Designed by Irad Shomroni and Josef Shushan, the proposal for the Yad Le’Banim Building – Cultural and Memorial Center seeks to emphasize the duality between everyday life activities and commemoration. In a center that houses both cultural communal facilities that open daily and annual memorial ceremonies for casualties of war, the center is designed as a linear path. It gradually rises from Ramat Yishay’s main street, hovers above its surrounding garden, and eventually reaches a viewpoint towards the historical buildings of Ramat Yishay. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Yad Le’Banim center is to be situated at the entrance of Ramat Yishay, A town in northern Israel with strong local identity and rich community life. It did not seemed right to create at this site a closed indoor compound, but rather a semi open center. This center invites residents to take part in different community activities held in varied indoor and outdoor spaces. For this reason, it was important to create a sense of an open and inviting garden at the site. Several measures were taken to achieve this – minimal imprint of the built mass, preservation of the existing trees on site, free movement towards and from the site.
The project houses informal daily activities for individuals and small groups and also large ceremonial gatherings few times a year. Both indoor and outdoor spaces of the center contain these dualities. From the vegetation and natural topography of the open garden rise seating benches and a stage designated for large ceremonial gatherings.
The build mass is connected at its North West corner to Ramat Yishay’s main street. A community library facing the street invites pedestrians to take part. From that corner the building gradually rises above ground level, with classrooms and activity rooms hovering above and observing the garden. A memorial room is set at the highest point of the building. It dedicated to Ramat Yishay’s war casualties. The room observes the historic town hall.
Thus, a circle is created beginning with Ramat Yishay’s daily informal activity and ending with the commemoration of the town’s history.
Architects: Irad Shomroni and Josef Shushan Location: Ramat Yishay, Israel Area: 500 sqm Year: 2012
