Tamar Michaela Ofer

Towards a New Architect

“Towards a New Architect: A Critical Roadmap for the Young Architect”

“Towards a New Architect” is a practice-based experiment in constructing

alternative operating models for the practice of architecture.

The project started by drawing a critical analysis of the role and challenging

the precepts and ultimate goals of the discipline. A thorough examination of the

mechanisms shaping the local environment led to a twin study of two

neighborhoods, which questions the potential influence of the architect over an

existing urban fabric.

Northern Tel Aviv Ramat Aviv and northern Bat Yam Ramat Yosef were planned in

near-identical conditions by the same architect. However, years later Ramat

Yosef is designated for demolition, whereas Ramat Aviv was selected for urban

conservation. The major differences between the two cities’ planning agendas and

policies highlighted the missing values in the current planning discourse.

The methodological gaps pointed in the study laid the foundations for the

establishment of an architectural residency in the heart of the Ramat Yosef,

hosted by the Education & Community Department of MoBY (Museums of Bat Yam).

Motivated by a desire to push beyond traditional architectural practice and the

established domains of academia, the residency generated a series of interviews,

workshops, activities, tours, house calls, and open forums, all of which were

compiled into a proposed set of architectural calls-to-action, grouped into

three categories: interdisciplinary mapping, stakeholder engagement, and spatial

problem-solving. This catalog can be used as a starting point for assembling a

methodology for architectural action, based on collaboration between the

architect, the local council, and the public. Through this set of action cards,

four main devices based on site-specific adaptive re-use were designed towards

broadening our understanding of what architecture is and what architects can do.