Ariel University
School of Architecture
P42 | BE’ER-SHEVA’S WELL. “...Because there both of them swore an oath.” (Genesis 21:31)
by Eitan Rubinstein
Architecture can save the world, or at least a neighborhood in Be'er Sheva called "Shcuna Dalet" (Neighborhood D). That is the basic premise upon which I wish to model my final project. For years, Be'er Sheva, Israel's main southern city, suffered from a beat down image as one of Israel's less attractive cities. Lack of work places, hot dessert climate and negative immigration, left the city in its desolation. However, after establishing one of the country's leading universities, the city of Be'er-Sheva has improved its image drastically. Thousands of students moved into the city bringing with them a new and young spirit of interacting and volunteering in the local community. It is my opinion that this wave of change in Be'er-Sheva, needs also places in which it can show itself. Beer-Sheva is missing the well (BE'ER) for which it is named -the place around which people gather with a sense of community and belonging. That "Well" was bricked up and closed by the wasteland of neighborhood projects that, despite their name, do nothing for neighborliness. This project attempts to retroactively peal away that brick and rediscover the well, allowing the community to build upon it a new neighborhood narrative.
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Eitan Rubinstein is 30 years-old, married with three children, from Jerusalem, Israel. In 2012 he graduated from the Ariel University School of Architecture and he is currently employed at Kolker-Kolker-Epstein Architects in Jerusalem. Prior to studying architecture, he studied education for two years with a goal of someday becoming a teacher. It was not until a random arts lesson that he decided to pursue a career in architecture. The ability of addressing the world without words, but by art itself fascinates him and he literally could not help himself but venture into this world. He feels that architecture has in fact a lot to do with education. An architect educated the world not by telling it Wright from wrong, but by opening new possibilities of being in the world. The Architect therefore asks the question of being –allowing the world to look for the answer.
School of Architecture
P42 | BE’ER-SHEVA’S WELL. “...Because there both of them swore an oath.” (Genesis 21:31)
by Eitan Rubinstein
Architecture can save the world, or at least a neighborhood in Be'er Sheva called "Shcuna Dalet" (Neighborhood D). That is the basic premise upon which I wish to model my final project. For years, Be'er Sheva, Israel's main southern city, suffered from a beat down image as one of Israel's less attractive cities. Lack of work places, hot dessert climate and negative immigration, left the city in its desolation. However, after establishing one of the country's leading universities, the city of Be'er-Sheva has improved its image drastically. Thousands of students moved into the city bringing with them a new and young spirit of interacting and volunteering in the local community. It is my opinion that this wave of change in Be'er-Sheva, needs also places in which it can show itself. Beer-Sheva is missing the well (BE'ER) for which it is named -the place around which people gather with a sense of community and belonging. That "Well" was bricked up and closed by the wasteland of neighborhood projects that, despite their name, do nothing for neighborliness. This project attempts to retroactively peal away that brick and rediscover the well, allowing the community to build upon it a new neighborhood narrative.
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