The building: Nitzanim Memorial Building
Location: Kibutz Nitzanim
Building Year: 1966
Architect: Nachum Zolotov
Structural Engineers: Michael Horovitz, Ami Buch
Landscape and Garden Architecture: Zeev Polack
Sculptor: Moshe Sternschuss
The Nitzanim Memorial, Kibbutz Nitzanim’s culture and commemoration center, was
inaugurated 18 years after the War of Independence, during which Nitzanim fell in
a battle against the Egyptian army and its defenders were taken captive.
Architect Nachum Zolotov chose to locate the building on a hill overlooking the battlefield.
The corridor of light on the memorial floor is oriented towards the original location of Nitzanim.
The building contains two floors: the memorial rooms are located on the ground floor,
and the first floor contains a library, a lecture room and a social club.
The building thus constitutes a combination of quotidian and memorial functions
typical of Israeli commemorative sites.
This cubic, exposed concrete structure has
two entrances: the first, which is located on the upper level, the level of the kibbutz leads
to the cultural center; a second entrance passes through a ceremonial plaza on the
lower level, and leads to the memorial area. A path descending from the kibbutz, leads to a wall composed of concrete-reinforced
pebbles, which in turn leads to the entrance area. This area is open to the sky, and a
staircase descends from it into the memorial area. The corridor is an open axis, whose
one side is oriented towards the original site of the kibbutz while the other side opens
up onto the ceremonial plaza. This separation allows cultural activities to take place
on the upper level, where the building’s memorial and ceremonial functions are only
hinted at. Three sources of light illuminate the memorial area – a two way vertical light,
which directs the gaze away from the existing kibbutz to the abandoned kibbutz; and
a light coming from above, from the functional staircase leading to the upper level,
the realm of everyday
