Press Release National Library Construction Company, Ltd. 16 Ibn Gvirol St., Jerusalem

National Library Construction Company Appoints Judges for the Architecture Competition: (1) Prof. Luis Fernandez‐Galiano (Chair), (2) Prof. Rafael Moneo, (3) Prof. Massimiliano Fuksas, (4) Prof. Elinoar Komissar Barzachi, and (5) Architect Gaby Schwartz

February 12, 2012

Submission of first stage of the Competition extended to 16 April, 2012, by request of the architects

The National Library Construction Company today announced the members of the international Jury for the first stage of the architecture competition. The panel includes five architects – three international and two Israelis. The Israeli architects were selected based on a recommendation from the Competitions Committee of the Israeli Association of Architects. In Stage II of the competition, representatives of the library and of Yad Hanadiv will join the panel.

Members of the panel:

Prof. Luis Fernandez‐Galiano (Chair), Spain. Professor at the School of Architecture, Madrid Polytechnic University and Chief Editor of Arquitectura Viva – the most popular architecture publication in Spain. He has been a Visiting Professor at Yale University and Rice University in the US, as well as a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute.

Prof. Rafael Moneo, Spain. Recipient of the Pritzker Prize for 1996. Headed the Harvard School of Architecture, where he is currently a Visiting Professor. Designed buildings primarily in Spain and in the US, including the expansion of the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Kursaal Palace Hotel in San Sebastián, a children’s hospital in Madrid, a science building at in New York, and a new building for the Rhode Island School of Design.

Prof. Massimiliano Fuksas, . Decorated with the Légion d’Honneur by French President Nicholas Sarkozy in 2012. Visiting Professor at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in and Columbia University in New York. Served as an advisor to the French Institute for Architecture and to the city planning committees of Berlin and Salzburg. Designed the Zenith Music Hall in Strasbourg, France, the New Trade Fairin Rho‐Pero, , Italy and the Peres Centre for Peace in Jaffa.

Prof. Elinoar Komissar Barzachi, Israel. Architect and urban planner. Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University. Served as Chief Planner of the Jerusalem District at the Ministry of Construction and Housing and as the Municipal Engineer for Jerusalem. She was among the founders of the School of Architecture at Tel Aviv University and was its Director for ten years.

Architect Gaby Schwartz, Israel. Recipient of the Rechter Prize for 2002, the Ayalon Prize for 2005 and the David Azrieli Prize for 2007. Senior Lecturer at the Technion and Thesis Project Coordinator. His work includes the design of the student dormitories at the Technion (Kfar Hamishtalmim with architect Gidi Bar‐Orian), the CPC hi‐tech building, the Bustan neighbourhood in Carmiel, as well as

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the Robert and Yadelle Sklare Family Library at the Kinneret Academic College, which was awarded a prize for design in 2011.

Stage I of the competition was extended by three weeks at the request of architects. The new deadline for submission is 16 April, 2012. According to the competition bylaws, at the conclusion of Stage I, the Jury will choose up to four Israeli architects to advance to the next round. Stage II, which will also be anonymous, will include eight additional architects – four Israelis and four from abroad – who were invited directly to this stage. Each of the twelve participants in Stage II will be eligible to receive a sum of NIS 100,000 to help defray the costs of preparing a proposal and model.

It is important to note that the competition does not only entail reviewing architectural plans and choosing an architectural design. It seeks to find an inspiring individual, capable of bearing the responsibility for designing a building that will serve the Library for years to come, and for anticipating rapid technological developments and frequent changes in the way we use information. The Jury must be convinced that the candidate fully comprehends the spirit of the project and the sensitivities of the surroundings in which the building is situated, that he or she is attentive to the requirements of the Client and the Library, and is willing to demonstrate flexibility in the face of change.

In Stage II, three proposals will be selected, without ranking them. The Jury is entitled to invite the architects who submitted the three proposals to present the respective proposal and model they have designed. Subsequently, the committee will rank the three proposals. The Jury will present the proposal ranked first for approval by the National Library Construction Company and the Board of Directors of the Library.

Prof. Galiano, chairman of the Selection Committee:

“The international architecture competition for the new home of the National Library of Israel will select an architect for one of the most significant commissions that can be imagined in the country or, indeed, anywhere in the world. In a prime site in Jerusalem, and with a programme full of functional requirements and symbolic content, the architects in the competition will face a most demanding and inspiring challenge. Organised in two stages, and dealt with in such a way that anonymity is preserved, while offering a level playing field to both established world offices and less known emerging ones, the competition will be decided by an international Jury of the highest professional level.”

Further details about the competition can be found at www.nli‐competition.org.il. Questions and requests for additional information regarding this announcement can be addressed to Ms. Rachel Cavits or Ms. Tami Shacham at Yad Hanadiv, tel. 02‐5665107 or to competition@nli‐renewal.org.il. Responses will be provided in writing.

This announcement and/or the Internet site are intended only to provide general information. The instructions included in the competition kit alone are binding. The National Library Construction Company, Ltd. (non‐profit) reserves the right to revise any of the above terms and instructions and/or those on the Internet site, as stipulated in the competition kit.

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