elements made us stop in our paths. After locating the place in the city, finding a specific point by framing a single point of view in terms of light, sound, landscape and time with minimal intervention, we created a place to ‘pause’.
The value of ‘pausing’ is greater when the tension between the flux and the ‘pause’is more significant. As far as we are concerned, ‘pausing’ is more qualitative when it is only a stone’s throw away and there is no deviation from our daily route. The Chords Bridge meets these criteria from the standpoint that pedestrians and the Light Rail train are on a certain route and do not have the opportunity to deviate from it. During this time, one is hung between heaven and earth, between the route of the train and the busy road below and between the wall and the urban landscape of Jerusalem.
https://youtu.be/_B18a3TNgsc
Led by: Oren Sagiv, Adi Yahezkeli & Omri Bernstein