‘Museum of Tolerance and Human Dignity’ is an expansion of Museum of Tolerance – California-based multimedia museum – to Jerusalem. The project has been implemented to promote tolerance amongst Jewish populations within Israel, as stated by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization which sponsored the project.
Frank Gehry’s decision to withdraw from the $250 million project follows heavy criticism with regard to the chosen site. The Museum of Tolerance and Human Dignity is constructed in place of a four-story underground parking structure adjacent to Jerusalem’s Independence Park. The park is on the grounds of the Mamilla Cemetery, an ancient Muslim cemetery. Opposition towards the project was severe as the work involves unearthing hundreds of skeletons and reentering them at the margins of the site.
The new museum complex has been designed by Frank Gehry and resembles a fruit bowl. The center features an unusual amorphic shape and is clad in glass and titanium. The structure resembles that of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, also designed by Frank Gehry. The center has been designed to include a museum, a theater, a conference hall, a library, and an educational center.
The Wiesenthal Center has begun searching for an architect to replace Gehry to join the planning team, which was composed of Gehry and Kolker, Kolker, Epstein Architects.
