The Albert Einstein Museum will be created on the territory of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
In his exposition there will also be a personal archive of the great scientist belonging to the university.
It is assumed that the construction of the museum will give an abandoned building of the planetarium, located in the campus of Givat Ram. At the moment it is not known when the construction will begin.
The Jewish University together with the Peace Center of Shimon Peres for a long time tried to implement this project. Moreover, the company of British architect Norman Foster, who developed the newly opened Science Center in Givat Ram, presented a proposal to build a campus on Mount Scopus worth about $ 20 million.
In this context, there were also the names of famous American Jewish architects - Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind. They even met with the late President Peres, who supported the idea of ​​building a museum. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, both because of the fact that Peres completed his term as president, and because of a lack of budget.
According to the Director-General of the Jewish University Billy Shapira, first of all they began to think about finding a museum under the museum that would save construction costs, and the abandoned planetarium came up as best as possible. In addition, this place is also convenient for its proximity to the tram line, which will soon be laid here, as well as proximity to other institutions, which allows it to fit into the landscape of Jerusalem.
The estimated cost of the project is $ 5 million, and a search for donors will begin shortly.
Previously, the university held a competition for the design of the museum, and, according to Shapira, four architectural companies of Jerusalem stopped at the company "Arad Simon." The proposed by this company option was, according to the general director of the university, "modest, but not grandiose, but he found a response from those who made the decision."
Architect Salma Milson Arad explained that her firm also proposed to unearth under the existing building approximately 500 square meters. square meters.
- The building of the planetarium is not intended for strict preservation, does not represent historical or architectural value and is mixed with the campus. We decided not to build it up or attach it to it, but dig it under it, "says the architect. - We propose to significantly change the facade by installing huge windows in its eastern part - so that the view of the Old City and the Knesset, thus symbolizing the inextricable link between Albert Einstein and Jerusalem, was opened.
And the windows on the eastern facade will be adjoined by a large space intended for demonstration of various materials, their study and reading of literature.
The original building consists of a rectangular space and a dome. The new design includes a separation between the visitor center, which will be located inside the dome, and an archive located in a rectangular part. The lobby will be reserved for changing expositions.
Next to the lobby is a souvenir shop and an office. Einstein's personal library will be located in the lobby, which is designed as a translucent book wall from the main entrance, which separates visitors from archives and the research wing.
The dark upper dome will be used as a display demonstrating Einstein's research, while natural light will pass from above, through the 12 "holes" of light surrounding the dome. "In the holes, the movement of the sun will be displayed during the day and all the days of the year, and at each moment visitors will see a new show," says Milson Arad, explaining how this can illustrate "the meaning of the concept of time that Einstein was engaged in."
Specially, the deepened floor created by the "undermining" under the foundation will be made in the form of a bowl, allowing visitors to lie on the ceiling of the planetarium, where the visual series will tell about the life of Einstein, and the milestones of his biography. In the rectangular part of this floor there will be archives, a photo lab, a meeting room and a conference room.