Page 394 - The Architecture of Nadler-Nadler-Bixon-Gil

1965 –72 The Builders’ Insurance
Fund Building, Jerusalem

Today Clalit Health Services Clinic

This office building, which the firm began designing in
1965 and continued following the arrival of Moshe Gil,
was meant to house the offices of the Builders’ Insurance
Fund established in 1945. Whereas the use of smooth
hewn stone for façade cladding was maintained, the
box-like lightness that characterized the firm’s early
projects in Jerusalem – such as the the International
Cultural Center for Youth in Jerusalem (1956-60) or Beit
Elisheva (1960-62) – was here replaced with a heavy,
even fortified, massiveness. This is due to the structure’s
massive protrusions and horizontal and vertical grooves
on the facades (these serve as windows, some the height
of a standing person, others of seated people). The
building’s mass is fragmented into square subunits that
are a recurring element on the facades emphasizing the
building’s sculptural aspect and allowing a play of light
and shadows.

Drawing of the work space in a
typical office (top) and elevation
details (bottom), 1965
‫תרשים של סביבת עבודה במשרד‬
‫טיפוסי (למעלה) ותרשימים של פרטי חזית‬
1965 ,)‫(למטה‬

p. 390: Entrance, 1972
1972 ,‫ כניסה‬:390 '‫עמ‬

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