Page 54 - The Architecture of Nadler-Nadler-Bixon-Gil

1946–74 Ruppin College of
Agriculture, Emek Hefer

Today Ruppin Academic Center: masterplan,
classroom buildings, dining hall, student dorms
First prize in competition

Porch in a classroom In the mid-1940s, the Ruppin Institute of Education
building, 1950 and Agricultural Studies, established by the Agriculture
1950 ,‫מרפסת בבניין כיתות‬ Workers Association, announced a public planning
competition for a central agricultural college on a
51 200,000 m² plot in Emek Hefer, for training workers and
youths from the moshavim (settlements) and kibbutzim
in various agricultural fields. The plan proposed by the
firm was based on a cluster of pitched-roof buildings
set around the slope of a bare hill, with wide greens
stretching between them that function as the social
center of campus life.

Around this center stands the school’s main
building with its administrative and pedagogic spaces,
staff living units, a dining hall and sport facilities. On the
west and east sides of the hill are single-story double-
winged classroom buildings and double-story multi-
winged buildings shared by the administrative staff and
the students, some with elongated porches looking
out to the valley. The student dorms are situated at the
southern foot of the hill, and a network of pedestrian
paths connects the various campus areas. The firm’s
work also included designing the interior furnishings,
such as desks, chairs, laboratory equipment and
light fixtures.

The firm was involved with the development of
the campus until 1974. The college’s association with
students primarily from the moshavim and kibbutzim