Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design – New Campus (By SANAA)
A new campus by SANAA and HQ Architects that will breath new life in Jerusalem’s historic Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, established in 1906, and will provide a new state-of-the-art- educational complex and a creative hub for the city that will cater for approximately 2,500 students and 500 faculty members.
Program Educational Complex
Client Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
Location Jerusalem, Israel
Appointment 2019
Status Under construction
Completion 2023
Size 42,000 m²
Architects KAZUYO SEJIMA + RYUE NISHIZAWA / SANAA and HQ Architects (Executive Architect)
Project Architect Riccardo Cannatá (SANAA), Asaf Dali (HQ Architects)
Team Erez Ella, Matan Sapir, Udi Shoshan, Michelle Hites, Raz Rozkin, Tslil Shai, Zivya Frieder (HQ Architects)
The site of the new campus for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is located on the top of a hill next to the Russian Compound, overlooking the old city of Jerusalem. The Academy is made up of nine departments, each with studios, classrooms, and workshops. The building will also house the administration offices and public areas such as galleries, a store, a cafeteria.
To promote interaction and communication between departments, the programs are placed on slabs stacked in a staggered manner. From each slab, students can see the other departments and activities above, below, and across in hopes to inspire multidisciplinary projects, new ideas, and friendships.
Ample room is reserved around each program to allow natural light and fresh to enter from above and from the sides, filtering into even the most central part of the building. Once a year, these open spaces are filled with student works to showcase their achievement to visitors.
Text and images courtesy of KAZUYO SEJIMA + RYUE NISHIZAWA / SANAA ©
