CURIOSITY
The Ethics Corner
Following
the positive reactions to the editorial of issue no.53, which dealt with
architectural competitions, we have added a new section to the Curiosity
column. Readers are invited to write about any ethical issues and investigations,
as long as the information and claims are well-based in facts. For instance,
architect Dr. Michael Chyutin writes: "The March
issue of ‘The Constructor and the Builder’ published a report on a
competition for "Building Excellence." On page one were listed the names of the
competition winners: Edna and Raphael Lerman; on the
following page, Raphael Lerman is listed as a member
of the judging panel ...
AI comment: It must be a typo,
or, at least a coincidence?
Competitions and Prizes
The Ayalon Prize for City Planning.
Three
offices shared first place in the Ayalon Prize for
City Planning initiated by the Holon Municipality.
Each exemplifies a different approach to city planning: architect Prof. Yigal Tzamirs starting point is
the well known two-dimensional master-plan, the kind that no matter how serious
its objectives may be, will only end up exploiting building rights; the focal
point of Shamay Assif and Naama Maliss entry was the
image of the place; and Itzhak Lir
concentrated mainly on the architecture of the buildings.
Events
The
new, fussy mall "Arena" in the Herzliya
Marina is a poor interpretation of the Greek term ‘arena.’ Its
vulgar architecture is lacking in basic spatial perceptions. To understand the
depth of the problem one must personally adventure through it - get lost in the
basement, follow the escalator incorrectly sited at the entrance, and walk
under the artificial sky and wonder why one can not see the real one available
free of charge next to the sea. Architect Ben
Hoffenberg’s intention in loading the narrow, cliché-burdened
‘streets’ with heavy and outdated banisters is beyond
comprehension. His claim that "The mall was built for the masses
and not for architects," is even worse. Since when do the masses have the
means to keep yachts and luxury apartments at the Herzliya
Marina? (See illustration on page 40).
Projects
The Exhibition Bridge
The
pedestrian bridge that connects the Park and Ride lot near the North Tel Aviv
funeral home and the old Tel Aviv port was recently completed. Designed of
steel, wooden planks and a stainless steel banister, the 52 meter long bridge is
the sort of refreshing project we would like to see more of in architecture, as
well as in other cultural areas.
Architect: Bar Orian Architects.
Construction: Rockach-Ashkenazi.
Christian Orthodox
High School in Ramla
About
a year ago, a debate on the city of Ramla
conducted at the School of Architecture of Tel Aviv University was discussed here. We
protested at the time that throughout the whole day no one mentioned that a
significant part of the city’s population is Arab. In response, architect
Dan Israelovitz informed us that he is currently
designing a religious High School. in Ramla. Because of lack of space, Israelovitz
utilized the roofs for recreation areas and raised the structure on columns in
order to take advantage of the space beneath. The fact that the project is
located on the corner of streets with the Hebrew names of Bialik
and Maapilim did not help the Education Ministry to
allocate any funding for the project, and it was built and funded by Christian
organizations.
Architect: Dan Israelovitz in cooperation with Symon
Amsis
Exhibitions
The
exhibition ‘Contexts’ marks the 25th anniversary of the landscape
architecture track at the Faculty of Architecture at the Technion.
The exhibition, which includes the works of some fifty landscape architect
graduates, was first presented in the Faculty of Architecture and then made its
way to the Architects House in Jaffa. The diversity of works
proves the importance of the profession as a means for mediating between
architecture and its surroundings. The current involvement of landscape
architects in the planning of open spaces is mostly expressed in the overly
representational approaches and entrances to cities, yet is rather lacking in
the deserted lots in between the built structures (see article on topic on
page 9). Several research projects were also displayed.
Exhibition Curator: Landscape
architect Vardit Tzurnamal.
Sammy
Buchri and Eyal Danons ‘House in Jaffa’ is another exhibition being held
in the Architect’s House in Jaffa throughout September.
Exhibition Curator: Architect
Shelly Cohen
Another
(yet another) exhibition titled ‘Proportions’ is currently on show
at the Architects House in Jaffa. It is a collection of works
that have won different competitions, in line with the architects’
association’s attempts to promote architectural competitions amongst
public organizations. Competitions are an exceptional means for discovering
anonymous talents of those who otherwise lack exposure.
On the verge
Artist
Raphael Pinchi creates beautiful mosaic works -
tables, pitchers, lampshades, and pictures. Tel: 053-756611, 04-6523293.
http://www.fun.to/mosaics
Yoni
and Itzik Mevorah developed
"The Chameleon" stand for storing CDs called. It takes up very little
space and can be stored either vertically or horizontally.
Tel: 050-619679, 03-6813051
Students
The
Leon and Israel Reiskin Award for Excellence for final
projects at the Technion Faculty of Architecture has
been shipwrecked for the summer, after the judges of the final stage reached
the conclusion that no one was worthy of the award. It was decided that the
judges will reevaluate all the works, including those that did not reach the
final stage. Students who feared losing the opportunity for winning the first
$10,000 prize, or the second $5,000 prize, have raised their objections.
A
number of final projects in the landscape architecture track in the Technion dealt with ecological issues. Shlomit
Goldman focused on the Yarkon
River semi-island, and Shachar Tzur featured recycling
the polluted waters of the Kishon River.
Project coordinators: Landscape
architects Daphna Greenstein, Alisa Brudo.
Ecology
has also reached as far as the studio of Dr. Iris Aravot
and architect Moshe Adam. Students Yuval Erez, Sherry
Rozen and Liat Lift
designed an ecological commune for the disadvantaged "Packing Crates"
neighborhood of Tel Aviv. The project was based on social equality between the
inhabitants: the commune would provide the ideological motivation,
the wealthy would supply the resources, and the middle class who would be free
to determine how much effort they will invest on ecological matters. In the
planning process, the students investigated different means of conserving
energy, recycling grey water, and utilization of windmills and photoelectric
cells. Friends, if you had investigated just a little further you would find
that everything has already been tried, and nothing is
really feasible. Anyway, you don’t really need a commune to achieve
appropriate reference to the climate - shading, insulation, and suitable use of
vegetation.
Keep in touch, Rachel Ben Aharon.
