ECOWEEK 2012 in the Middle East
WORKSHOP Leaders:
Mati Kones (Architect, Ecotectura, Israel) Nirit Amir-Melli (Architect, Israel) Consultant: Assaf Shtein (Architect, Israel)
WORKSHOP Team: Talia Davidi, Miri Marciano - Michles, Guy Nir, Maya Shkedi, Maya Assif – Ashkenazi, Nimrod Olinsky, Yael Korach - Yoash, Shimrit Rokach – Cohen, Ori Nahum, Ruth Tam, Viki Kossenko, Udi Shemesh, Ziv Waks, Shani Zohar – Cohen.
Zur Moshe is known to be the largest “Moshav” (co-operative settlement) in Israel, with almost 3,000 members. Zur Moshe was established in the 1930s by young pioneers from Thessaloniki, Greece. Originally developed along a main axis, today Zur Moshe is divided into separated, mainly residential areas, that lack a center, accessed and connected via pedestrian routes, that could strengthen the historic essence and identity of the place. A new master plan was recently completed, aiming to re-design the public center of Zur Moshe.
The workshop team started with a site visit on the second day of ECOWEEK, hosted by Zur Moshe community. The tour included visits to the proposed site for the restoration of ‘Homa & Migdal’ (wall & tower), the ‘Clemantina’ (Citrus) House, and the Art Gallery located in the former silo factory.
The team divided up into three groups to develop a variety of design solutions, starting from macro scale and the re - organizing & planning of the Zur Moshe center, proceeding with the micro scale, and the design of two abandoned buildings. The aim was to re-design them for new uses, upgrade them and improve their environmental behavior. Two new uses were introduced: one serving the community and one to promote tourism.
The Cultural Center
The team proposed a new cultural center for the Zur Moshe community and for local visitors. The planning took into consideration the elimination of an existing road, in order to unify two fragmented open spaces into a new central main square for Zur Moshe. This new center, would have an open terraced amphitheater, and connections to local historic and cultural landmarks. The main square would also be surrounded by educational facilities (made of recycled and reclaimed materials) and community gardens that would generate small scale agriculture – the traditional occupation of the Zur Moshe community – serving as a means of transferring values from the elder to the younger generation. The design follows the principles of passive solar design and ecological buildings, combining landscaping solutions to the proposed buildings.
The Documentation Center
The ‘Clemantina’ (Citrus) House located on a hill near the entrance, was originally used as a bakery and later as a packaging facility for citrus produce. Today the building stands abandoned. The team decided to focus on this building, with historic value to the local community, and to give it a new use: a Documentation Center that will also incorporate ecological values. The proposed design is based on a continuous walk through the building, with documents, objects, archival materials placed and presented along along the path, connecting the historical material to the experience in the present. At the main entrance, also included in the new master plan, would be an exhibit of large scale equipment and machinery, directly related and extending the exhibition inside the building. The design of the building combines passive and active solutions to increase the environmental behavior and thermal comfort of the building, and reduce the use of energy for lighting, heating and cooling. All building aspects maintain Ecological fitted elements to achieve a better use of the energy. The existing walls & openings are based well enough to get the great circulation for it, and we chose a verity of improved details to gain this goal.
Silo Factory Art Gallery
The silo factory is a classic example of industrial architecture, used to store food. The silo factory is built of reinforced concrete, with drum shaped structures with intake at the top and emptying opening at the bottom. The team decided to locate in the building an Art Gallery and a café, offering a space for temporary exhibitions, that would attract local visitors. The design took into consideration natural daylight through existing openings, and maintaining the exterior building form, while replacing some of the exterior walls with transparent glass surfaces. They would serve both to increase daylight in the building, but also to increase passive solar heat gain in the winter. To increase natural ventilation in the building, the team proposed to increase existing openings and to add a wind chimney.
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