Jerusalem | Museum of Tolerance | Chyutin Architects

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Years in the works, a planned Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem took a significant step forward this week when the Simon Wiesenthal Center unveiled new architectural designs for the structure, saying that the museum is likely to be completed in four years.

The new design, which was created by the Israeli firm Chyutin Architects, calls for a six-story structure -- three stories below ground and three above -- with approximately 150,000 to 160,000 square feet of space. By comparison, the Center's main facilities in Los Angeles total about 110,000 square feet of space.

The complex is expected to feature exhibition space, a theater, an educational center as well as an outdoor sunken area in front of the building with a garden and amphitheater.

With an estimated price tag of $100 million, the new museum is significantly less expensive than the one designed by Frank Gehry, which would have cost at least $250 million, according to the Center.

Earlier this year, Gehry and the Center decided to part ways on the project in part because the Center's board of trustees wished to downsize the museum in response to the slumping economy.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance, said that the organization held a competition between three Israeli architecture firms, and that the board unanimously chose the design put forth by Chyutin.
So far, the Center has raised about 50% of the budget needed to complete the new museum. "We are confident that we will raise the money once the construction begins," said Hier on the phone from Jerusalem.

The planned museum has been a source of controversy in recent years because it is being built on what was once a part of a Muslim cemetery. Arab leaders in Israel sued to halt the museum after bones were unearthed from the site, with some calling the project a form of religious and ethnic oppression.

In late 2008, Israel's Supreme Court gave the OK for the project to continue but required that museum builders consult with Israel's Antiquities Authority on how to rebury any remains unearthed during construction and on creating a barrier between graves and the building's foundation.

Hier said Tuesday that the site has been verified as cleared of graves and that recovered bones have been re-interred elsewhere.

The front of the new museum will face a commercial area while the back faces Independence Park in Jerusalem. The Center said the back features glass walls from top to bottom, seen below, to create a warmer and more inviting atmosphere.

Fonte: LA Times

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Chyutin Architects won the international competition to design the new Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem.

Architect’s vision:

The Museum of Tolerance is located at the heart of modern Jerusalem, in its rejuvenated city center, on the borderline between the spacious Independence Park, and the urban built environment. The location is a meeting site of three main streets which differ in character and function. Hillel street: a bustling commercial zone; Moshe Ben Israel street: a road crossing the park; and Moshe Salomon street- Nachalat Shiva’s pedestrian mall, a tourist hub, full of restaurants and shops.

The buildings surrounding the museum site have diverse architectural characteristics, representing the history of Jerusalem architecture from the 19th century up today. We wanted the MOTJ building to be integrated into the landscape without overshadowing the preexisting urban setting on the one hand, while asserting its own unique character on the other, an iconic structure that reflects transparency and openness and generates visual interest at close and distant views. The MOTJ is to act as a bridge between the different architectural styles present in its location on one hand, while stylistically using contemporary architectural language and exploring advanced technology and materiality. We wanted the MOTJ building to stand in the warm embrace of the urban fabric and the park around it, shinning as a jewel set to the skyline of Jerusalem.

in http://www.evolo.us/architecture/museum-of-tolerance-in-jerusalem-chyutin-architects/#more-5718