Common

The presented work focuses on the design of an Urban Kibbutz in the social, cultural and spatial context of Malha, Jerusalem. With particular regard to the specific characteristics of Jerusalem the potentials of a fruitful dialogue, collaboration and cohabitation are investigated.

The presented work investigates the interrelation of architecture to spaces of dialogue, cooperation and cohabitation. Targeting the qualities and potentials of an Urban Village the design seeks to elaborate innovative concepts of communal living and collaboration in a condensed urban settlement. In the overall context of Jerusalem and the particular site of investigation the project elaborates architectural ways of integrating potentials of communal life into a dense urban structure, which can foster quality of life. The translation of different forms of living and cultivating land into a spatial fabric and the consideration and incorporation of boundaries, negotiation and dialogue in a holistic vision for a sustainable future do thereby inspire to learn from Jerusalem.\nThe consideration of aspects of communal life, the qualities of the urban and cultivated landscapes and different levels of privacy shape the design of an urban village where natural, cultural and built landscape are understood as a holistic concept of a shared and sustainable habitat. The project thereby follows the objective to shape a place where individual narratives, local characteristics and a communal life can be articulated in spaces which provide a framework that does not only enclose but open up diverse possibilities for authentic experiences, social interaction and a local identity. \nThrough the incorporation of a program that fosters encounter, dialogue and cooperation as well as a dense fabric of neighborhood spaces, the design combines different local dimensions of density, which incorporate atmosphere, sensual experience, neighborhood relationships and social as well as spatial diversity in the spatial fabric. The presented work can therefore be summarized as the spatial approach to render the concept of an Urban Kibbutz as a framework for a local lifestyle, social neighborhoods and an authentic sensual experience of a high-quality habitat Jerusalem.