ONYX FINERY

摘要

In Jerusalem ― a center of religious fervor, ancient archeology, ethnic diversity, and political struggle ― a new building has joined the ranks of architecturally distinct government facilities in the National Precinct. The Jerusalem Foreign Ministry, a campus of five connected buildings, stands proudly above the agency's former homa ― originally an army camp of sheds put up by the British years before the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948. Remaining true to a municipal requirement that all city buildings be made of native stone (either limestone or dolomite), the design ― a joint effort by local firm Kolker Kolker Epstein (KKE) and Diamond & Schmidt Architects, Toronto ― blends the ancient with the modern within a highly secure environment. The relationship between KKE and Diamond & Schmidt's Jack Diamond dates back to 1988, when the designer, later a recipient of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's Gold Medal and considered among Canada's elite designers, chose KKE to be the local architects for the Jerusalem City Hall project.