A design for a contemporary new city in the Negev Desert that will be a futuristic, ecological, and technologically advanced urban environment, and will set high standards in urban desert living.
The city will be a new rural settlement model, presenting economic innovation and social inclusion that is designed to be resilient to challenging climatic conditions of the desert. Since the area is currently settled by a large number of Bedouin residents, we needed to think a lot about their way of living, and how a new technology city can benefit them.Part of the planning concept is to think about creating an underground floor for infrastructure such as transportation, water, sewage, and electricity which will cater to a much wider area as well as future expansion. The construction proposal simulates a flying carpet of housing units that enjoy an inner courtyard and are raised from the ground, above a shaded public floor devoid of private vehicles, which provides all the social-community benefits.The area of the proposed settlement is about 4.000.000 m² and will be built in several stages. In the first phase, about 2500 units will be built.
Project architect: Smadar Efrati
Creative director: Keshet Rosenblum
Team: Lealla Solomon