This project attempts to explore the visual language as it is reflected in the design of private and public gardening in the Old Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Old Katamon was founded as an Arab settlement outside the Old City of Jerusalem. Its original population consisted of wealthy Christian Arabs. In 1948, during the War of Independence, after some bitter battles, it was occupied by the Israeli forces. After the war it was inhabited by Israelis. Today, Old Katamon is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, mainly occupied by rich Jews from Europe and the U.S.

Its urban sequence is comprised of patches of private old original Arab houses with adjacent gardens and multi-story apartment housing. Some of the private houses have been renovated and rebuilt in the past years in a style barely reminiscent of the original architecture.

The use of vegetation in this particular urban environment, its appearance and our understanding of it, as one of many visual expressions used in a cultural setting can reveal the basic moral values of society.

Traces of domestic agriculture, the kind that is popular in Arab (and other) villages can be identified in the appearance of fruit trees, such as: Lemon, Orange, Pomegranate, Fig, and Olive. They can be seen both in open public spaces and in private yards. Yet the fruit is no longer eatable, since it is left to rot on the trees, and clearly only functions symbolically as a decoration.

One of the projects that the founders of Israel prioritized was to create a wall of green (by planting imported trees) that would surround the Jewish settlements. The aim of that project was to separate and differentiate the new population from the world around it.  This notion seems to be adopted in this area of the city. Plants of different kind, imported and local are mixed together with found materials in order to form a wall, creating a bricollage of a unique fashion.