Layer 2.0
In the 21st century, most metropolitan areas were characterized by dense construction. Considering both the forecasts of population growth and the limited land reserves, urban renewal projects inevitably involved new building additions above existing structures, creating a new urban layer. Tel Aviv-Jaffa inadvertently became a living lab, where new construction integrated with the conservation of the UNESCO-listed heritage zone, located in the heart of the city.
Planners were invited to re-examine alternatives and best practices for innovative, creative, and original building additions on top of the modernist buildings of the 1930s. The competition also called for an exploration of ways to design new additions while addressing contemporary issues of communal solidarity and sustainability.
Participants were required to develop a concept for a building addition in Tel Aviv-Yafo, consisting of 2.5 floors on top of a listed building. The design had to engage with the original building, its surrounding block, and the urban landscape. No minimum size or number of residential units per block was defined, allowing for proposals that were adaptable to different scales and varying housing capacity requirements.