Page 266 - The Architecture of Nadler-Nadler-Bixon-Gil
P. 266
1960–62 Beit Elisheva, Jerusalem
Elisheva Kaplan-Eshkol Women’s Center for Training
and Culture, by the Women’s Labor Council
David and Paula Ben-Gurion with Beit Elisheva was built on a 4000 m² corner plot
Beba Idelson at the inauguration in Jerusalem’s old Katamon neighborhood, by the
ceremony, 1962 Women’s Labor Council of the Clalit Histadrut workers
דוד ופולה בן גוריון עם בבה אידלסון organization. Named after Elisheva Eshkol – the
1962 ,בטקס חנוכת הבית founder of the women’s council and wife of Levi Eshkol,
Finance Minister at the time and later Prime Minister –
p. 262: Western façade, 1962 the building incorporated professional training, home
1962 , חזית מערבית:262 'עמ education, an ulpan for Hebrew courses, a nursery
and daycare center, an exhibition hall and a 500 seat
conference hall.
The building comprises two long box shaped
units whose straight lines form the shape of an L
that repeats the meeting of the nearby streets. One
single-story unit runs along the side of an inclined
street following the natural topography and ending at
a slant that partially submerges the ground level. The
second unit, double-story, floats above an open pilotis
level, with its edge extending above the lower unit and
out into the street. Both units are clad in hewed and
polished limestone with a seemingly marble-like finish,
and only the ground level at the edge of the lower unit
is clad in natural stone. The windows were designed as
narrow strips that stretch across the entire length of the
façade emphasizing the horizontality of the building and
creating a play of light and shadows.
Over the years the building was altered with
some additions made by the firm. Today the building
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