Tel Aviv architect Ron Fleisher has designed a house in an Israeli-Arab village that combines traditional Palestinian and Islamic architecture with modernism.
The facade features Arabic mashrabiya lattice screens and vents at the top of the house allow breezes to circulate.
The house is entered through a double-height vaulted entrance hall, based on a traditional liwan, around which the private areas of the house are arranged.
The Agbaria House is located on a steep hillside in the village of Musmus in the Haifa district of Israel.
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Photography is by Shai Epstein.
Here are some more details from Fleisher:
Agbaria House
In a region where cultures usually clash, the house over the "wadi"(valley) in the village Musmus is a multicultural experience.
A cooperation between clients that asked for a contemporary architecture, but didn't want to forget the memory of the village they grew up in, and an architectural firm based in Tel Aviv created a reinterpretation of Palestinian architecture.
The plan combines between traditional spaces, as the "liwan"- the entrance hall, and contemporary needs, as a TV room, and a formal dinning area.
It reflects the will to keep an independent Palestinian identity within the Israeli society.
The house is located on the top of a hillside overlooking "wadi ara". The main entrance to the property is more than 17 meters down the slope.
Between the gate and main house a driveway curves in a reconstructed agricultural landscape.
The slope was divided with traditional terraces made from local stone collected in the families olive grove.
The driveway surrounds the white barn, a staircase climbs to the top of the building to a wide balcony viewing the valley and welcoming the vistor into the private living area.
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The house is in a dialogue with the natural landscape using classical Muslim elements as well as contemporary technology.
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The entrance glass wall facing south is shaded with an interpretation of a "Mashrabiya".
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The "liwan" is ventilated with passive suction through shutters located on top of 3 vaults 8 meters high. The hot air is sucked out and replaced by a cool breeze. The main drawing room and the formal dining room open to a walled garden, colorfully framed by the white volumes.
Landscape design is by Kfir Fisher.