By Omri Oz Amar

Domus Magazine 2011

灰色貝爾謝巴，一個即使在寒冬也極度干燥、塵土飛揚(yáng)的城市。貝爾謝巴向干涸的河床緩緩移動，沿著河床，另一頭便是沙漠。當(dāng)?shù)氐臉?biāo)準(zhǔn)建筑一般采用灰色的清水混凝土，與城市的黃色塵土相呼應(yīng)。大學(xué)、市政廳、索羅卡醫(yī)院和“內(nèi)格夫中心”都位于城市主干道上，全部由清水混凝土建造。

在貝爾謝巴西邊，能看到交叉路口上的戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)；在貝爾謝巴南邊，能看到一輛遠(yuǎn)離戰(zhàn)場的裝甲車。貝爾謝巴就位于戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)和裝甲車中間。在兩年前的“鑄鉛行動”中，這里曾遭遇多番“格拉德”型導(dǎo)彈襲擊。內(nèi)格夫旅十字路口位于城市東北方向的入口處，這里佇立著一個遠(yuǎn)近可見的地標(biāo)——內(nèi)格夫戰(zhàn)爭紀(jì)念碑（Dani Karavan雕塑）。

紀(jì)念碑除了紀(jì)念意義，也是一個巨大的雕塑，等待人們進(jìn)入其中，去感受其內(nèi)在。紀(jì)念碑呈現(xiàn)給人們的是：灰色的混凝土和恐怖的戰(zhàn)爭。紀(jì)念碑由清水混凝土筑成，滿載著悲悵和柔和感，就像沙漠本身一樣。被侵蝕的部位堆積著塵土。它向沙漠一樣，俯瞰著整個城市。

混凝土內(nèi)格夫旅十字路口西南角，在一個連通廣袤沙漠且只有在內(nèi)格夫內(nèi)才能看到的地塊上，最近建成了“貝絲哈羅契姆”康復(fù)中心（退伍軍人之家）?？祻?fù)中心遠(yuǎn)離其它建筑，周圍是無盡的黃土，面對著沙漠和紀(jì)念碑。

康復(fù)中心主要是為該地區(qū)以色列國防軍殘疾退伍軍人及其家屬而建。全部由混凝土建造，線條清晰，簡單明了。建筑結(jié)構(gòu)設(shè)計很簡單：兩個樓層通過幾個點連接，有五個混凝土建造的“巖石狀單元”，可以在這里裝配升降式電梯。

設(shè)計呈現(xiàn)出明顯的簡潔感。由于康復(fù)中心是針對各類殘疾軍人的（盲、聾、坐輪椅等），因此對視覺通透性的要求比較高。連接樓層的單元，也就是“巖石狀”混凝土單元，采用澆筑混凝土，表面粗糙，在結(jié)構(gòu)和視覺上都體現(xiàn)出一種真實感。

每個巖石狀單元內(nèi)都含有各種“私人”空間，因此，整個建筑功能豐富，涵蓋：育兒室，診所，心理咨詢師等。各巖石狀單元之間，形成深河谷狀的公共空間，有的地方狹窄，有的地方寬敞，零散分布，主要涵蓋：健身室，室內(nèi)游泳池和聚會區(qū)。

Shachaf Zait是一名現(xiàn)場建筑師，他指出“巖石”和“河谷”象征著建筑物周圍的沙漠景象。代表著柔軟與堅韌、沙漠與泉水的結(jié)合，同時也呼應(yīng)著陽光的衍射。設(shè)計者充分發(fā)揮了混凝土作為建筑材料的作用。從一開始的液態(tài)混凝土，到最終的固態(tài)建筑結(jié)構(gòu)，混凝土使用起來非常方便。建筑在視覺上，呈現(xiàn)出一種整體感，并與貝爾謝巴當(dāng)?shù)氐慕ㄖz產(chǎn)相呼應(yīng)。

避難所混凝土是一種有機(jī)的建筑材料?？梢愿鶕?jù)設(shè)計者的需求塑形壓模。但同時它會受到侵蝕作用的影響。體現(xiàn)出一種柔軟性和脆弱性，屬于人為影響范疇，暗含著作為避難所的功能。內(nèi)格夫紀(jì)念碑也很好地體現(xiàn)了這些特質(zhì)。

不是每個人都能意識到，混凝土也是脆弱的，而購房者是手無寸鐵的。大多數(shù)人只看到混凝土的堅固性，并將這種堅固理解為控制和支配能力。我們受到這樣一種觀念的啟發(fā)，即用（幾乎占據(jù)每一塊土地的）混凝土和水泥覆蓋，會使人們感覺空間得到了掌控。一直以來人們都認(rèn)為，清水混凝土，直觀而粗糙，像薩布拉人（以色列本土人）一樣傲慢麻木。但混凝土建造的結(jié)構(gòu)也并非總表現(xiàn)出柔弱性?；炷量梢詽仓删薮蠖鴪杂驳慕ㄖw，但同時也剝奪了混凝土的本質(zhì)及其原有的建造潛能。

縱觀以色列歷史，會發(fā)現(xiàn)很多簡單的日常場所都使用了混凝土：保險室、戰(zhàn)爭時期避難所、學(xué)校美術(shù)課、舊家具儲藏室、以及公寓大樓里的兒童游樂室。這些場所都代表著在當(dāng)?shù)貏邮幍沫h(huán)境下，人們所需要的保護(hù)和關(guān)愛。

