The project is for the design of the municipal building in the southern
city of Eilat.
It is based on three main guiding principles:
coping with
the hot and dry climate existing in Eilat.
transforming
the city hall and its surrounding square into an active and vibrant space
throughout the entire day.
linking the
city hall to its surrounding urban context, both spatially and through
materiality.
In order to sustain these principles the building is designed as a simple
form, slit throughout in order to allow the offices to face shaded inner courts
and provide shaded circulation. The slits face the prevailing winds creating
corridors cooled by the breeze while still allowing natural daylight. The
building is raised above the square, shading the spaces underneath it and
thereby providing different activities screened from the sun. The square itself
is a continuous ramp linking the city with its new civic center. The areas
underneath the square serve as commercial spaces linking the adjacent streets.
Red sandstone which is characteristic to the area is used to clad the square
and building, connecting them with the surrounding Edom mountains.
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