Doors to Jerusalem

What to do about Jerusalem’s doorways?

Walking around Jerusalem’s downtown triangle, one is first and foremost aware of the commercial stores clamoring for your attention. Gift shops, many geared to the ubiquitous tourist, sit sandwiched between eye-ware shops and fast-food dispensaries. The streets (pre-corona and hopefully once again soon) are full of people, music, color and smells such that one can easily forget the offices and residences situated above.

But these offices and residences are rather exciting properties. They enjoy high ceilings, dynamic views, and the occasional bonus of a balcony or roof access or inner court yard. The original architecture in many of these buildings is as old or older than the country, which adds a venerable air. In many cases the architects incorporated unique design elements and fanciful stonework, certainly in the facades. For good or bad, such elements are no longer found in contemporary construction.

Much of the celebratory design and unique elements focused on the buildings’ entrances.

The above example, the entry to a building on King George Street, reflects many of the elements typical of entryways in the area. The entry space is relatively narrow, maximizing the commercial space to either side. The two columns on either side create a strong vertical element which mirrors the internal stairwell on the external cladding. The door itself is of normal height event though the space is one and a half stories high. A unique – in this case round – window adds light and ventilation to the inner lobby/hallway, but seems more important as an attractive design element. Finally, a somewhat orderly but nevertheless distracting hodgepodge of signage and utility wiring reflects the disrespect these entryways are often subject to. They remain utilitarian, but unloved.

My next example would make Howard Roark jump of the roof twice. Once because the famous Ayn Rand character was a proponent of modernism (which this quasi-art-deco doorway is clearly not) and once because of the abuse his creation has received.

The sign in the upper right is offering space to rent. One would think that an attractive entryway would facilitate renting. So why dangle your sign from the AC drip-spout, half-covering the diamond window and the carved masonry? And kudos to the AC technician who fixed the drip-spout as discretely as possible along the vertical elements -- straight into the electric box. Two points to the electric company for painting their box with heavy spackle so that it almost blends into the never-washed stonework. At least they positioned the box symmetrically with the neighboring store’s ugly grill work.

Admire the rounded stonework, both from the sides and from above; the strong vertical elements; and the diamond cut openings (now penetrated by electric cables).Admire it, because the building’s owners clearly don’t.

Here we see how a little bit more care can make the simplest details stand out. The architectural theme is modernist, its large slabs of stone hung horizontally without traditional archway configurations. The cladding put at a 45 degree angle both decorates the entry and indicates it's divorce from traditional construction practice. Note the simplicity and practicality of the sunken lamp in the ceiling above the door, and the impression in the threshold waiting for someone to buy a doormat. Ironically, this modern building struggles to incorporate contemporary infrastructure. Once again electric wiring scars the façade. But perhaps the aesthetic values of the art gallery next-door affected a much neater installation than is evident elsewhere.

These doorways and many more like them strike me as miniatures of more grandiose architecture one could find in Barcelona, Paris, or New York. They seem quaint, but out of date and ignored. I hope that one day, either through a boon in the economy or a change in Israeli education and values, these gems will get cleaned up and polished, shining through the surrounding cacophony in down town and kindling perhaps a downtown residential renaissance.