Project Description
Pliskin Architecture’s entry for the competition to design a new music conservatory in Mevaseret Zion, a small town located west of Jerusalem. The competition was organized by the Israeli Association of Architects, together with a non-profit active within the community and that is engaged in music programs for groups and individuals across a board age spectrum. The project site for the music school sits at an intersection of built fabric and open terrain, overlooking a scenic valley.
Our Proposal leverages this opportunity and maintains a visual connection with the landscape by lifting the primary, private programs to a second level while maintaining only the most public programs at the ground level. The landscape is developed to allow a gradual transition between hardscape and softscape, encouraging various activities. Public functions like the auditorium, the choir room, and the orchestra are located in transparent glass boxes which can be closed for privacy using acoustic curtains, allowing different acoustic conditions depending on the type of music rehearsed. Private educational spaces are housed in a second floor surrounded by a perforated stone veil, offering a contemporary interpretation of the ubiquitous stone materiality of Jerusalem and the region.