Rehabilitation of the Hiriya Landfill,

Tilman Latz Latz + Partner Landscape Architecture Urban Planning, Kranzberg, Germany [email protected] ri-vista

01 2018 Abstract Hiriya, a closed domestic landfill, is situated on the wide river plain in the southeast of Tel Aviv. The impressive landmark is part of the future Park. It is getting rehabilitat- seconda serie ed since 2004. Aim is to preserve its captivating silhouette and to develop the landscape of and around the mountain by using construction techniques that take into consideration the waste tip’s instability and make use of local materials whilst incorporating the region’s traditional land uses and specific climatic conditions. The artificial appearance of the landscape and its origins become a part of a positive experience of the site – a convergence of nature and culture. Keywords Landfill Rehabilitation, Stormwater Retention, Resilient Park Landscape, Recycling & Educa- tion, Transformation

Received: April 2018 / Accepted: April 2018 © The Author(s) 2018. This article is published with Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 4.0 Firenze University Press. 54 DOI: 10.13128/RV-22991 - www.fupress.net/index.php/ri-vista/ Latz 55 - - - city of the the centre which rail alongside through mo- 20 1 and Highway and the Highway tracks way torways were extensive aligned. Due to soil sealing retention ca- and the resultant reduction of water pacity well as the as within the river catchment area its area, retention city the the of growth into rapid size became insufficient and flooding became more be severe. not least The canal cannot be enlarged, cause of the existing infrastructure. transport Aviv region of Tel The expanding and ever-denser and increases spaces out many recreation crowds - landscape. open the develop This to distance the being parks through ment can only be compensated the safely incorporate enough to and robust large visitors, interests of recreation-seeking divergent conservation, nature control, flood politics, science Ari- part is only one of the vast and the arts. Hiriya tip the waste project. Park el Sharon Transforming a much larger is the symbolic start of constructing ca- landscape,park provide to have also will which metrescubic million retaining of seven pacityfor River and its tributar the Ayalon from floodwater the differentiation, its internal 2). Despite ies (fig. in the new land- as a monolith Hiriya landfill appears land- and a prominent scape, peak a spectacular 3). the plain (fig. mark as seen across of the ‘mountain’ appearance The fascinating politicians as well as artists the scene to brought

- - - - landfill, possibly the largest waste tip in in tip waste largest the possibly landfill, (fig. 1). The heap has has 1). The heap (fig. and Shapirim was converted into a large open canal canal open large a into converted was River Hiriya The The of a the site on East, 1952 in be came to the Near in the Arab-Israe abandoned village Palestinian li War. It is situated on an agricultural plain in the plain in the on an agricultural It is situated li War. encircledis and two the by Aviv Tel of southeast rivers 1 kilometer, the impressive dimensions of nearly in height, meters 16 and 87 in length, contains and of household waste. The annu- million cubic meters of the mesa’s foot the around wash floods al river un- and large the of risk the to adding slopes, steep collapse. result This would pollution in hill’s stable Dan- proportions. environmental of uncontainable posed a problem and gas of water leakages gerous the onset.from for also became a danger The site Airport Ben Gurion as it attracted flying near aircraft the Hiriya these reasons, For birds. thousands of sea closed in 1999. was landfill alone. the case, seldom come is often As problems - all coun of , in that fateful seems It almost by a shorttries, the long dry pe is followed season that cause severe flooding to rains riod of winter Dur days. several for often Aviv, Tel of areas some hundred hectares several ing the British Mandate been earmarked of the city had already southeast for a tunnel flood and plans drawn up retention for Ay the Eventually sea. the into rainwater drain to alon ri-vista

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Fig. 1 — The Hiriya landfill, aerial view 2004 (© Beracha Foundation).

opposite page Fig. 2 —Centennial floodwater scenario in the future Ariel Sharon Park (© Latz + Partner). Fig. 3 —Hiriya - a monolith protruding from the Ayalon plain 2004 (© Latz + Partner). Fig. 4 —Hiriya - from the viewpoint of an artist (© Mischa Ullman).

(fig. 4). In the late 1990s, the Beracha Foundation Our main objective is not to hide the technical na- under Martin Weyl worked with artists and inter- ture of structures, but to develop a new aesthetic national experts to help their search for solutions. realm of experience around them that is resilient in They consulted waste disposal and hydraulic en- its cultural context. From a distance, Hiriya has the gineers, urban planners and landscape architects. appearance of a ‘mystical mountain’ amidst the In 2004, an international design competition was wide plain of the Ayalon and Shapirim rivers. launched with the brief to develop ideas for rehabili- Our aim is to preserve its captivating silhouette. The tating the landfill (fig. 5). The objective was to make landscape of and around the mountain gets now it a positive landmark and solve technical problems developed by using construction techniques that of instability, which, in addition to gas leakages, take into consideration the waste tip’s instabili- were the main factors that rendered it unusable. A ty and make use of local materials whilst incorpo- competition for the 840-hectare site of what was to rating the region’s traditional land uses and specific become Ariel Sharon Park followed in 2009 with the climatic conditions. The artificial appearance of the aim of turning the flood retention area into a park landscape and its origins, not neglected, are a part (fig. 6). The concepts by Latz + Partner convinced of a positive experience of the site – a convergence 56 both competition juries. of nature and culture (fig. 7). Latz

