From A Sign To A Place
Netaniel Telzak, 2009-2010
The Studio Formal/Informal is located at the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, in East Jerusalem. For this project I examined the different forms of settlement in the village and the morphology of the buildings.
The core of the project is based on the following themes – Time Axis; Direction and Intention; Language.
Time Axis: In my research I intended to examine the settlement along the time-line; how a structure grows and develops in a unique fashion that corresponds with the area.
The construction begins with an architectural marking of the premises; this signifies a declaration of intentions to the surroundings – of appropriation of the asset and designating it for construction. At this point the authorities view the marking as a sign for a possible intention to break the law which requires monitoring.
First there is the marking of the plot lines, creating a gate without a wall, a staircase, building a house on stilts (and filling ground pages later) and more. And thus – the sign transforms from a symbol to a function, and from a declaration of intent into fact.
After the core of the building is constructed, and the intention to expand it further arises, starts a process of negotiation; a negotiation between the shape of the structure and the topography, the neighbors and the formal local authorities. Setting the limits of space and structure is also dynamic, and depends on their various uses throughout the day. In addition, the space can change hands in the sense that anyone may own it while using it, but it would not be permanent. The most fitting example for this is the courtyard; located between the houses, it lends itself to a variety of uses during the day (games, laundry, cooking etc.), and the identity of the users changes as well.
Direction and Intention: In this steep topography of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, a tension resides between the horizontal and vertical. Since humans do not live diagonally, some choose the vertical direction, while others choose the horizontal one.
During my research I spoke with the residents of the area, seeking the initial act through which I would generate this project. Consequently, I have chosen to create a community center that exists on the tension between the horizontal (field) and the vertical (lighthouse). The decision to create a field and a lighthouse was derived from the residents’ desire to have light during nighttime and for a playground that would be located near their houses.
The field and the lighthouse encompass both the sign and the declaration of intention for growth, as well as the function they can take upon themselves; the field, which begins as a soccer field, will create around itself tribunes for the audience, which will later be used as tribunes for the performance stage located under the field. In addition, the field is being used as a town square and serves the proximate coffee shop and restaurant.
The field maintains the green continuum, since it is located in a former agriculturist area (wadi), between two olive groves. Besides these different activities, the field also serves as the transition between the two banks of the valley – when the tribunes are used as stairs. The commercial area of the building is located in the plain – where trade is usually conducted. In this part of the structure there is a Passage, which facilitates movement between the two banks.
The lighthouse illuminates the field and allows life to take place during nighttime. Its staircase is the staircase of the community center and is a part of the building. The lighthouse can be spotted from all over the village and it marks the center, thus it is used both as a marker and as an artifact.
Language: To express the tension that exists between the formal and the informal, I have chosen to use a detail that constitutes a declaration of intent; at first this detail has a specific function such as a bicycle facility, bench, fence, etc. Later on it can be turned into a wall or building. Beyond its symbolic and functional aspects, it should be stated that legally there is no violation of the formal construction law.
This detail has membrane-like qualities of transparency, acoustics and of use, which are in negotiation with the environment in order to define the boundaries of space. The nature of the wall will be determined by the type of activity and event that occurs around it.
Similar to the language of the settlement in the area, this language creates a ‘box within a box’; over time the house grows from a single room into multiple rooms, much like the fence grows to be a wall which eventually becomes a room. Thus, in this project the community center and the commercial center grow as a box within a box, eventually uniting into an overarching box that contains them both. This box is not in fact closed in practice, but rather it is closed in the conceptual sense.