ECOWEEK 2012 in the Middle East
WORKSHOP Leaders: Ulf Meyer Uli Molter Dresden, Germany) Yael Hammerman-Solar (Geographer, Universities of Chemnitz and (Architect, Ingenhoven Architects, Germany) (Architect, Municipality of Jerusalem, Israel) Barak Pelman (Architect, Israel) Guy Teomi (Architect, Israel)
WORKSHOP Team: Walaa Abu Assab, Shani Vaknin, Zuriel Ozeri, Nir Zarfaty, Ayelet Levy, Hilla Gordon, Nitzan Gabay, Gilad Gartziany, Ihab Alkateeb.
The neighborhood of Katamon (in Greek ‘Kata Monas’) in south-central Jerusalem was established before World War I. From 1924 on affluent Christian Arabs built large mansions there. In 1948 the neighborhood was an Arab salient between two Jewish neighborhoods. After the surrender of the Jewish Quarter in the old city 1000 Jewish refugees were moved to Katamon. The neighborhoods of Katamomim 8 ad 9 (also known as San Martin) are bound by roads on the North and East sides. They were built to accommodate a wave of immigrants in the 1960s and are characterized by long apartment blocks on pillars, providing low-cost housing. Until 1967 Katamonim was on the Jordanian-Israeli armistice line. Some infrastructure improvement was financed by an urban renewal project in the 70s. Since the 1990s, mainly Russian and Ethiopian immigrants populated the neighborhood. The lack of municipal investments on the public spaces along with the poor maintenance and neglection from both public and private side degraded the neighborhood status and image into becoming one of Jerusalem poorest region.
Proposed Design during ECOWEEK:
After a site visit, the students identified two areas of possible improvements for the neighborhood: On the urban design scale as well as the architectural level. On the urban design level the students aimed to overcome these shortcomings and obstacles: The spatial isolation of the district, the lack of amenities and traffic issues. In their sketch proposal they suggest to create a green valley perpendicular to the main urban roads, connecting the neighborhood to the Gazelle Valley in the North and the Sports Park in the South. The road leading to the schools should be turned into a Boulevard with less parking and shaded sidewalks. The vacant lot in the Northeast could be turned into a “Gate” for the whole neighborhood. Bus routes could be altered to improve connectivity and pedestrian paths and bike lanes offer short-cuts and alternatives to the private car use. A strip of vegetation will help buffer the noise from the nearby roads.
The architectural focus was on a typical social housing block. The students identified that their existing state of small apartments, poor insulation, lack of variety and poor earthquake resistance are problems that could be tackled with the addition of a steel skeleton around the building that tenants could “fill” over time and according to budget with open, enclosed and semi-enclosed spaces using a kit of different panels This technique would provide various apartments types and sizes within the same structure, allowing the shape evolve in a controlled manner, creating new image to the “Shikunim” – a more personal and human face, representing their inhabitants.
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