Designed by o2a studio, the man-made structure for the Natural History Museum in Jerusalem is designated to celebrate the transcendent force and majesty of nature, which is a contradiction in terms. The paradoxical question that arises when approaching the design of a building that is dedicated as a showcase for the unbuilt, is how does one bridge this conceptual gap between the man-made and the organic – between the artificial and the natural. The proposal aims to highlight this difficulty, while allowing for a composite coexistence between the natural and the artificial – interpreted here as ranging between various degrees of control. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Any act of building by default stands as an opposition to the environment, finding itself in a constant struggle against its natural surroundings. The question of what is considered natural and what is regarded as artificial is an ambiguous matter, essentially contextual, cultural and philosophical in its understanding.
