Diversity Allows Change

Public-social generator for renewal in the Shapira neighborhood

The Shapira neighborhood in Tel Aviv has been home to a wide range of populations since its inception, creating a unique social infrastructure with rich spatial expression. However, the processes of urban renewal in the neighborhood may endanger and damage the social fabric. Shapira is at a point in its history that will not return, in which the new and the old reside side by side on the same street.

The processes of regulating the Musha (Ottoman Law) provide an opportunity to plan the collaborative space while regulating ownership and parceling. The project proposes a procedural mechanism for urban renewal based on an existing fabric. This is achieved by outlining a continuous three-dimensional system of public spaces on different scales, which creates an infrastructure for the gradual development of housing in the neighborhood. These public spaces address a variety of uses of existing and new populations while preserving their unique social DNA.