Gerard Heumann, at The Blogs

Sep 18, 2023, 10:38 PM

The expanding trend of global architecture in Israel

Cultural identities that over centuries were based on geographical boundaries have in our time been broken down, supplanted by an ever expanding global culture. This trend, as in many other aspects of our lives, is clearly reflected in the...

Sep 14, 2023, 6:35 AM

In a world of its own

Following years of construction, the new National Library of Israel in the Government Center, built with funds donated by the Rothchild (Yad Hanadiv) and Gottesman families, is slated to open its doors in October. The subject of an architectural competition...

Aug 27, 2023, 12:32 PM

The ‘Center of Life’ fiasco

Computerized simulation of competition's winning entry. The placement of the wide 24-story tower enough to disqualify this project in seconds in any fair competition. (Farhi Zafrir Architects)

"Center of Life" is the name given to an extremely large and strategically located area at the southern end of Beit Hakerem. Its urban context includes Herzl Boulevard, a major public transport corridor with the Yefe Nof light-rail station...

Jul 19, 2023, 2:59 PM

Meeting places for our divided times

$Perspective sketch for the Safra Square Design Competition entered in partnership with Prof, Beni Reuven Levy, the former Dean of the School of Architecture - Ariel University, several years ago.\$

Viable urban places are the very heart of our cities, some would say their definition, one of the most significant elements in an urban environment, related to the hearts and minds of people, places where humanity becomes human, where...

Jun 29, 2023, 5:59 PM

Connecting the dots

Judea and Samaria have been under Israel's custody for 56 years during which time Israeli settlements, Arab villages and cities have become inextricably intertwined. Isn't it time to think clearly and bring this critically important area to order? The massive...

Jun 18, 2023, 11:07 AM

‘There’s an elephant in the room’

Quoted above is a senior planning and building bureaucrat, a deputy division head, close to Jerusalem City Engineer Yoel Even. Several concerned members of the Beit Hakerem neighborhood Physical Planning Committee had come to Safra Square to meet with...

Jun 13, 2023, 10:55 AM

Is the Israel Lands Authority just a business?

"Markets were made to serve us; we were not made to serve markets. They depend on respect for the people affected by our decisions. Lose that and we will lose not only money and jobs but something more significant...

Jun 2, 2023, 2:55 PM

Make technology parks part of our cities

Conceived from their outset as isolated single-use enclaves bearing little or no relation to their immediate physical and natural urban context, Jerusalem's technology parks at Malcha and Har Hotzvim initiated by the Jerusalem Development Authority have failed completely in...

May 29, 2023, 2:03 PM

Seaside

Promenade des Anglais. (Wikimedia Commons)

Israel's precious, priceless and tiny Mediterranean coastline extends for just 195 kilometers along the Mediterranean Sea from Rosh Hanikra to the north of Gaza, its sloping shoreline filled with sand, historical sites and a rich biodiversity. Unfortunately, man-made development...

May 19, 2023, 3:16 PM