The Israel Supreme Court Building
Jerusalem, Israel 1992
" The city was built up around various centers of public activity, dating from different historical periods, and it is these foci which provide its image. The map of the city, like that of the Supreme Court Building, mirrors a distinct hierarchy of those cores implanted in our individual and collective memories." The Building as Process, Interview with the Architects, in L’Architettura
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The Israel Supreme Court building sits atop a hill, aptly commanding the new National Precinct. The architects chose to emphasize the role of justice in the Jewish capital by organizing the building around the cardo and decumanus axes which divide and order the city.
Along these axes are several important buildings and sites; along the spiritual east, the Rockefeller Museum, the Damascus Gate, the Russian Compound, the Zion Square, the Ben Yehuda Mall, while the the Kiryat Ben-Gurion and Mediterranean sea are on the west. The east has been traditionally known for its spirituality, while the west represents the "new capital". Along the north-south axis lies the city gate to Binyenei Ha’uma, the Supreme Court, the Knesset and the Israel Museum. The axes divides the building into four distinct elements; the library, the courtrooms, the judges’ chambers and parking area are all expressed individually. The intersection of these axes signal the entrance of the complex. A massive stone wall grows forth along the east-west axis, bridging the four disparate elements together.
Further references to the old Jerusalem were made in design choices; stone was used to
symbolize the eternal character of Jerusalem; the intergration of a traditional Middle
Eastern courtyard , with all its characteristic elements symbolized not only an
architectural tradition but a religious belief – "Justice reflects from the sky
and Truth forms out of the earth" (Psalm 85:12). The architect states " we
perceived justice as an absolute value toward which one strives but which remains elusive
and unattainable". The gateway was designed to evoke the image of the Biblical "
justice at the gates" (Deut.16:18), while the courtrooms were built as niches, carved
out from a rocky terrain, thus representing the layered nature of the city of Jerusalem. 
The concept of layering (as expressed by the relationship between mass and contained void) was used as the theme in the building’s construction. Modern technology replaced the old stone walls - a thin concrete structure cladded with stone, as opposed to a full thick masonry wall is used. Detailing, the interplay of sculpted light and shadow, and playing with the senses of weight and security helped to evoke depth.
The building’s architecture is certainly not reflective of that of the
contemporary model for courthouses as the architects strongly felt that it did not
encompass the historical evolution of Hebrew law and the environment in which it evolved.
Instead the design picks up elements of traditional culture to reflect the society it
serves and the context into which it is located.
" The physical attributes of the site called for the recognition of three conflicting axes; this resulted in a building that is simultaneously a fragment of a larger order and a unique object in itself. The spiritual impact of Jerusalem called for a dialogue between the old and new and resulted in an internal dynamic architecture which is distinct from and independent of the external static expression of the object – a building within a building. The symbolic import of the courts required the accommodation of both change and stability, and resulted in a ceremonial, open-ended structure which draws from the theatrical elements of the judicial process at the city gates. Consequently this building is about conflict. When conflict is function a dynamic balance becomes an architectural imperative – a balance of an open-ended nature, devoid of symmetry. In such a setting, ‘space’ which is a material phenomenon, might become ‘place’ which is a cultural one.
" in L’Architettura.