National Library of Israel אדריכלות ישראלית Architecture of Israel #136 February 2024 | | 18 project of the season the national library of israel, kiryat haleom, Jerusalem Eli Leffler Ten years after the winner of the National Library Planning Competition was declared (and then rejected) - out of 80 proposals submitted by the best architects in the country, the new building was completed by the Swiss firm of Herzog & de Meuron, in cooperation with the local office of Man Shinar Architects, for whom the building is one more mega project completed in recent years - among them, Ramon International Airport, the Department of Fashion Design at Shenkar as well as the Municipal Sea Front project at Haifa Port, where construction has just begun. Being a statutory institution, the National Library, designed to preserve a comprehensive collection of relevant material printed in Israel in particular, and the Jewish world in general, is one of the symbolic buildings of the State of Israel, grouped alongside the Knesset, the Israel Museum, the Supreme Court and various government buildings. An academic institution previously named The National House of Books, the library currently contains over five million printed items, and as a research institution, is under the purview of nearby Hebrew University. Accordingly, the library, with all its diverse collections and spaces is intended to serve as a meeting place for learning, research, discussion, observation, and even a source for inspiration. The building is comprised of three main parts. The monolithic main volume, its design inspired by the Western Wall, is stone clad (in accordance with the by-law requiring that, almost without exception, buildings built in Jerusalem be stone clad). Specially designed openings aim towards specific vistas, to the Israel Museum, the Knesset and to the surrounding cityscape. Formal tension is created between the triangular monolith which follows the plot's borders, while the light, orthogonal base carrying it, inspired by the traditional Jerusalem courtyard, produces prominent consoles that provide shading onto both the lower floors and parts of the garden surrounding the structure. The elimination of common fences around the building’s grounds was an important goal in design, with the aim of making it inviting and welcoming to the public. As a result, (by the way, similar to the Supreme Court complex) the public can fully experience the library gardens, as opposed to the other nearby government buildings. The building stands on a hill - there is a height difference of about eight meters between Kaplan and Rupin Streets - which was excavated during the construction process but restored with concrete consoles to create five vitrine levels below ground level which hold the Matmon (“buried treasure”) - the main storage area of over 4 million items, with automatic storage conveyors 20 meters high. A dedicated reading hall was also designed under the layer of concrete of the Matmon, which includes a collection of rare books and valuable items, such as original manuscripts by Maimonides, Newton, Kafka, Einstein, etc. The basement also houses parking, support functions and an energy center which enables cleaning of the concave roof via technical systems, as well as offices (in levels -1) illuminated with natural light via two English courtyards. In terms of the interior, the heart of the project is the Book Well - a ringed sequence of reading spaces and bookshelves connecting the three parts of the building. At the bottom of the cave-like cavity, one sees the Matmon - the five storage levels in the belly of the earth, along with the robotic system which serves them. In compliance with LEED Platinum building standards, many systems are designed for energy saving, including a ring of photo-voltaic panels surrounding the central skylight, inserting filtered natural light and a natural cooling system, with cold air passively "pasteurizing" the night through the grill above the underground garden, from which it is pumped back to the air conditioning system during the day. The building is wrapped with a curated Jerusalem Garden, with an open, shaded public plaza cantilevered 26 meters beyond the console of the foundation floor. An open sculpture, Letters of Light, by artist Micha Ullman erects a Stonehengelike solar clock surrounding the glass-filled letters "Alef" in Hebrew, ״Alif״ in Arabic and ״A״ in English carved into the ceiling of the meditative space below.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzNzA=