The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Interior PhotographyThe Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography, Wood, Deck, HandrailThe Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior PhotographyThe Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography, Aerial View PhotographyThe Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - More Images+ 16

  • Architect In Charge: Schwartz Besnosoff Architects
  • Partner In Charge: Gaby Schwartz
  • Project Architects: Omri schwartz, Nir Ovadya, Tomer Kopel
  • Competition Team: Schwartz Besnosoff Architects
  • Landscape: Raviv Tal
  • Traffic: Yehuda eshed
  • Lighting Design: Orly avron Elkabetz
  • Parametric Modeling: Paragroup
  • Electricity: Liebu Shtadlan
  • Project Management: Nitzan Inbar
  • Steel Manufacturing: Isaa Houry
  • City: Haifa
  • Country: Israel
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The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Interior Photography
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

Text description provided by the architects. The projects brief was to plan a new entrance gate to the Technion (I.I.T - Israel institute of technology) located in Haifa, Israel. A gate that will represent the Technion’s values of Excellence and Innovation and will ensure safe & controlled entry process. Our project links between two existing but disconnected promenades– the first arrives from the city (ends next to the gate) and the second departs near the entry gate inside the campus towards the campus historic center. The project offers a new interpretation to the idea of a “Gate” – not a brier or a separator but as a bridge that connects the city and the campus through a green promenade.

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Image 18 of 21
Detail Section

The Technion's human assets (students, faculty and graduates) have always been its top priority, together with its awareness and sensitivity to the built and natural environment. Excellence & distinction are some of the central qualities that the institute aspires to. These characteristics are proudly reflected by the quality of research, Nobel laurates, and leading graduates who compose the backbone of the Hi-Tech community in Israel and worldwide. The Technion’s old entrance, didn’t match it’s functional or representational needs. Student & visitors entered through sun flooded sidewalks, along busy roads, creating both an unsafe and unpleasant environment for the beginning of another day on campus. 

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography, Wood, Deck, Handrail
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

Our project Identified existing potentials as the starting point for the planning: An existing campus promenade full of shade located right next to the Technion’s entrance. The promenade ends in the center of the campus. An urban promenade that ends just outside the campus entrance. A unique topographic situation enables to create a continuous movement above existing road. Near and far views+ green environment By Identifying these potentials, the project creates a spatial connection between the city and the campus through a new public space for the students & visitors.

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

Gate - Usually we look at gates as a barrier between two points. The project offers a new meaning to the idea of a “gate” as an urban platform that connects the city and the campus. The connection is made by a bridge that acts as a linkage between two existing promenades that didn’t meet. Through this connection a new urban sequence is made, a shady green promenade that enters from the city and passes through the Technion's main monuments and ends in the central lawn.

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography, Handrail
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

Pedestrian route - The Pedestrian route begins with a platform that utilizes the opposite slope of the topography to produce the desired height for vehicles to pass through, creating a safe and controlled entrance. After the security checkpoint, the path opens to a wide square, sloping with the declining topography - thus creating a dramatic view to the Haifa’s bay area and the Zyloni promenade. The space serves as an unformal square - a place for students waiting for their friends, for leisure activities, a stage for events, as well as a starting point for a campus visit. From there, the pedestrians walk to the Ziloni promenade leading to the Rifkin dorms and further to the campus’s heart.

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Interior Photography, Handrail
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects
The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Image 21 of 21
Detail Section
The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

We find in this connection, between the city and the green heart of the campus, a kind of a “green revolution”, an expression of the social and environmental significance, which are the basis of the Technion's values​. All this with little effort and maximizing the potential available on the site. We believe that the recognition of human capital and environmental potentials in combination with advanced technologies, creates a valuable solution, whose impact is significant (beyond the technical solution of regulating the entrance) and corresponds to the needs of the Technion, which is currently becoming one of the most influential academic institutions in the world. 

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

Our project redefines the concept of gates. not as a separator or as a barrier but as a connector, a public platform for events and activities connecting the city with the heart of the campus. The project was designed with advanced parametric tools to simplify its production process Although the complex and challenging shape. We believe that the recognition of human capital and environmental potentials in combination with advanced technologies, creates a valuable solution, whose impact is significant and corresponds to the needs of the Technion now and in the future.  

The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects - Exterior Photography
Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

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Project location

Address:Haifa, 3200003, Israel

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "The Technion’s Entrance Gate / Schwartz Besnosoff Architects" 06 Dec 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/952689/the-technions-entrance-gate-schwartz-besnosoff-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

Courtesy of Schwartz Besnosoff Architects

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