Miranda Downer and Ashley Silvernell

Ein Hud linked to Ein Hod with a large public green space that serves as recreational and agricultural grounds and belongs to both villages.
People meet here and mingle while working the land and learning about each other;s cultures. The crops grown in this space provide income for both villages and enhance the community atmosphere. At the northwest end of the park, a sculpture garden showcases the art of Ein Hod to visiting tourists and the paople of Ein Hud.

Terraces lead up the opposite side of the valley to the southeast end of the park where Ein Hud's new community center appears to be growing out of the earth. The aesthetics of the building reflect the indigenous material of the region and people's desire for their own identity. The building's overall design is based on the holy month of Ramadan's cycle through the lunar calendar and essentially bacomees an observatory in itselfClerestory windows or vertical slits on curved Ramadan walls indicate at what point in the cycle any Ramadan occurs, connecting the local Muslims with their heritage by allowing them to observe the moon as is passes through these windows or slits.

An essential part of the master plan, the community center acts as a gateway to Ein Hud and welcomes the inhabitants, tourists and people of Ein Hod into the village. Exhibit spaces present the Arab culture of Ein Hud while the rooftop market is a space for gathering , trading and learning between the people of both villages. People can meet here on equal terms, use the public library and wander along the axis that continues from the garden trraces into the center of town.

The new city hall is next along the axis facing a stretch of public plaza and open urban market. Another welcomeing feature of the building. City hall will also have more information for visitors interested in the history and culture of Ein Hud and its people. It is not a large building because the village is small, and its materials carry over the themes of the community center. The commercial center of Ein Hud flanks the axis and is composed of small building units that create a dense fabric of pedestrian walkways shaded by stretched canvas awnings. The trade that goes on. There in the shops and restaurants draws tourists who want to experience the authentic Arab customs, food and ambiance. The school remains in its original location off the axis to the south, but has been expanded in size and has acquired an adjacent park. The medical clinic is off the axis to the north and both it and the school are within view of the original mosque, which rests on the axis in center of town and at the center of Arab culture.

Radiating from the mosque's plaza is a series of roads that define the overall urban fabric of the master plan. Most of these roads follow paths in the original village, so a majority of the existing buildings that make up Ein Hud are untouched. As the population grows, the new master plan shows additions to the existing housing, creating large mulyi-family housing blocks typical of Arab cultures while saving the homes of the people who live there now. This infilling begins in the center of town and gradually moves to the outer ring in a series of building phases. Rather than allowing the inhabitants to spread over more of Mount Carmel National Park's land, this increases the density of the people on the land that has already been disturbed. The housing blocks delineate small pedestrian streets and pocket plazas contributing to the community atmosphere. Parallel parking is allowed on the main roads so that every house is easily reached by car. However, high numbers of vehicles are not anticipated.

Outside the urban fabric of the village, land is defined and set aside for the agriculture needed to support the people of Ein Hud, including land for grazing livestock and cultivating crops such as olives, grapes and citrus. The area of the housing additions and cultivated land expands as the population grows. The final phase of the master plan's construction supports and overall population of 400 people expected within 50 years of growth.

Finally, the axis that extends all the way from Ein Hod through Ein Hud ends at a large park between the town center and the existing military base. The park buffers the village from the israeli military base so that none of the inhabitants have to interact with or live next to it. An outdoor lunar observatory is the final destination of the axis and the main tourist attraction of the village. Its purpose is to facilitate the people of Ein Hud in their following of the lunar calendar so they can adequately decide when their holidays begin and end, particulary the holy month of Ramadan.