Page 398 - The Architecture of Nadler-Nadler-Bixon-Gil
P. 398
1994–99 Court of Law, Nazareth Illit
Section and site plan, 1994 As part of the reorganization of the National Judicial
1994 ,חתך ותוכנית אתר Authority, a new court of law was founded in one of the
most prominent and visible places in the seam between
p. 394: Entrance lobby, 1999 the Arab town of Nazareth and the new town of Nazareth
1999 , מבואת הכניסה:394 'עמ Illit. The building’s location and design make it one of
395 the area’s most outstanding focal points. The building,
which measures 24,000 m², houses the nation’s northern
District, Magistrates and Labor courts. It also contains
lecture halls, a library, cafeteria, administration offices,
detention cells and an underground parking lot. In their
design, the architects combined objects borrowed from
the visual languages of the area’s varied populace, but on
the whole the building has an authoritative appearance
with its large vertical mass and slanted roofed turrets
and spires.
The building’s entrance façade surrounds an
open yard with sheltering terraces on its edges, and
metal latticework grating, glass cypress sculptures and
light fixtures all by the sculptor Ami Levi. The gate is
shaped as three open-sided pyramids fabricated from
steel beams that steer those entering toward a small
square which holds a security booth. In continuation with
the external yard, the internal spaces develop in a
continuum that begins at the lobby, which towers three
stories high, letting natural light in through a glass
screen-wall that leans against a steel frame. Opposite
the glass screen are three decorative arches made from