從這一點上來看，貝絲哈羅契姆采用混凝土建造體現(xiàn)出對內(nèi)格夫旅紀(jì)念碑（僅500米遠(yuǎn)）所代表的戰(zhàn)爭的屏蔽。從紀(jì)念碑到康復(fù)中心，再從康復(fù)中心返回紀(jì)念碑處，兩者所包含的豐富歷史信息，建筑的簡潔明了，柔軟與堅韌的融合，尤其是關(guān)愛與保護(hù)的功能，都給人留下深刻印象。

整個國家普遍使用混凝土，特別是貝爾謝巴市，這說明混凝土完美融合了建筑的內(nèi)容、結(jié)構(gòu)與外形。以上所有功能結(jié)合在一起，為殘疾退伍軍人提供一個生理和心理上的避難所。

GrayBe'er Sheva: parched and dusty even on a bleak winter day. A slow-moving city, sending its neighborhoods into wadis which stretch toward the desert. Its canonical buildings blend the yellow tint of dust with the grayness of bare concrete.The University, City Hall, Soroka Hospital, and "Negev Center, are all located on the main road of the city, all constructed of bare concrete.

Someone arriving in Be'er Sheva from the west encounters traffic circles decorated withfighter planes; from the south, an armored car from a distant war. In-between lies the city, which only two years ago, during Operation Cast Lead, suffered rounds of Grad missile attacks. The Negev Brigade intersection, located at the northeast entrance of the city, is also reminiscent of war-named for the Negev monument by sculptor Dani Karavan, a Landmark visible far and wide.

The monument, a memorial as well as a huge environmental sculpture which implores one to enter its spaces and experience it from within, embodies the two images: both the gray concrete and the terror of war. It is built of bare concrete, full of pathos and tenderness just as the desert itself. Like the desert it holds dust wherever the cement has eroded and, as the desert, the monument too overlooks the city.

ConcreteOn the Southwest corner of the Negev Brigade intersection, on a plot opening up to the infinite desert, of the kind that can be seen only in the Negev,”Beit Halochem”(lveterans' home) has recently been built. Far from any other structure,surrounded by yellow loess, staring across the desert and the monument.

The building, meant to serve the public of disabled IDF veterans and their families from the area, is constructed entirely of concrete, cast in sharp lines, clear and clean. The design of the structure is simple: two stories integrally connected at several points, withfive “rock like units” of concrete, enabling vertical circulation and elevators.

The simplicity of the plan is evident. Since the entire structure is adapted for veterans of different disabilities - blind, deaf and those confined to wheelchairs,visual clarity of movement is mandatory. The points connecting the two interlocking levels, those “rocky" concrete monoliths, with rough surfaces of poured concrete,also express a constructive and visual truth.

Each rock-like unit contains spaces for some of the various functions of "privacy"that the compound provides: from babysitting children of patients to clinics for body and soul. In expanses between the “rocks”, Like a deep river gorge, which becomes narrower and sometimes expands, are scattered spaces for public functions:exercise room, indoor swimming pool and gathering areas.

Architect Shachaf Zait, who was architect-on-site, notes that “rocks” and “gorges”symbolize the desert image surrounding the building. They represent a meeting of tenderness and hardness, of dryness and spring water, accompanied by a diversion of diffracting sunlight. The designers transformed concrete into an ideal material for design. Liquid in the beginning and rock-hard at the end, convenient for processing.visually uniform, and associated with the architectural heritage of Be'er Sheva.

RefugeConcrete is a material with an organic character. It can be shaped and molded according to requirements of the designer and it responds to erosion processes. It embodies softness and vulnerability, a kind of human dimension,and a capacity to be a refuge. The Negev monument refiects those qualities in an astounding manner.

Not everyone is aware of the vulnerability of concrete and the defenselessness of home buyers. Most see its strength, and interpret its rigidity as controlling and dominating. We were inspired by the notion that a cover of concrete and cement that dominates every tract of land, leads to an ideology of control over empty spaces.We were taught that bare concrete, direct and crude is as insolent and insensitive as a sabra (native Israeli). Even structures built of concrete did not always express its softness. There they are, cast in rigid patterns and oversized dimensions, while at the same time taking away from concrete its sincerity and construction potential they purport to show.

In contrast, throughout Israel’s history in spite of these attempts, we encounter concrete in simple daily use inside our homes -as safe rooms and as shelters that are routinely used for art classes in schools, for store rooms of old furniture and,in times of war, as playrooms for children in apartment buildings. These represent protecting and compassionate spaces we are building for use in our local and violent reality.

In this sense, use of concrete in Beit Halochem reflects closure with respect to the Negev Brigade monument, located at a distance of onlyfive hundred meters.Walking from the sculpture to the concrete structure and back again to the sculpture one is impressed by the informed and constructive honesty, by the tenderness and stiffness, especially compassion and protection, evident both in Beit Halochem as well as in the monument.

The ubiquitous use of concrete in the entire country and Be'er Sheva in particular, points to concrete as a perfect fusion of content, construction and shape. All these features coalesce to produce a physical and psychological refuge for disabled war veterans.