Isragirl Presents : Urban Landscape Biennale @ Bat Yam, Photo by Bat-Yam-Biennale.org ©

The City of Bat Yam (15 min south of Tel Aviv on the coast) is hosting these days its first international urban landscape biennale. Bat Yam has initiated this special event hoping to start a tradition of biennales which will take place every two years, with local and international architects, planers and artists presenting their vision for a new urban dialog between residents of the city and their open public areas.

The primary objective of the international biennale of landscape urbanism is to initiate extensive public debate regarding urban activities that influence the quality of life in the city. The biennale will deal with the urban experience and activities that have the power to transform the city into a higher quality, optimistic and vital place. Organizers promise that the exhibits placed around the city for the biennale will be left on the streets as long as the local residents will want it there.

The biennale includes 30 outdoor rooms scattered in public domain. All sites are open to the public and their aim is to introduce innovative ways for using urban open spaces. With today’s awareness of city residents to the use and importance of open public space (especially in crowded cities), the participating artists and planners are committed to integrating community projects as well as students proposals into their own designs and ideas.

In the biennale you will find fresh ideas dealing with parking issues, altogether different playgrounds, a special public domain dedicated to Ethiopian mourning ceremonies taking place outdoors, living rooms that need no walls, vegetable gardens for local tenants use and lots of new and fun outdoor solutions to urban in-house density…

For more info and a map of the biennale – enter the Biennale English web site.