About the project
“The site chosen for the sculpture enables its reflection of the old city on one side and the new city on the other. The sculpture will serve as a jewel-like beacon at the entrance to Teddy Park, be lit up at night and draw many visitors to the park and the entire area.” Roi Singer, Architect.
Located at Sharp Square in Teddy Park, Mitchell Parks and Gardens, this sculpture was purposefully placed as close to the centre of Jerusalem as possible. The Jerusalem Center of the World sculpture was created at the request of Helene Laor z”l to commemorate the extraordinary work of her late husband, Eran Laor z”l. Combining his love of maps and love of the city, the sculpture rests on the theologian Heinrich Bunting Hem’s 1581 depiction of the world that has Jerusalem at the centre. David Breuer-Weil, the creator of the sculpture, explains that the stainless steel sphere rises out of the old clover map to reflect “the great country coming to life based on an ancient culture”;
The sculpture is constructed with steel, stone and light and is an innovative affirmation of the status of Jerusalem as the spiritual centre of the world: combining ancient and contemporary materials, two and three dimensions, light and dark, and interior and exterior space. This work, allows visitors to enter the elegant sphere-like structure for contemplation. The exterior reflects the walls of Jerusalem by day; seas and oceans are magically suggested by the cut-away sections between continents which at night become patches of light as the work is internally lit, creating a magical, lantern-like presence.
