movingcities.org » jerusalem

Mea Shearim | Jerusalem snapshots

bert — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:27:01 +0000

Mea Shearim | Jerusalem, February 28, 2008

Today, Meah Shearim remains an Old World enclave in the heart of Jerusalem. With its overwhelmingly Haredi population, the streets retain the flavor of an East European shtetl. Life revolves around strict adherence to Jewish law, prayer and the study of Jewish texts. (source; wikipedia)

Pictures by Bert de Muynck & Mónica Carriço | movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

Mea Shearim | Jerusalem snapshots

The Wailing Wall | Jerusalem snapshots

bert — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:10:18 +0000

The Wailing Wall | Jerusalem, February 27, 2008

Pictures by Bert de Muynck & Mónica Carriço | movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

The Wailing Wall | Jerusalem snapshots

The Chinese City: final presentation

bert — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:05:59 +0000

What can we learn from China? City/State Workshop

On Thursday February 28, 2008 we concluded the “What can we learn from China?“-workshop. The final presentation consisted out of the presentation of the students’ research, design and projection of the Chinese condition on the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area.

The final presentation concluded the workshop movingcities gave. We proposed a plan for the territory between Tel Aviv and Herzliya through specific types of intervention borrowed from the Chinese condition; Central Business District, Housing, Landscape Operations and Creative Clusters. The final plan is tailor-made for the Israeli context and challenges both existing plans and evolutions as well managed to propose different modes of public transport.

The final plan integrated on different levels the separate concepts students have been working on. During the last 24 hours of the workshop the students combined their cooperative efforts, made an incredible model and put forward a plan, presentation and design that went beyond ours and theirs initial expectation. Surely the workshop benefitted from a self-initiated Chinese speed of working, collaborating and decision making and is now open to the public. Soon we will update this project with some concluding analysis and remarks on both the process as the final plan.

Final Presentation

Central Business District | City/State Workshop

Housing | City/State Workshop

Landscape | City/State Workshop

Creative Clusters | City/State Workshop

Masterplan

What can we learn from China? City/State Workshop

students: Rena Malka Wasser, Tom Sperber, Eran Abramovitz, Yaniv Lenman, Ofer Bilik, Roy Carpman, Yaniv Turgeman, Ariel Noyman, Noa Joelson, Netta Gaash, Maayan Strauss & Lior Ayalon

http://movingcities.org/

The Chinese City: final presentation

The Chinese City: model making

bert — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:07:06 +0000

City/State Workshop | Jerusalem, February 28, 2008

Pictures by Bert de Muynck | movingcities.org

http://movingcities.org/

The Chinese City: model making

The Chinese City: phase II

bert — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:03:59 +0000

What can we learn from China? City/State Workshop

On Wednesday February 27, 2008 we concluded the second phase of the “What can we learn from China?“-workshop. The initial four groups of students were merged in two groups: Central Business District & Housing and Cultural and Creative Industries Clusters & Landscape Operations.

The workshop is organized along the “4-2-1″-structure with the conclusion of phase 2 of the workshop we achieved a major step in projecting and proposing a plan for the territory between Tel Aviv and Herzliya through specific types of intervention borrowed from the Chinese condition. In phase 1 the students concluded their research and speculate about how to contextualize these issues within the Israeli context. For phase 2 the merger had the objective for each group to take the strongest elements and discuss them with another group. We considered two group to deal with the design, organization and lay-out of “objects” of intervention in the area, the CBD-group and Creative Clusters-group. As for the Housing and Landscape-Group they were asked to provide the generic background, a tapestry of intervention on the area. For phase 2 it was the goal to present a model that was both incorporates their Chinese findings as well as to present a plan for the area that is flexible and specific. The Groups also decided to adopt 4 of the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the FUWA’s as their logos; we are sorry for the one, as the original FUWA’s are with 5, that missed the boat. In this context we call them the Friendly Urbane & Worldwide Architects.

FUWA-adaptation | City/State Workshop

At this stage of the workshop it was mandatory for each new group to incorporate the existing infrastructure, adding infrastructure, like junctions, were necessary and increase the accessibility to initial proposal by the Landscape group. In terms of public transport for the area we took the existing plans for the implementation of a light rail system in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area seriously, while investigating the possibility to add an additional line to it that would bring the Central Business District into a wider mobility network.

How to integrate the Creative Clusters with the Landscape Operations? How to create a mix, how to define the borders between Housing and Central Business District? Through these cooperative efforts, reality-check and back and forward discussion and design sessions between the different groups we achieved, at Chinese speed, conclusions that surpassed and transformed the result of phase 1 critically and realistically.

City/State Workshop

A short overview of the work each group presented as conclusion of Phase II

Central Business District & Housing

Housing Group | City/State Workshop

CBD Group | City/State Workshop

students: Yaniv Turgeman, Ariel Noyman, Noa Joelson, Netta Gaash, Maayan Strauss & Lior Ayalon

Cultural and Creative Industries Clusters & Landscape Operations

Creative Clusters & Landscape Group | City/State Workshop

students: Rena Malka Wasser, Tom Sperber, Eran Abramovitz, Yaniv Lenman, Ofer Bilik & Roy Carpman

http://movingcities.org/

The Chinese City: phase II

The Chinese City: phase I

bert — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:06:07 +0000

What can we learn from China? City/State Workshop

On Monday February 25, 2008 we concluded the first phase of the “What can we learn from China?“-workshop. Four groups of students were each investigating and researching the mechanism behind one urban operation: Central Business District, Cultural and Creative Industries Clusters, Housing and Landscape.

