Voices of Desert Architecture
Curator: Hadas Kedar
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Yuval Albeck; Sharon Barak; Yael Ben David; Yotam Bloch; Or Brindt; Matat Gome; Arie Hayun & Ronnen Toker; Neta Hovel; Daniel Kolantarov; Einat Leibovich; Gila Margolin; Ella Menache; Ofri Matek; Shir Moshe; Hila Rahima; Zlil Yoffe Simhon; Dori Yamin.
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Arad Contemporary Art Center
2017
Arad, as a new Israeli city, established by the Israeli government, is unique in several ways compared to other new cities that had preceded it. The planning of Arad began a new period in Israeli urban design; new Israeli towns built before Arad, were planned as centralized urban centers while Arad is the first Israeli city that was planned as a longitudinal city.
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Before the building of Arad, the population of new towns in Israel was based on new immigrants, while in Arad, the original population was based on veteran Israeli citizens that wanted to live there. Furthermore, until Arad, new towns were designed by urban designers who worked and did all the planning in their offices in Tel-Aviv; while in the case of Arad, and only in the case of Arad, the urban planners and designers of the city went to the actual location, erected a frontal field base, and made all the planning for the city while living on location.
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Therefore, Arad, as a milestone in Israeli urban design, is a magnet for artistic-architectural reference which is the core of this exhibition. Students of the WIZO Academic Center in Haifa studying urban planning, designing and building, respond to Arad from their unique points of view; they capture the city’s architecture, the ways it meets the desert and its unique planning. The exhibition demonstrates their impressions, displays a unique architectural viewpoint enabling new discoveries even to longtime residents of Arad.
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