Pyramid to rise above Jerusalem skyline
Think of it as Ramses’ revenge.
Jerusalem’s ever-changing skyline is due to get a high-rise pyramid, if a recently approved plan comes to be.
Designed by architects Daniel Libeskind and Yigal Levi, the “Freedom Pyramid” will put commercial shopping and high-end residences on the site of the old Eden theater, near the Machaneh Yisrael market.
“We want to bring to the city center the revolution that Mamilla spurred in its area,” Levi told Haaretz. “There are a lot of new projects in the city center, but they don’t create a meeting place where people can linger and meet. We are a one-minute walk from Jerusalem’s King George Street-Jaffa Road intersection, very close to the Machane Yehuda market and close to Nachlaot. Daniel managed to open up the project in all directions, and created a new network of links to the surrounding streets. If you add to this his unique design, you will see something very good for the city center.”
The project will include 180 to 200 luxury apartments, a boutique hotel, a rooftop restaurant, retail stores, and an outdoor public plaza.
This comes as the skyline of Jerusalem is being altered by a number of ongoing projects, including a new tower by the world-renowned American architect I.M. Pei.
Jerusalem’s urban preservationists have fought a losing battle against some of these developments. But nobody seems to have dealt with the emotional impact on those Israelites who died long ago building the pyramids in Egypt. What will they feel when they find themselves resurrected in Jerusalem — rebuilt and pyramided?
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