Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art
Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art
Efrat Kowalsky Architects
ARCHITECTS
Efrat Kowalsky Architects
CLIENT
Ramat-gan Municipality
AIR CONDITIONING
Asa Aharoni
PHOTOGRAPHS
Harel Gilboa, Ran Erde, Avinoam Sharon, Alvit S, Tomer Appelbaum
LEAD ARCHITECT
Avinoam Sharon
MANUFACTURERS
Metalpress, Winex, Wolfman Industries
LIGHTING
Hila Meier
CONTRACTOR
Yaaz Entrepreneurship & Construction
DESIGN TEAM
Meira Kowalsky, Avinoam Sharon, Ido Levi, Alon Sarig, Talma Weitzner, Adi Samet
ENGINEERING
Yaron Shimoni Shacham
PLUMBING
Sanit
MANAGEMENT
Inproject Deavelman Perzlina
ELECTRICITY
Itkin Bloom
LOCATION
Ramat Gan, Israel
CATEGORy
Museums & Exhibit, Museum
AREA
3000 M²
YEAR
2021
Text description provided by the architects
The Ramat Gan Museum is the only one dedicated specifically to contemporary Israeli art.
Its current renewal consists of a significant expansion which includes new exhibition spaces, auditorium, education department, reading space, storage, offices, store, café, and roof decks for events and outdoor exhibitions.
Its new length is 110 meters. Its width is 3 meters at the “nose” and opens up to 23 meters. Its volume slopes from 17 to 10 meters high.
The original structure was built in 1936 as a factory for floor tiles. Its elongated triangular shape stems from its location on the intersection of two historical roads. Its streamlined modernist architecture is typical of 1930’s local residential and industrial buildings.
In 1987, the building was turned into the Museum of Israeli Art and kept its original volume. The current expansion project entails a transformation of a functionalist industrial structure into a representational public building, with an iconic presence in the urban fabric and voluminous exhibition spaces.
The new design extends the unique triangular shape of the building and augments its volume to a total floor area of 3,000 sq.m. (700 sq.m. of which are the preserved original building).
It refers to the industrial past of the building by articulating notions of structural efficiency, spatial continuity, and the use of generic building technology.
The envelope of the new addition is made of 5 meters high pre-cast concrete elements and structural-glass units, allowing optimal control of natural light penetration into the inner spaces and offering blurred views of the surrounding.
The main exhibition spaces are triangular or trapezoid, following the building’s footprint. They are bisected by a structural system of 6 meters tall colonnade and crossing flying beams which tie the outer walls, separate the ceiling, and make room for the exposed ducts and pipes.
As the opening exhibition in December 2021 demonstrates, these spaces allow curators and artists freedom of installation and open up a variety of viewing conditions, but they also dictate a certain rhythm and rigor.
