בעקבות המים

Across Israel, numerous historical water infrastructures are scattered throughout the urban landscape. These structures once formed an integral part of urban life, providing essential means for the preservation, storage, and conveyance of water – the foundation that enabled cities to exist and thrive. Beyond their functional role, they fostered vibrant community and cultural life, serving as social gathering points and key landmarks within the city. With technological advancement and changing needs, many of these structures lost their original purpose and became dormant, yet they remain embedded in the heart of the urban fabric. Despite their historical, architectural, cultural, and social significance, most stand today unused, closed to the public, and neglected – their potential left unrealized. How can historic water structures and systems once again become active participants in contemporary processes of urban renewal and development? The project poses this question within the context of the city of Ramla and its historic water system, exploring how these structures can be reactivated as urban, cultural, and social focal points at the city’s core. The intervention focuses on the adaptive reuse of the Pool of the Arches, while proposing a broader urban strategy that reconnects it with the White Tower – Ramla’s two central landmarks – through a new green axis that revives the historic water route and creates a continuous public sequence, strengthening the relationship between past and present, city and community.