The design of Ein’s Karem’s public spaces aims to connect and integrate the different landmarks, parks, walkways and streets of Ein Karem, giving spatial clarity and continuity to visitors and users.
Ein Karem is an ancient village embedded in the modern city of Jerusalem. Christian tradition holds that Saint John the Baptist was born in Ein Karem, this leading to the establishment of many churches and monasteries in the area. As of today, it has a local population of 2,000 residents, mainly Israeli Jews, and attracts three million visitors a year, one-third of them Christian pilgrims. Ein Karem serves as a center for art venues and galleries, restaurants, bars and hotels with many beautiful monasteries and churches coloring the landscape. It is richly layered with many levels of function and culture interwoven within the same space, simultaneously serving diverse populations with varied interests. While attracting large numbers of tourists, Ein Karem’s public spaces suffer from high neglect and discontinuity due to the requirements of motored transportation in a historic urban fabric.
Ein Karem serves as a center for art venues and galleries, restaurants, bars and hotels with many beautiful monasteries and churches coloring the landscape.
Taking into account the complex nature and fragile fabric of this unique location, the design aims to connect and integrate the different landmarks and public spaces of Ein Karem, giving spatial clarity and continuity to visitors and users. The streets and main parks are connected to create a coherent and continuous public space, blurring the boundaries between park and street while transforming Ein Karem’s urban spaces to pedestrian-centric areas as fit to a location with such gravitas.
The streets and main parks are connected to create a coherent and continuous public space, blurring the boundaries between park and street while transforming Ein Karem’s urban spaces to pedestrian-centric areas as fit to a location with such gravitas.
