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The Edna and K.B. Weissman Building of Physical Sciences
The Edna and K.B. Weissman Building of Physical Sciences
Architects: Arieh Sharon, Nahum Zalkind and Benjamin Idelson
The Edna and K.B. Weissman Building of Physical Sciences, designed by the architects Arieh Sharon, Nahum Zalkind and Benjamin Idelson in 1957, at first glance appears to be typical of the Functionalist-Minimalist Style based on the repetition of components, as was common in office and public buildings at the time. The protrusion of the floors beyond the line of the windows on the façade suggests the internal division of the building into two stories and a basement. The heightto- length ratio (the length being 72 meters) is 1:9, giving the building a long, flat appearance.
At a second glance, however, it becomes apparent that Functionalism-Minimalism has here received an individualized interpretation affected by the architects’ aesthetic preferences. Since the building faces south, effective shade should have been achieved by horizontal panels. Yet such panels would have excessively emphasized the building’s squat appearance (already accentuated by the protruding lines of the floors). Therefore, to break up the long horizontal effect, the architects opted for vertical shading panels. Looked at from the side, these panels alter the impression of the building’s façade, as the dense sequence of panels seem to conceal the windows, as if obscured behind a lattice.
The symmetry and repetitiveness of these shading panels are abruptly halted at the building’s entrance: two round columns support the frame of the canopy and a step of red terrazzo continues indoors with the floor tiles of the lobby and the staircase that rises to the second floor – like a red carpet.