The workshop is organized based on the structure of the contemporary Chinese family. Due the implementation of the one-child policy in China, the contemporary Chinese family is classified as a “4-2-1″-structure. “4” represents the parents and parents-in-law, “2” represents the husband and wife, and the “1” refers to the only child of the couple. The center of the family is on the “1”— the grandchild. In the context of the workshop “4″ represents the four autonomous operations we presented to the students. Phase 1 is the conclusion of the research on this topics of the individual groups where students were asked to delve into the topics, present their findings and speculate about how to contextualize these issues within the Israeli context. Phase 2 investigates the merges between the housing and CBD groups at the one hand, and the landscape and Creative Clusters group at the other. Phase 3, the conclusion of the workshop, will bring all group together in an effort to create both a coherent overall plan as well design site specific interventions for each group separately.

Mónica Carriço & Dan Handel | City/State Workshop

In the intellectually and creatively stimulating environment of Bezalel Academy it is our impression that each groups have pushed themselves constantly forward, presenting at a dazzling speed speculations, interventions, contextual interpretations and a coherent and impressive set of graphics.

City/State Workshop

A short overview of the work each group presented as conclusion of Phase I

Central Business District

CBD Group | City/State Workshop

Through the site, Israel’s NOP marks a green buffer intended to pause the dense urban development that is expected to continue in the center of Israel. The site is also strategically located on one side of a triangle between the primary Tel-Aviv CBD, the Ayalon corridor, and secondary high tech industrial parks including Hertzelia, Raanana, and Airport City. This location, at once not in the city yet within the metropolitan area, along with the inclusion of a green belt, requires a unique CBD typology. More on City/State blog.

students: Yaniv Turgeman, Ariel Noyman, Noa Joelson & Netta Gaash

Cultural and Creative Industries Clusters

Cultural and Creative Industries Clusters Group | City/State Workshop

These sites will hold three different creative hubs. Considering their specific location and the Israeli creative potential in them these hubs are: 1. A film and media center on the Glilot Gas and Oil compound; 2. A design zone south of the Herzelia Marina; 3. Science and research park combined with the Reading power plant on the western edge of HaYarkon Park.More on City/State blog.

students: Rena Malka Wasser, Tom Sperber & Eran Abramovitz

Housing

Housing Group | City/State Workshop

After the study of population and the Israeli population growth rate, we reached the growth estimation of 1.5 million people in the year 2020. Trying to maintain a reasonable population spread, the exercise is examining the option of inserting the whole growth in to the central region of Israel. In order to understand the structure of the future urban housing fabric and its high densities, we examined the Chinese case. More on City/State blog.

students: Maayan Strauss & Lior Ayalon

Landscape Operations

Landscape group | City/State Workshop

In the first phase of the work-shop, we were trying to figure out “What can be learned from China”. We observed some traditionally built gardens and parks, some located inside modern cities, and tried to understand the designing principles and the type of experience they were trying to create. Later, we observed at the modern Chinese city, tried to understand the attitude of the Chinese towards the landscape development in the context of the urban growth processes. More on City/State blog.

students: Yaniv Lenman, Ofer Bilik & Roy Carpman

http://movingcities.org/

The Chinese City: phase I

The Chinese City: lecture & workshop

bert — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 06:02:36 +0000

What can we learn from China? City/State Workshop

On February 21, 2008, Bert de Muynck | movingcities gave the opening lecture for the new semester at the Architecture Department at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel. The lecture was part of the “What can we learn from China?” workshop.

The title of the lecture was “The Chinese City; spaces of conflict, confusion, construction, culture and creativity.” Actually one should add to this; construction sites. The lecture opted to do the impossible and started with explaining the public this inherent notion of failure. We presented research in flux, cities in movement, an early 21st century urban anthropology of the Chinese city. At the end of the day we are still detectives roaming the planet in search for evidence that can support or deny the role of architecture and urbanism in shaping and constructing the contemporary city. The Chinese City, as we found out, is a phenomenon, a construct, a work in progress, a city of the moving type,… to wide, vibrant, elusive and large to capture within the the framework of a lecture, to much changing to develop theories that last, to elusive to capture, to flexible to grasp. We presented, leaving the audience staring mouth agape at a bombardment of images, analysis and architectures, is a moving society, upscaling, urbanizing, creating in an almost illogical way cities.

The Chinese City; spaces of conflict, confusion, construction, culture and creativity

The lecture was structured as follows:

Visual introduction to the Chinese City
What happened and where did this come from?
The Chinese urban an architectural development as a topic of speculation, publication and exhibition
What did we learn from Las Vegas?
movingcities and the state of the contemporary city
How to analyze the The Chinese City?
Mechanism driving the development of the Chinese City
Confusion and the search for an urban identity
The role of architecture in the construction of The Chinese City, Ai Weiwei | FAKE Design & Wang Shu | Amateur Architecture Studio

Bert de Muynck | movingcities

Together with Dan Handel and Yonatan Cohen from the city/state unit movingcities gave the introduction to the workshop on February 21, 2008. We divided the students in four groups, and each group will fill the territory between Tel Aviv and Herzliya through one specific type of intervention borrowed from the Chinese condition. These intervention are:

Central Business Districts
Cultural and Creative Industries Clusters
Housing
Landscape Operations

Students participating in the City/State Workshop

Throughout the following week movingcities and the city/state unit will in tandem post updates on the progress of the workshop on the City/State Unit blog. The workshop concludes on Thursday February 28, 2008, with a review at the Architecture Department at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel. On Friday February 29, 2008, we will presenting the result at ZeZeZe Architecture Gallery, Tel Aviv.

movingcities would like to thank Yuval Yasky – unit master at Bezalel and Zvi Efrat, Head of the Architecture Department at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design.

http://movingcities.org/

The Chinese City: lecture & workshop