עמל פרדיסו

The project focuses on the revitalization of the Amal Cinema complex in Kfar Saba. Situated in the city center, the cinema building was constructed in the 1930s as a workers' hall designed by architect Arieh Sharon. For decades, it served as the cultural heart of the area, until it was abandoned and sealed off twenty years ago. The project raises the curtain once more, restoring the complex's vitality and establishing it as a pulsing community hub of creation. The design is based on translating the historical concept of "Amal" (labor), which formerly represented the manual labor of the working class, into a contemporary form of labor. This translation marks a transition from passive cultural consumption to active community creation, where the residents are the initiators, creators, and performers. Under strict preservation constraints that prevent perimeter expansion, the architectural dilemma is resolved through an intervention that includes dismantling the 1960s brutalist concrete lobby and exposing the original facade, alongside deep excavation into the ground. Releasing the historical volume creates a new arrangement of levels that allows for the simultaneous operation of multiple activities, centered around the division of the original cinema hall into two separate performance spaces. The seam between the old and the new is defined by the penetration of natural light, as sunken courtyards and transparent tiles in the street pavement flood the lower floor with natural lighting, creating a direct visual connection between pedestrians and the creation within. The urban experience flows continuously into the public park surrounding the complex, where a sunken open-air cinema is integrated under the open sky. Amal Paradiso returns the cinematic magic to the community and reignites the light in a place where it faded twenty years ago.