The Jewish Quarter, translated in Arabic as حارة اليهود is located in the southeastern part of the Old City of Jerusalem, and is one of four quarters of the Old City, alongside the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. About 4,200 residents live in the district, most of them religious Jews, and include residences, Jewish religious buildings, archeology and tourism sites, souvenirs and Judaica shops and restaurants. The house we were tasked to design is a centuries-old historic stone building in the urban Arab style characterized by great spaces, arches, and vaults. The house consists of four levels, the main challenge and purpose of the project was to give respect to the historical space and structure while preserving the original arches and vaults of the building.
The home's unique location evokes a magical atmosphere, a sacred sense of urbanity, modernity and fast pace of life as the home's balcony overlooks the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, two of the most important historical sites in the world. The design connects old to new, intending to create contrast and continuously put the two against each other, thus empowering each one individually - the ancient and the historical against the original and the modern.
In the renovation of the historic house, we faced many different challenges: non-irregular spaces, erect walls, many levels, difficulty in illuminating a height of 5m and handling modern building systems in a historic building. In order to maintain the charm of the historical building, special lighting has been designed to highlight the arches, vaults, and high spaces. All carpentry items in the house were designed specifically for the home by the architects. Defining furniture in a minimalist and warm style, using bright colors and clean geometric lines in order not to compete with the unique spaces of the home.
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