The museum as a stage – Ada Karmi-Melamede

The existing kibbutz museum is a 1940's Bauhaus building with a pleasant sequence of exhibition spaces indirectly lit. It is organized on a somewhat inconsistent module, held together by a meandering circulation system. The addition to the museum is conceived of as a semi-detached piece which continues the rhythm of the exhibition spaces. A new circulation system is introduced that starts from the high point of the ridge and descends towards the museum, creating a ceremonial entrance route that connects the site and building together. The courtyard, inserted at the seam of the old and new wings, negotiates the height differences between them in a theatrical manner. The visitors appear on an elevated "platform", as actors, while the kibbutz members appear as spectators, viewing them from the existing galleries. The courtyard space connects all the parts, acts as an intersection and yet maintains its own ego. It is a room of its own.