Dalia Nachman-Farchi

The Committee House

The initial inspiration for defining the new layout for the village was the Ein Hud Committee House. The house is built with a double skin: an outer skin of corrugated tin – reminiscent of temporary, ad-hoc construction – envelops an inner structure of concrete blocks.

We interpreted this double skin into a planning concept for the layout of the entire village. Our new plan defines an "inner home", a well-defined built area, an enclosed nucleus that retains the residents' intimacy as members of a single extended family; and an "outer home", an open, semi-built area, which creates intrinsic ties between the village and the surrounding land, in a sense re-appropriates this land, expressing the village peoples' ingrained sense of belonging to their surroundings.

This appropriation of the landscape also provides an economic base for the village inhabitants. The "outer home" can be used for small-scale agriculture and tourism (guesthouses, park utilities), thus taking advantage of the village's off-track location.

The 'Izbah

In the search for the nature of this "outer home", we adopted the 'Izbah, a term used in Arab rural culture. An 'Izbah is a place used intermittently, according to varying seasons and conditions. The term can be applied to various scales, from a cave or small ruin, up to a small offspring settlement. For us the 'Izbah contains the potential to expand the limited possibilities of the built home.

The new master plan

Our proposal for a new layout for the village is guided by a double grid: one is a tight definition of an "inner village", like a large family house, demarcated by a peripheral strip of semi-public areas and structures (the 'Izbahs) which are used at different levels by the inhabitants, their guests and tourists hiking in the park. The second grid is a radial allocation of family plots, starting from the very inside of the village outwards, through the family 'Izbah, and extending into the surrounding

open area. Because the inhabitants of Ein Hud are separated into hamulas (clans), each family plot is occupied by an extended family.
The 'Izbahs form a succession of intermittent entities along the existing cliff, creating a public path which encircles the village. The cliff is accentuated by the section within the 'Izbah itself, which separates the territory belonging to the family plot from the public path. This vertical gap creates the conceptual distance needed for the 'Izbah. The steep topography also enables the symbolic view back towards Ein-Hod.

The sections through the 'Izbah path show the intermittent nature of this strip – an openness to the surrounding landscape, interrupted by rhythmical "stops" (determined by the plots of land) at the 'Izbahs for resting, talk and meeting-places between the village's inhabitants and visitors.
The large open space between the 'Izbahs continues the succession of interior courts within the family plot, but because of its dimensions and relation to the landscape, it generates situations that are not possible within the private inner courts of the family home.
The juxtaposition of the family's expansion and the public path creates an ex-territory which, on the one hand, leaves the important values of the park free for everyone, and, on the other hand, re-occupies the same vast territory in the perception of the inhabitants of Ein-Hud.

1. The existing fire-line is shifted eastwards.
2. Land designated for future construction is located within the village and to the east (in the area in which the soil is not fit for agriculture).
3. The land surrounding the village is demarcated for agriculture/conservation purposes (terraces, olive trees, etc.); the boundaries of the designated land follow the natural topographical borders of the wadis.
4. The road used by visitors is located on the periphery of the village, while inner roads are for the sole use of inhabitants, who refer to the inner village as one big house. These roads are therefore defined as combined (vehicle + pedestrian) roads.
5. Visitors' parking facilities are limited inside the village: one parking lot is located opposite the main 'Izbah and used for special events or organized school trips; the second parking lot is placed by the entrance to the village (moveable when future area is built).
6. Public buildings for inhabitants' use (religious, social, health, commerce, etc.) are concentrated in two places: around the inner square (by the committee house), and by the mosque area. The main public building for visitors' use is the main 'Izbah by the western curve of the peripheral road.
7. The access road to the village follows the topography and the existing path, in order to minimize intervention in the natural grove, and to maximize the experience of reaching the hidden village from the back.

The Structure of the 'Izbah

Local materials such as the natural woods, the ancient olive groves, a sequence of natural caves situated on the cliff opposite the village to the south, and the path going down to the wadi that continues on to Ein Hod, are also used in articulating the 'Izbah structures.
Each 'Izbah is composed of a basic, enclosed space that has the flexibility to expand itself outwards according to the changing seasons, sun and wind directions, and different needs – raising small agricultural crops, receiving guests, sleeping outside in the summer, playing, etc.
The enclosed built spaces merge with terraces – some existing, some new - which blend into the natural landscape.
A radial, high concrete wall, which sets the boundaries between the family plots, continues into the 'Izbah, contrasting with the natural elements of the structure.
At the meeting-point of the different elements, a vertical arbor is created, imbuing the space with screened light reminiscent of the surrounding groves. This spot provides the vertical movement between the planes.

The Main 'Izbah

A unique 'Izbah is situated at the point of intersection between the path leading from the Committee House to the wadi below, with the circumferential path of 'Izbahs. Thanks to its location and size, this 'Izbah constitutes the public gathering-point of the village. It is a new type of madafeh (a communal space for hosting guests in the Arab village tradition), which provides educational and tourist facilities for hikers in the surrounding park, as well as for those visiting from afar.
The road descending from the ”inner village” ends at a lookout point which is located on the roof of the central building. This viewpoint accentuates the natural cliff and enables one's view to extend westwards. From this point, one must turn back in order to enter the building. The two lower levels, which are carved into the site, sunken below grade, contain various educational facilities such as a large auditorium and classrooms which face the northern grove, as well as reception and service facilities adjacent to a dining room facing the lower courtyard. This courtyard is “furnished” at its northern edge with landscape terraces routed within the topography, forming an open theatre.
The top level, which can be reached vertically from the sunken courtyard, or horizontally by the route descending from the village, includes a library and an information center. Similarly to the private family ‘Izbah, a concrete wall, derived from the village lots-grid, envelopes these two functions.
An additional light-construction structure is built on the road level, "floating" over the northern slope into the woods, and constitutes basic rooms for hikers staying for the night.

In designing the main 'Izbah, we have attempted to emphasize the contradicting experiences of an intimate, enclosed space on the one hand, and the yearning for vast open spaces on the other hand, thus exemplifying our overall conception of the planning of Ein Hud.

Special thanks to:
Duffy Half, Tali Friedman, and the inhabitants of Ein-Hud.