Near the intersection of busy streets, Abba Hillel, Modiin and Rokach Street, stands for about 60 years, a special building, designed by Architect Yaakov Rechter. The house is surrounded by a garden with many trees. One of them is a large and especially proud old Ficus. In 1990 it became a ceramics museum.
The impressive house and garden were "trapped" in a courtyard surrounded by a high fence with thick shrubs on it, it was a "hidden garden."
In 2015, the renovation of the RG Museum of Israeli Art began, and it was proposed to take care of all the "artists' houses", by the river and create a "museum Campus" on the riverbank
Being the landscape architects of the "Yonatan Trail" promenade on the bank of RG of the Yarkon River, we were also invited to plan the museum campus master plan, which led to the working plans of the Kahana Garden
We had a dream since we began working on the promenade (many years earlier), that the invisible garden would become part of an open public area. We wanted to emphasize the connection between the busy urban street and the riverbank, the pastoral piece of nature and the hidden place to be revealed for the residents for their use and enjoyment. Our dream came true when we designed the Kahana Garden.
The topography and the need to make connections between the garden area, the street, and the riverbank, made it possible to design an open garden. The mighty ficus tree was exposed to all, and the height differences allowed to build seating stairs around it, and create a pleasant, shaded gathering place for various activities.
The dramatic exposure of the place to the public was "spiced" with intense red color that emphasizes the presence of the site between the grayness of the city and the greenness of the riverbank.
The various elements were designed especially for this place, including the sculptural hills (to develop the imagination of the users), the branches and a special element accompanying the seating terraces around the ficus tree.
The integration with the "Jonathan Trail" project – (the promenade along the bank) adds to the new open space and the Garden complements the pastoral ambience along the river.
Client: Israel Government Turist Corp. Ltd.
Leading Team: Alisa Braudo, Ruth Maoz, Yarden Menelzon
Project Manager: Davelman Perzlina Projects and Building Management Ltd.
Opening year: 2018