I'm not a university type. I'm more of a Technion guy. It's probably the fact that I studied for five years at the Technion, that I taught there, that I research the place, and in general, love it. I had the chance to go to the university a small number of times during my years in Haifa, even though Migdal Eshkol stares at me every time I leave the house.
Still, research I'm doing on the Technion led me to several visits to the university library, which made me think a lot about it, and especially about Migdal Eshkol.
So in honor of the opening of the academic school year, here are some points:
1 • The feeling of the end of the world
In Haifa there are many places where you feel like you are reaching the end of the world and at the university it certainly feels that way. As soon as I got off the bus, with the silence all around and the strong winds that blew even in the height of summer, I felt in a different place. Add to that the fact that it is at the edge of the city, with forests all around and with clouds that sometimes touch the Eshkol Tower and the feeling of the end of the world is inevitable. Sometimes the university feels to me like the last fortress before leaving civilization for the wild.
2 • Brutalism
Brutalism is such a long word of architects that most people don't know, and if they do - they don't like the style. Broadly speaking, this is a style that was mainly present in the fifties-seventies of the last century, which wants to "reveal the truth of the material", it is the concrete that remains exposed and shows its engineering and sculptural capabilities.
Migdal Eshkol is definitely a brutalist work. The row of arches that support the building and are visible in the main entrance to the building illustrate exactly what Brutalism is talking about - engineering and sculpting that concrete gives us.
3 • The pyramid
I knew the story of Migdal Eshkol, designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer in partnership with the great (and our own) architect Shlomo Gilad. An exhibition inside the building revealed to me several new aspects about the building, and one of them was the "pyramid". It turns out that the highlight of the design was supposed to be a structure in the form of an inverted pyramid, with its wide section measuring 50/50 m and sitting on a concrete shaft measuring 7/9 m and at a height of 13 m above the surface of the roof. The building was intended to be used as lecture halls, but was never built. Here, too, the use of concrete and its capabilities is very noticeable.
4 • The library
I was stunned. I'm used to Technion libraries, but here it's something completely different. This is a hall of books with about two million items, including online ones. Aisles after aisles of books, entire areas dedicated to subjects I didn't know so much was written about, and several floors and half floors made visiting the library an experience. On the one hand, this is an exciting experience, especially in an era where books are becoming less relevant in the field of study and research, and on the other hand, it was a somewhat exhausting experience, until I found the books I needed.
5 • The 30th floor
I couldn't resist and had to go up to the observation deck on the 30th floor of the tower. Looking at the city from there is fascinating. You can see at a glance the sea, the green of the Carmel Park and the city in the middle of them. There are endless views in Haifa, but the view from the 30th floor is different. It's a "parental" view, from above, that overlooks almost everything, and through it you can understand a little better how the city is built and how complex it is. You should also visit there, the birdhouse is always open and free of charge. Together with the cable car, which is supposed to open these very days, it can be a great pastime, it's just a shame that the windows there are not clean...
1. The university is not the tower building which is the office building ..2. I studied at the university and I loved the atmosphere and the library and the building and also spent two years at the Technion where I was disappointed by the atmosphere and more..
What a wonderful description....connecting with every word - every single day of my four years there I was accompanied by exactly the same supreme excitement of uniqueness, of prestige and of spiritual transcendence whether in the library, which you described with such great precision, and whether in the Eshkol building from its lofty position looking proudly at the city of Haifa And such luxury...I loved it!?
Omri Shalom,
The late Imi Shlomit Vaida was the project coordinator at the Gilad office working with the renowned international architect Niemeyer,
All the best,
Ronit Vaida Tobol.
Omri Shalom,
Thank you for the interesting article, Imi Shlomit and the late Yada, the architect, worked for Professor Gilad and was responsible for the various projects.
worked for many years in his office,
She passed away so at least the monuments remained standing when you come to Haifa you see them from everywhere...
University of Haifa
Panorama Towers
The government offices are down in the city.
Ronit Vaida Tobol.
The University of Haifa is located on a site that dominates the entire city and when you come to study there you enjoy a tremendous and relaxing view. Green forests on one side and sea on the other.
Excellent and sensitive article...! Great blessing
",…..at university it definitely feels that way….."
"…sometimes the university feels to me……."
Is the ability of "it" to feel
and of the "university" to feel
Are they developments as a result of the type or nature of the architecture or perhaps of the quality of the execution?
Please add an explanation.
You will dedicate the next article to Jewish-Arab relations at the university. Thanks
Why would he do that? He is an architect, not a sociologist