6 The Suzanne and Charles Goodman Brain Sciences Building

Architects: GSNA-Shifman-Nathan Architects, in collaboration with Foster & Partners, 2018

An opportunity to become acquainted with the Brain Sciences Center and hear about this project that extends across six floors and an area of 19,000 m². Prominent researchers work out of the center, which is the largest facility of its kind in the country. The building combines complex laboratories that serve multiple disciplines with lecture halls and classrooms, an auditorium, a gallery, a library, and a café – coupled with common areas for social interaction and foot traffic.

A Jerusalem courtyard with a contemporary interpretation is situated in the middle of the building.

The tour will pass through the common areas, the laboratories and the courtyard, where participants will be shown the outer shell of the structure and the retractable roof. The design of the shell was inspired by drawings made by the scientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal. It features aluminum latticework and transparent ETFE panels – materials and technologies that were implemented for the first time in Israel. The building’s design complies with the Israeli Green Building Standard, with a special emphasis on energy efficiency.

Led by the architect Galit Shifman-Natan, the tour will start at the meeting point and continue from there on foot along Magnes Boulevard (for about 20 minutes) until reaching the building.