Nesharim Interchange

The challenge of this project was to find a way to integrate a vast and complex infrastructural intervention visually and functionally into the surrounding landscape, minimizing the impact for residents of the adjoining areas, and providing an evocative experience for users of the routes.  The plan thus borrows from both the surrounding agricultural and wild landscapes.  It turns to the existing agricultural landscape for the plantings in the large flat areas which are captured between the roads and ramps.  These areas contain massive groves of carob and olive trees.  Meanwhile, all the slopes are planted with native species of grasses and perennial bushes, and seeded with native annual flowers which are mowed yearly.  In all seasons, the plantings provide a play of colors at a vast scale meant to be understood while traveling at high speeds. The pastoral feel provides a striking contrast to the industrial cement works and ramp bridges, making the Nesharim Interchange a real landmark along the routes which pass through it.  A seasonal river which runs through the interchange is restored with restorative plantings to highlight its course from afar and to augment its ecological value as a wildlife corridor.  All plantings are low-cost and low-maintenance, irrigated with treated wastewater.  Ecological surveys done in recent years show a high biodiversity and indicate that the native plantings have triggered a substantial regeneration of the local flora.