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Preserving the mountain to maintain and perpetuate the traditional historic The Ayalon and Shapirim rivers have been realigned cultural landscape (fig. 8). more than one hundred meters from the mountain and meander freely through broad ‘wadis’. The exca- Preserving the waste vated material plus several millions cubic meters of The three plateaus of the refuse heap and the oases construction demolition waste is used to build a cir- are sealed with a combination of natural and syn- cular landscape terrace around the foot of the slope thetic materials, and the biogas is safely extracted in order to stabilize it and so retain Hiriya’s unique and utilized. Water is still seeping from the tip and landform. A new tree-covered space has been cre- gets collected and treated in separate ‘green sedi- ated for a variety of recreational, play and sports ac- mentation tanks’. A layer of gravel made of recycled tivities. Characteristic agricultural patterns found in construction waste, and clean soil cover the pla- the local environment, will be planted on the site, teaus and the inner slopes of the mountain. A large mostly in the form of olive groves and orchards. amount of this material is produced in a recycling 58 They require little water, provide shadow, are easy plant on the eastern mountain slope where a mas- Latz 59 - - - ervoirs during the rainy season. (Fig. 10) It is em- 10) ervoirs (Fig. season. during the rainy in dry areas densely planted irrigate to ployed peri- - along the freely mean ods. Much of the vegetation is expected es and Shapirim rivers to dering Ayalon spontaneously. tablish - the oasis Exploitingtopography the of the moun- A sheltered depression in the center dis of a noisy and dusty the site once waste tain, terraced into posal plant, has been transformed in- for landscape’ slopes and an open ‘spring water in the center, use.tensive platform A solid concrete only is Hiriya’s machines stood, large where once and collected in underground res in underground and collected ed on the plateau ------and the steep slopes, a drought re drought a slopes, steep the and sive sheet pile wall secures the large levelled work levelled secures the large sive sheet pile wall — The Ayalon plain - becoming both a flood retention basin and a spacious park (© Latz + Partner).Latz + both a flood park (© basin and a spacious plain - becoming retention 6 — The Ayalon Fig. pageopposite Partner).Latz + and oasis (© slope, steep terrace, foot plateau wadi, plan and five landscape elements - 5 — Competition Fig. the vegetation Establishing plateau the On ing platform against pressure from the mountain. the mountain. pressure from against platform ing attrac visitor The recycling plant is one of Hiriya’s RDFtions and is currently being extended by a large of students, Coachloads waste-to-energy-plant. the inter and politicians workers, administration to visit the site Israel all around public from ested how and of waste treatment the sustainable learn 9). live with it (fig. to as it resistant, is prevailing, mostly low vegetation is harvest water quires little maintenance. Storm Fig. 7 — Silhouette of Hiriya with foot terrace and dislocated rivers in the wadi (© Latz + Partner). Fig. 8 — The different landscape elements in the masterplan 2011 (© Latz + Partner).

opposite page Fig. 9 — Waste products in the visitor center (©

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Fig. 10 — Drainage and subterranean reservoirs enable an oasis in the center (© Latz + Partner). 01 2018 opposite page Fig. 11 — Service facilities built on a concrete platform - the landfill’s only stable area (© Latz + Partner). Fig. 12 — Dry stone walls adapt to the mountain’s movement (© Latz + Partner). seconda serie

stable area. It accommodates central functions in will enjoy the day (fig. 17). We reach a gently sloping the park and a café/restaurant (fig. 11). Tradition- ramp that follows the contours of the terrain and in- al dry stone walls of recycled construction materi- vites us to walk up to the top of the mountain. First, al stabilize the slopes around the valley (fig. 12). The we look across to the recycling plant on our left. Im- walls are able to adapt to movement in the moun- mediately above the working platform and secured tain and provide the best conditions for the type of by a sheet pile wall, a long promenade allows the vegetation that is characteristic of the Mediterra- recreation area to sit alongside the fascinating ac- nean and for a variety of small-scale spaces. Buried tivities at the waste recycling plant – the origins of layers of gravel serve as cool storage areas for har- the park. We continue through the terraced valley vested rainwater that is used to top up small bod- on the inner mountain slopes until we reach the cool ies of water throughout the year (fig. 13). The use and refreshing oasis where we pause – perhaps to of communal supply water to get through the dry have a drink and to listen to the sounds of the water season is to be kept to a minimum. A lush vegeta- (fig. 18). Finally, we continue to the plateau where tion of palms and other trees, shrubs, aquatics and we enjoy stunning views of Ariel Sharon Park, the flowering plants has been created in the center of sea and across the green agricultural land towards the park as a symbol of nature and Mediterranean Jaffa and the dunes of Holon. However, before we culture (fig. 14). get there, we pass a sheltered ‘indentation’ on the northwestern side of the plateau. We sit down un- Mise-en-scène der spectacular wooden structures that look like After arriving by car, bus or on foot (fig. 15), we first over-dimensioned parasols, and we learn that they cross the Shapirim and Ayalon ‘wadis’ (fig.16). We adjust to movement in the mountain just like tum- cross the large terraces where, at the foot of the bler toys (fig. 19). All the same, it feels safe enough steep mountainside, after construction work is fin- to cast our gaze across the Ariel Sharon Park and to- 62 ished families will have picnics and people exercising wards the white city of Tel Aviv (fig. 20). Latz 63 ri-vista

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Fig. 13 — The oasis 2014 (© Latz + Partner). Fig. 14 — The contaminated landfill - transformed into a symbol of nature and mediterranean culture (© Kobi Li).

opposite page Fig. 15 — Future multifunctional groves in Ariel Sharon Park (© Latz + Partner). Fig. 16 — Image of the Shapirim and Ayalon wadis (© Latz + Partner). 64 Latz 65 ri-vista

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66 Latz 67 — Approaching the Belvedere and its shady19 — Approaching Fig. Company). Park umbrellas (© Ariel Sharon Aviv’s skyline (© Tel admiring 20 — Visitors Fig. + Partner). Latz pageopposite 17Fig. on the patterns of agricultural — Image + Partner). (© Latz terrace foot + Partner). oasis (© Latz Hiriya’s 18 — Crossing Fig.