This is my final project in Shenkar. It combines jewish traditions, nature and design. It deals with education and implementation of social values, connection with nature, with the jewish religion, with sustainability.

My starting point for this project was the fact that religious and orthodox jewish students are not fully exposed to agriculture, nature and growing plants. In my research I asked how can those children can be more involved in this nature experience (sowing, watering, growing, working the land etc.), and where do I fit in as a designer.

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During my work I started a collaboration with a Habad Hassidic orthodox girls school in the city of Lod. I observed the educational environment and how does the school contributes to the education of agriculture, working the land, growing plants etc. I found that in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades, girls learn about sprouting and plant growing by text books alone, no practical experience, and thus, no personal or group meaningful experience. In addition to that, the study of agriculture is somewhat disconnected of the girls cultural and moral world, a fact that makes it harder to be a part of those studies. The atmosphere of the class and the whole school in that context, is an empty and minimal one. I decided to design for these girls a process of growing plants that manifests in three objects, seed collecting case, a nursery and a growing bench, each deals with a different phase: collecting, sprouting and growing. Those objects will operate in three different levels: the personal, the class and the school level. 

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The ‘Seven Species’ connection 

In order to connect orthodox school girls my project, Looked for a meaningful launch point where i can combine their religious world with it. In the Torah, seven kinds of crops are mentioned as the kinds that characterize the land of Israel, and are called in religious literature ’The Seven Species’. The species are: wheat, barley, grapevine, fig, pomegranate, olive and date. 

The Seven Species get special attention the jewish religion through various Mitzvahs and Halachas (Jewish rules). They are considered to be a symbol of connection of the people of Israel to the land of Israel, according to the religious literature, and ate compared to the people of Israel themselves in many of the biblical stories. These stories demonstrate how certain features of the species are embodied in the people of Israel. 

The three levels of of the objects

 

 

 

 

The personal level - Collecting the seeds of the Seven Species

As I wanted to grant the students with the full experience I've exposed them to their ability to collect their own seeds, by season. The students learn the meaning of the seed, how in a small seed there is a DNA of a tree giving fruit, and how seeds are timeless - they can keep them in their special collection until they decide to sprout it one day. In addition to that, they learn the time of the year when the fruits are ripe and what they have to do in order to collect the seeds, a collection that will serve as a Seven Species 'treasure box'. 

 

The treasure box is a wooden case every 1st grader gets where they can keep seeds by season. These seeds will serve them for sprouting in the 2nd grade. This projects educate the students to responsibility and diligence as they want to prepare their case for the 2nd grade. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The class level - The nursery

In order to give the students the ability to sprout and follow the process, as well as develop a responsibility, I've designed a sharing nursery where every student can practice in growing a plant. The nursery is a table with slots for the seeds and a shelf for reused water bottles for watering the plants. The importance of the nursery is in a whole class experience, care for the environment and aesthetics. Also important is the permanence of the nursery in the class. The permanent presence of the Seven Species in the classroom creates the opportunity to address and teach them not only in science classes but also in Torah and Halacha classes. Working with the nursery will be taught in science classes and will start with handing the students with cones layouts, soil and seeds (they can use the seeds collected in the 1st grade using the treasure box). The students fold the layouts in order to create a cone, every cone is waterproof and has a place to write the student's name and the kind of fruit they planted. The cones will then be placed in the sharing nursery. The tray and the framework of the nursery are not fully joined in order to enable easy removal for planting outside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The school level - A planting bench 

Placing the plants in a designated spot in the schoolyard - to complete the learning and the whole experience of growing your own fruits, collecting seeds from fruits - a cyclic pattern like in nature- and of course raising the aesthetic value of the school, I have designed benches consist of internal containers to plant the plants from the nursery in the classroom. Combining the sitting place with the planting place enhances the experience of connecting to nature. I chose to use materials that take place in the schoolyard - the concrete planter and the wooden sitting place.      

 

 

 

 

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