Fact File
Client: Haifa University
New wing size: 5,000 M2
Renovation: 3,000 M2
Location: Haifa, Israel
Photo credit: Amit Geron
Source: V2.com
This project located in Haifa, Israel, is an intervention project in one of the most iconic sites of modernist Israeli architecture – the Oscar Niemeyer planned campus of the University of Haifa.
The architecture competition asked for remodeling of existing library spaces and an addition to house office spaces, an auditorium, and new spaces for library collections. The scheme aimed at extracting the original intentions of the campus while updating its weaker moments. This was achieved by placing the new building under an existing parking lot and creating a new open space between it and the existing library. This open space offers new connections between the two parts, and its unique proportions allow for evaluation of the linear intensity of the original design.
The architectural intervention into this iconic building in Israel is aimed at a re-activation of its public interphase and modern promise
Principal Architect: Asaf Lerman
The material strategy is also meant to amplify the qualities of the original by using updated concrete techniques and placing central elements such as circular concrete stairs as a homage to Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and his contemporary approach. Though its design is an architectural statement that is diametrically opposed to Niemeyer’s monumental 1964 plan for the University campus, yet, it successfully takes on Niemeyer’s radical modernism.
