SANAA's new campus for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem is now set for a 2022 opening. Initially proposed in 2013, the new project for Israel’s national school of art broke ground back in 2015. The campus is being built in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem’s City Center. The design will bring together 2,500 students and 500 faculty members as the school moves from the current Mount Scopus Campus. The new campus aims to revitalize the city center and connect to the urban fabric of Jerusalem.
The location of the new campus sits at the physical crossroads of East and West Jerusalem where secular, religious, Orthodox, and Muslim residents can come together. The 400,000 square foot campus will house a library, galleries, workshops, classrooms, studios, offices, auditoriums, a cafeteria, and a shop. The building will also be accessible to the general public and visitors from abroad through exhibitions and events. The new campus will facilitate interdepartmental collaboration among the Academy’s nine departments and allow for active social and cultural involvement in the city’s life.
The design will be spread over six floors, two of which will be below ground. The design consists of exposed concrete slabs that follow the natural gradient of the landscape. The total construction cost of creating Bezalel's new downtown campus is estimated at $100 million. Equipping and moving into the new facility is estimated at an additional $10 million, and creating a Maintenance Fund to support the ongoing operation of the New Campus will be an additional $15 million.
The Academy is currently on target for the school's opening in 2022.
SANAA Unveils Plans for New Downtown Arts & Design Campus in Jerusalem
Today, SANAA (Sejima & Nishizawa and Associates) unveiled plans for a 400,000 square-foot building in Jerusalem that will form a new, interdisciplinary downtown campus for the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.
