National Memorial on mount Herzl

The Mount Herzl Memorial Hall is a unique place of commemoration. It’sraison d’etreis to be amemorial for all the fallen soldiers of the country, and thus contains all their names.It is a project of hopefor peaceful times.Set in a calm biblical scenery, but adjacent to the nowadays busy streets of Jerusalem, the space isisolated and quiet. It was excavated in the mountain to form an intimate space for both personal andcollective experiences of commemoration. Above the hall, the mountain is reconstructed of curvedtopographies made of Jerusalem stone. An undulating funnel-shaped formation of bricks opens theexcavated hall to the sky. Its irregular vortex shape floods the space with ever-changing natural light.It is constructed of uniform extruded Aluminium bricks, each CNC’d and marked to get it’s specificjoints’ locations, to allow for the assembly on site of the irregular, unique structure. At the upper end of the roof, spaced stone slabs are designed to allow air flow and natural ventilationthrough the roof.The names, engraved on stone bricks, form a longWall of Names, which wraps around the funnel oflight. Following a spiral ramp up the memorial, the wall is built of 24,000 stone bricks, each engravedwith the name of a fallen soldier, his death date, and a light-candle to be lit every year on that date.

What makes this project one-of-a-kind?

The projects, by its design, takes the visitors away from their daily life in the city intoa special state of mind. Of contemplation, it givesa unique experience that allowsreflecting on memory and pain,on the past and the future.The project creates a non-religious sacred place.