The centenary celebrations of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design will be completed with an international architectural competition for the design of Bezalel’s new 9,000-sq.m. campus in the Russian Compound in downtown Jerusalem. The $60 million project will take 6-10 years to build.
The ministerial committee for Jerusalem decided to allocate the site to Bezalel a year ago. The Jerusalem municipality welcomes and supports the project. The move to a new campus is part of plans to expand Bezalel, increase its student body and add new departments.
Participants in the competition will be required to design one or more buildings intended to promote a creative atmosphere and maximize interaction between Bezalel’s departments. The campus will include extensive public spaces by utilizing an open design to encourage movement and 24-hour activity.
The first stage of the competition will be open, from which three to five proposals will be selected for the second stage. Four architect firms will be invited in advance: Rosenfeld Arens Architects Ltd., Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects, London firm Foreign Office Architects, a fourth firm that has not yet been chosen.
The winners of the first stage are due to be announced in January 2007, and the second stage in June. For further details: Bezalel Competition.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on September 10, 2006
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