MOT, the educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, has received new architectural design from Chyutin Architects. The new design plan replaces star architect Frank Gehry’s $250 million design scheme.
The new $100 million scheme presents a six-storey structure, whose backside is clad in glass from top to bottom. With three storeys below ground and three above, the new MOT will be spread over 150,000 to 160,000 square feet of space. The complex is designed to accommodate exhibition space, a theatre and an educational centre. An outdoor sunken area will be featured in front of the building with a garden and an amphitheatre.
Though Simon Wiesenthal Center supports the glass element of the building stating that it will help in offering a warmer and more inviting atmosphere, some architects have criticised the scheme stating that glass is among the least efficient building materials to be used in the Middle East.
Frank Gehry’s design for the museum complex, which resembled the shape of a fruit bowl, called for the use of steel, blue and silver titanium, and golden Jerusalem stone. The scheme was discarded attributing the reason to economic slump down.
Simon Wiesenthal Center’s main facility is located in Los Angeles, which was opened in 1993. The MOT project in Jerusalem aims to promote tolerance amongst Jewish populations within Israel, including Ashkenazim, Mizrahim, Ethiopians, Russians, and others.
