In recent years, the Jerusalem municipality has adopted a series of measures for strengthening the city center. Among other things, the Mamilla shopping mall was opened connecting the center with the Old City, and Jaffa Street was renewed and turned into a pedestrian mall.
A new building of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design was recently approved next to the eastern side of the Russian compound. The 10-dunam (2.5-acre) site will house a 45,000-square meter building (almost as large as the Tel Aviv Museum). The estimated $100 million cost of the new building will be paid for by the sale of the existing Bezalel building on Mount Scopus, money from the Council for Higher Education, and donations. In addition to its contribution to the city, the new building will also have architectural value.
The Israeli partner in designing the building is Arie Kutz, who is cooperating with Japanese architectural firm Sanaa. A Technion Israel Institute of Technology graduate, Kutz studied for his MA at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. In Israel, he worked at the Yaski & Co. firm, built several projects, and was a partner of landscape architect Paul Friedberg in designing Peres Park in Holon and of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners in the planning of the First International Bank of Israel (TASE: FTIN) building on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. Last year, Kutz received the Order of the Rising Sun decoration from the Emperor of Japan.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on April 26, 2017
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