ECOWEEK 2012 in the Middle East
WORKSHOP Leaders: Elena Barthel Ohad Yehieli
WORKSHOP Team: (Architect, OYA, Tel Aviv University, Israel) (Architect Rural Studio, Alabama, USA) “ Fanny Gil, Rachel Syn Hershko, Livnat Bar, Nahalit Nahmias, Ian Nataf, Hadas Peer, Lily Stanger, Ronit Izraeli, Shiri Sason, Anna Maiello, Elena Ferrari.
The site of our project, Ramat Eliyahu, is a neighbourhood located in Rishon Lezion. It is a neighbourhood with an incredibly diverse urban fabric. Composed of villas, residential low and mid rises, commercial buildings, educational and industrial buildings, Ramat Eliyahu has it all. Over the years, it has developed as a relatively poor working class neighbourhood, serving the various waves of immigration into the country. Composed now of a large percentage of Ethiopians, from the most recent wave, it is a true multicultural hub, layered with new and not so new Israelis.
From a viewpoint of accessibility, Ramat Eliyahu is very accessible, shouldering with one of the country’s main highways on the East, and one of the city main roads on the south, providing various entrance points both by car and by foot. Within the neighbourhood, lie an intricate web of pedestrian walkways and a network of public and green spaces, all spread and somewhat lost throughout.
After having met with the city Architect, the Urban Planner, and local activists, and after having walked around the neighbourhood and formed our own impressions; the problematic was becoming clear. How do you strengthen a neighbourhood? How do you lift up a community? How do you take an urban fabric in decay, one that is fundamentally
unsustainable, and reinforce it without tearing it? The problematic was clear, but not easy.
Our answer to this delicate question, our strategy for the project is from the inside out. While we acknowledge the need for new development, and injection of new blood, we strongly believe that a phased solution, starting from within, is vital. That is-- the existing must first be strengthened before the introduction of new and specialized functions that we hope will breathe new life into the neighbourhood. Our intervention is based on maintaining the uniqueness of the existing urban fabric, using the existing DNA of Ramat Eliyahu, and all of its potential.
Our intervention begins with the identification of two existing spines.
1. The boulevard; an existing two-lane road, linking cultural, community, and commercial centers.
2. The green bend, a neglected sand dune with an incredible natural topography, serving now, only as a buffer between the residential and industrial zones.
Onto these two spines we begin to superpose our new programs: a campus for two Faculties of the University of Tel Aviv, and Urban farming facilities.
The Boulevard
We decided to transform the main street of the neighborhood to a boulevard that will serve as both the commercial and cultural spine of Ramat Eliyahu. The development of the Boulevard will include the Tel Aviv University Campus branch, a commercial center which will combine a large square, and a cultural center that will host a variety of social activities: a Gym, a swimming pool, basketball and football courts, a library, a dancing school and a place for the youth groups to meet. The Boulevard will also be connected to the green bend and the Menashe Park.
The Green Bend
As mentioned before, the green bend is a neglected sand dune with an incredible natural topography which we would like to turn to an urban park containing an agriculture zone, walking promenade, bicycle lane following the natural topography, a playground that will connect the park to the residential area on the north, and will connect to the Campus, Menashe Park and the main boulevard. As phase one of the development we suggest the playground on the northern end of the bend, Tora Va’avoda street, that serves as a large road and parking lot at the moment. It is important to acknowledge the great natural greenery the site is offering, that allows different levels of intervention.
By strategically fragmenting and placing these new functions, we believe that new life will start to emerge between the two spines, and eventually beyond.
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