Houses from Within gets us up close and personal with Jerusalem architecture
Jerusalem's Houses from Within festival could not have come at a better time. After living in their sukkot for a week, Jerusalemites are overjoyed at the prospect of seeing the inside of a house - any house, all the more so some of the city's most beautiful homes. Spearheaded by architect Alon Bin-Nun and his wife Aviva Lewinson, a former journalist who now works for Houses from Within full-time, the festival is an Israeli version of an the Open House events across Europe and beyond, which originated in France in 1984. Houses from Within showcases the best of Jerusalem home design on October 8 and 9.
Bin-Nun experienced the event in New York and decided to bring it to Israel, where he organized the first Houses from Within festival in Tel Aviv four years ago, followed shortly by the Jerusalem version. "In Jerusalem, there is more of a focus on preservation and historic buildings [than in Tel Aviv]. Other than that, it's based on the exact same principles," he explains to GoJerusalem.com.
Opening the city's private spaces to an interested public is certainly compelling as a concept, and the Jerusalem Houses from Within event has attracted over 100,000 persons annually in years past, a number Bin Nun hopes to reach again this year. His efforts are being coordinated in partnership with the Jerusalem city government, too. "The Jerusalem Municipality wanted this project; they understood its importance and have helped us from the first day," affirms Bin-Nun.
According to Bin-Nun, part of the festival's main drawing points (apart from the voyeuristic aspects, of course) is the fact that it takes visitors to places that are off the beaten track - it's hardly your usual tour of Jerusalem. "This year we have a lot of historically interesting places," Bin-Nun explains, "such as the Syrian Orthodox Church in the Old City. Other highlights for me are a tour of the newly renovated Israel Museum, and the Bridged Buildings in Kiryat Yovel. These are not romantic buildings, but they are built in an interesting form."
As for those treks through private homes, Bin-Nun maintains that all those experiences have been positive. "The most interesting things that have happened are actually very emotional things. We often have people who used to live in a certain house coming to see it as part of Houses from Within. They are able to talk about the history of the house or show it to their children."
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