The topographical conditions in Jerusalem had left a deep impact on the

city’s expansion scheme. As Israel’s largest city continues to grow in an

never ending sprawl, the project seeks to utilize the spaces left behind – the
steep valleys which form the many isolated Urban Islands. The site was
picked for standing as a typi-cal example of such discontinuity in the city’s
fabric, as well as having a rich cul-tural and historical background. This
allows for testing a systematic solution, both generic and site specific.
The Sultan’s Pool is an ancient water basin by the west side of Mount Zion, Jerusalem.
Its origins likely date to the time of Herod and some think it is the Snake pool
mentioned by Josephus. In Hasmonean times, water was fed into it via the lower
aqueduct. The Ottoman sultans (for whom the pool is named) enlarged it into a
reservoir. It was part of the water supply network for Jerusalem from antiquity to late
Ottoman Empire times.

After many years empty, dry and un-utilized the pool has been repurposed during the
1980’s into a wild urban park, occasionally being used to host large scale shows and
outdoor events. And yet, currently it is in a state of neglection. The project seeks to
revitalize the pool by co-inciding the different historically chronical programs side at
the same time – making an attractive public space for all times and scales.

The planning approach is to divide the site into two surfaces: one is the valley’s floor; the
other is the imagined “plaster” that would amend the discontinued urban fabric. the rela-
tion between the two surfaces creates a new 3d form that demonstrate the shift from a
gestural figure into the construction’s skeleton frame.
The new public space connects the city by its roof surface. Under the canopy lays a multi
configurated theatre as well as a new much needed natural public pool.