Jerusalem is a city torn by religious and ethnic conflict among the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Every new conqueror brings with him a desire to subdue the other two, and it has led to the city being a virtual battleground for the last thousand years. In recent years, the city has seen tension and unease spread across the lands with both the West Bank and the Israeli government’s ineffective in controlling and leading their populations. The result is that citizens hardly get a good night’s sleep in this area. The city that was supposed to be the common ground for people of all three faiths and an international heritage of five thousand years is one of the most dangerous places to live in right now.
In a bid to promote art and beauty in the neglected part of the city, these special blossoming flowers cum streetlights have been erected in the middle of the Vallero square. They fully bloom when you walk past them, and everyone seems to feel ecstatic when these flowers do their thing as they pass by these lights.
It is called the Warde project, created by HQ Architects, and comprises of four interactive poppy shaped flowers. Much of the public space in the heart of the city brings us beauty, interactive and innovative architecture at the same time. The flowers are 9X9 meters when fully stretched, and they immediately deploy after sensing the movement nearby. Here is how they work:
The giant street lights are positioned such that they are visible from a distance including the market close by. They are also useful in the summers as they can provide shade for the people underneath with their giant canopies. They also become fully stretched when the local tram appears so that people are alerted to its arrival. A beautiful architectural piece in a visibly gloomy neighborhood.
Warde from HQ Architects on Vimeo.