HIDE & SEEK Bal Mandir - Tunnel

As an integral part of the design, and a part of the circulation in the structure, we built a tunnel using ferrocement technique, which creates a kids-only territory, playful, adventurous and flooded with color.  

Digging foundation for the tunnel and building a supporting wall to
bind the tunnel to the compound wall 

Placing the reinforcement and the chicken mesh to the foundation
and the wall 

Shaping a mold out of mud for casting the cement

Attaching the chicken mesh to the compound wall - detail

Shaping the cement free-handed over the
reinforcement poles and chicken mesh.

Digging out the mud

Creating halls in the cement by placing tubes in the mold for sun
beam penetration, peeping and ventilation 

Colorful china mosaic flooring

The finished tunnel

HIDE & SEEK Bal Mandir - Presentation status

HIDE & SEEK Bal Mandir - Introduction

Bal-Mandir – literally meaning "Child's Temple" – is a place that aspires to create a sense of relevance for its users, the kindergarten's kids. Doing that by adjusting the building's scale to their measure and creating a challenging and playful environment for them.

In the Hide & Seek Bal Mandir the kids could pass on their fours through a colorfully paved tunnel to the untouched area, joined to the wall and the plinth level with a sand slope. Another passage is created by a narrow gap that divides the wall in two, which they can squeeze through. A little window, positioned at their eyesight level, allows them to peep to the natural surroundings from the interior of the structure, whilst the grown-ups can watch it over the lower wall.  

  Positioning two classrooms opposite to one another with a one meter offset from the
  school gate in order to define the school entrance.

The four main principles that guided our design

HIDE & SEEK Bal Mandir - Building Process



  Working bottom-up, we set up the chronological process required for elements
  that intersect with each other. 



1. Foundations

Technical section describing the foundation



2. Tunnel*

   Tunnel reinforcement before applying the ferrocement

*See: http://spontaneous-architecture.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/hide-seek-bal-mandir-tunnel.html 

3. Wall

Wall during construction

 4. Roof



 Roof construction is lying on a beam which passes through the wall



Roof beam - wall intersection detail





Roof - wall intersection

5. Finishing - polished cement flooring and hay roof cover

Applying polished cement flooring in IPS technique

Covering the roof construction with hay


Summarising all the building process for a minute and a half stop-motion, we got the following:

Own Self Mandir

In my understanding, a temple is a place in which you practice for something you believe in, but is non-physical.

I translated that understanding so that the object of belief is reflected. The practice makes you looking at yourself through words that are associated to god, but can be read as both a description of one's action: "created" "judged" "blessed", or an imperative: "create!" "judge!" "bless!". The mandir is placed as a street art or graffiti in a central commercial street in Jerusalem, and across Bezalel's historical building in the city center.

The Own Self Mandir is my personal temple, that rely on the belief that we have the power to control our lives.

Spontaneous Technology

Spontaneous Dock

Fishermen coming back from night fishing, docking on the beach, using logs and reposition them as they push the boat further towards land.

Get a Roof - Get a Shelter

The most basic and fundamental form of "a house" creates a shelter with just a roof.

Diagonal positioning prevents water penetration from above with no draining problem.

 The water flowing over the sidewalk are being redirected to bypass the shelter by a pile of sand that functions as a wall.

dérive Carmit, Léa, Ethan