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Daniel Libeskind is the latest high-profile architect to unveil a pyramid-shaped skyscraper, this time in Jerusalem

Daniel Libeskind is the latest high-profile architect to unveil a pyramid-shaped skyscraper, this time in Jerusalem

Jerusalem‘s municipal committee has approved the construction of The Pyramid, a 26 story building by starchitect Daniel Libeskind that will become the city’s second tallest building. Libeskind worked alongside Israeli architect Yigal Levi in designing the 344-foot-tall luxury high-rise that is set to break ground by 2019.

The structure will be built above the ruins of Israel’s century-old Eden Theater and across from the famed Mahane Yehuda Market, also known as The Shuk.

The Pyramid’s facade, with its half-stone, half-glass tessellated panel and embedded Star of David, is placed atop colossal colonnades that connect shops located around a public plaza. The tapering characteristic of the Pyramid gravitate towards the sharp, open tip that will serve as both a roof-top observatory and a restaurant. Besides retail, the project features 200 apartments and a boutique hotel.

“The Pyramid mediates between ancient traditions and myths, while providing a 21st century reinterpretation of that great form,” Libeskind said in a statement on his website. “The design complements the context and gives the neighborhood a vibrant public space in the heart of the ancient city.”

The project was proposed by Libeskind and Levi back in 2011 with a different design. The original included a curved, wave-shaped tower with Jerusalem-style gates.

“We want to bring to the city center the revolution that Mamilla spurred in its area,” Levi told Hareetz in a 2011 article, referring to the luxurious mall on the Alrov Mamilla Avenue strip. “There are a lot of new projects in the city center, but they don’t create a meeting place where people can linger and meet.”

Jerusalem is currently in the midst of a transformation into an even more bustling business and tourism region with at least eight other high-rise projects proposed since 2011, spurring some architects, politicians, and urban planners to caution that so much development could damage the city’s known historic heritage.

Pyramidal shapes have been growing in popularity for high-rise design in recent years, with Bjarke Ingels‘ under construction Via “courtscraper” under construction in Manhattan and Herzog & de Meuron‘s pyramid tower in Paris moving forward.

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