Yerucham City Center Competition
Second Prize

Our entry in the Competition to redesign the Center of Yerucham focused on creating a core destination that would differentiate and enrich the city for decades to come. The existing design of the main street of the city is a wide and sunny thoroughfare that enables one to pass through the entire town without stopping or recognizing the center. Public and private buildings are arranged informally along this axis, but do not establish clear public spaces or hierarchies.

 

We chose to overlay this loose geometry with a clear and strongly defined marker of the city core. The main vehicular road is diverted around the center forming a new ring road that follows the path of existing open spaces and smaller roads. 

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Within this ring is 160 dunams of urban space which we endow with unique qualities and density.  The main public square incorporates fountains, public meeting venues, and an observation tower.  The central section of the former main boulevard is turned into a park filled with deciduous trees and water elements. 

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Surrounding this renewed section of town, we propose a new type of desert housing in a perforated grid of duplex courtyard villas. 

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The jury summed up our proposal: A fascinating and original entry that dares to redefine the entire concept of the city center. 

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