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I chose to speak about the architectural sketch
as a tool of bringing an idea to a building in competitions
Competitions is something that our practice deals with intensly
And it engages us all as architects
And I just now sat at the other side of the table
Acting as a jury member in a competition organized by the [ZEZEZE] gallery
For the design of a day-care center in Beer-Sheba for people with special needs
We received 120 submission, and we had to review each one
And it was very difficulty to identify the good submissions from this multitude of projects
I think that one of the reason for that is that they were all in the same format
The format we all submit in today, which is actually
Computer-based drawings, all those pseudo-realistic visualizations
Because of the amount of details in those visualizations
The visualization which is supposed to convey the idea
in the quickest, simplest, most coherent way,
Actually you can't understand the idea behind the building.
The computer-generated visualization, instead of complimenting the project,
Instead of making it clear and understandable to everyone
It turns into a plethora of details
And we can't understand the idea which the building should be about.
A good visualization requires going into many details
Materials, proportions,
Details which are not actually connected to the competition stage,
They are connected to the planning stage we should be doing later, if we win the competition
That bought us to the issue of the sketch.
Actually in the past, not too long ago, 15 years ago,
Competitions, actually all work, was done by hand, creating sketches
So I have here a few examples of competitions from the time of the sketch
To show how an idea in a sketch, and especially in a competition,
Is conveyed in such a clear and beautiful manner.
The first project everyone is familiar with
Utzon's Sidney Opera House
There's the story about one of the jury members, Finnish [American] architect [Eero] Saarinen,
Who arrived a day later to the jury meetings
And they told him, from the 500 submission we chose the 10 in this room
The others are in the next room
So he said I'll just have a quick look to see what projects you rejected
He shortly returned with Utzon's project
And said, Gentlemen we have the winner
All on the basis of this sketch which actually shows
The idea of some clouds hovering above the sea
Or the chinese temple, with the large roof hovering above the plateau
So Utzon's idea, these concrete shells,
These concrete shells hovering above the podium
The podium which is the performance halls
This was also submitted to the competition
The part above, you can't see it, is the plan,
And this concept, the hovering roof, including a structural concept
In practice, the structural concept of the shells didn't really work
And they turned into a structure of concrete ribs
But I think it doesn't matter. What matters is that the final result,
even after all the hardships, it was a difficult project to carry out,
The final project we see is very similar to the idea,
And the idea is a hovering roof above a plateau.
In the same year, 1957,
Ulrik Plesner, who is sitting here,
Who is our partner and by chance also our father,
Or not so much by chance,
Submitted a proposal for a competition to design a Buddha monument
To mark 2,500 years of Buddha in the south of India
Here also the plan is simple, it's difficult to see the section in the projection,
But this is also a dome made from a concrete shell,
I guess it was then in fashion,
leaning on arches coming out of the center,
With Buddha sitting at the center
The dome itself is a gold leaf dome
Hovering above the ground.
This is the competition submission, it hangs today in the work area in our offices,
This is the structural plan,
And this is the ground plan
Although this plan changed Ulrik's life,
Following it he worked for nearly 15 years in Sri Lanka,
He didn't win the competition but the competition changed his life.
Another competition a few years later, I believe it was 1959,
The competition to design the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, won by Al Mansfeld
This sketch shows the entire concept of the museum
You don't need visualizations, floor plans, area sections,
All of the foolish things we do all the time
There's the building, made up of squares and squares, like the Arab village,
Made up of fixed modules integrated into the topography, sitting on the hill
Allowing modular construction
And I think that even the new addition made now
Continues in the spirit of this concept
Which was already expressed in the competition.
This is perhaps not the best photo of the museum, but
When you look at it, looking from Metudela street in Jerusalem
Looking at the Rehavya valley and the museum sitting on top
It is exactly a kind of an interpretation of the Arab village.
The last project I want to show is the last competition we did in our office
Still in the era of the sketch
The competition to design the rowing club, not far from here on Rokach [blvd.]
We submitted this sketch and a hand-drawn plan
The idea of the large roof, like an upsidedown boat,
And underneath it the balcony encircling the building
and all the activity rooms and the boat hold
The roof material is not clear, as are the proportions, it's still a sketch,
But the idea is the same idea that
Was eventually created,
The proportions are more refined, the roof is made of copper,
The small building in the front was not built,
But the concept remains unchanged.
This is the building.
In summary, the point I would like to make is, that actually
Although we think... the sketch, the possibility to create sketches
Made it possible to participants in competitions
To first of all show a concept, show an idea,
Not commit to a budget, materials, realization
But to show an idea in a very clear way.
In competition today we are swamped with details
which are really irrelevant, of facades, materials, budget estimates,
We are actually asked to half of the work which is what we should be doing later on
The jurors can also identify an idea more easily
Out of a conceptual sketch of the idea
Without the details you can get hung up on which are irrelevant to this stage.
I think I managed to convey the idea...