Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem

In 1996, a planning competition was held for the construction of a new Foreign Ministry building in Israel. The competition was won by the Jerusalem practice Kolker, Kolker, Epstein, together with the architects A. J. Diamond and Donald Schmitt from Toronto. The design proposed an imposing curved structure set against a background of sober, functional office developments. Situated between the two are a reception building and an auditorium. According to a British mandate dating from the 1920s, every structure erected in the city has to be clad with Jerusalem stone. For the ministry building, a deep yellow mizpe-ramon stone from the Negev Desert was chosen. The hall in the reception tract is clad with a translucent skin of onyx, as a result of which the interior is flooded with warm daylight.