Architects: Zvi Hecker
Area: 72000 m²
Year: 1977
Photographs: Zvi Efrat and Hubertus Adam, Adam Nathaniel Furman via world-bin.blogspot.com, aedesign.wordpress.com
City: Jerusalem
Country: Israel
Ramot Polin, a housing project designed by Zvi Hecker in the late 1970s near Jerusalem, was commissioned by the Israeli government after the Six Day War to address housing needs in newly acquired territories. Known for its experimental modular design using dodecahedrons made of prefabricated concrete, the complex featured a five-fingered layout with interconnected V-shaped buildings, courtyards, and terraces. Despite its innovative approach, the project’s cramped interiors, poor lighting, and impractical features drew criticism, leading to its occupation by ultra-Orthodox communities attracted by low rents and amenities. Over time, tenant-led modifications transformed the rigid architecture into a more functional vernacular form, reflecting a broader Israeli trend of user-driven adaptations and challenging the dominance of architectural intent over human needs.
The Ramot Polin neighborhood, designed by Polish-born Israeli architect Zvi Hecker, was commissioned by the Israeli government in the aftermath of the Six Day War. This housing project, characterized by its beehive-like design, represents an avant-garde experiment in both morphology and construction. Built in the late 1970s, the structure has since been significantly altered by its residents, sparking discussions about the ability of expressive architecture to accommodate genuine human needs.
After the Six Day War in 1967, the Ministry of Housing faced the challenge of populating newly acquired territories, prompting the commissioning of numerous housing projects from prominent local architects. Zvi Hecker, renowned for his geometrically inspired experimental designs, including the Bat Yam City Hall, was tasked by the Ministry to design a complex of 720 housing units on a solitary hill located four kilometers northwest of Jerusalem.
Hecker envisioned an organically inspired design composed of repetitive modular dodecahedrons—three-dimensional forms with 12 equal pentagonal faces—built using prefabricated pentagonal concrete slabs that functioned as load-bearing walls. The design’s innovative morphology, contrasting sharply with the surrounding monotonous apartment blocks, along with its sustainable prefabrication method, convinced the government to approve this unconventional proposal. Construction commenced in 1977.
The neighborhood’s design was modeled after a five-fingered hand, with each “finger” comprising five or six V-shaped interlocking apartment buildings that formed inner courtyards and pedestrian pathways. The central “palm” area housed facilities for shopping, education, and community services, along with three external parking zones. The apartments featured three or four rectangular bedrooms, framed by pentagonal walls that accommodated the washroom and kitchen. Uncovered terraces further extended the living spaces between units and served as circulation areas within the buildings.
Despite its innovative and provocative design, the dodecahedron housing proved cramped, dark, and highly impractical. The interiors included unusable walls, narrow balconies, and slanted pentagonal windows that admitted minimal daylight. Historian and architect David Kroyanker described the project as “nothing but sculpture, a formal curiosity that was interesting from a geometrical point of view, whose shape was surprising but that lacked real content.”[1] These functional shortcomings, coupled with the structure’s unappealing appearance, deterred the intended middle-class residents. Instead, the complex was occupied by ultra-Orthodox communities, drawn by its affordable rent, available amenities, and remote location.
The rigid and formalistic architecture of the complex prompted tenants to engage in what David Kroyanker terms “creative coping,” making modifications such as enlarging rooms, widening windows, and installing air conditioning units on the facades. Nitzan Kalush Chechik and Michal Cedarbaum, curators of the Israeli exhibition at the 2008 Venice Biennale titled Additions: Architecture Over Time, noted that such alterations are typical in the Israeli architectural landscape, where lax building regulations often allow user-driven changes that “take over the landscape and the original character of buildings disappears.”
Originally conceived as a radical architectural experiment, the Ramot Polin complex today serves less as a lesson in innovation and more as an example of uncontrollability, highlighting a critical point many architects overlook: their intentions hold little weight compared to the needs of the tenants—the ultimate users and clients of a project. As ongoing tenant-driven alterations continue to reshape the complex, it has organically evolved into a vernacular form that, ironically, aligns more closely with Hecker’s original organically inspired vision than the structure’s initial built design.
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Project Location
Address: Haroe Street, Jerusalem, Israel
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
