1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,032 I think it's time, Caroline, to go and see how the other half live. 2 00:00:05,032 --> 00:00:07,056 Talk about "welcome to my humble abode." Cor! 3 00:00:07,056 --> 00:00:09,060 That is a whole lot of house! 4 00:00:11,092 --> 00:00:15,032 He's Pierce Taylor, an award-winning architect. 5 00:00:15,032 --> 00:00:19,040 I mean the depth of this wall, it's four-foot thick. 6 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:20,064 After you, my Lord. 7 00:00:20,064 --> 00:00:23,012 And she's Caroline Quentin. 8 00:00:23,012 --> 00:00:26,048 Acclaimed actress and passionate property developer. 9 00:00:26,048 --> 00:00:32,024 This house has the perfect ratio of bedrooms to swimming pools. 10 00:00:32,024 --> 00:00:35,088 We've been given the keys to some of the most incredible houses 11 00:00:35,088 --> 00:00:36,096 in the world. 12 00:00:36,096 --> 00:00:40,012 If we were left alone here for any amount of time I have a feeling... 13 00:00:40,012 --> 00:00:41,040 We would ruin this house. 14 00:00:42,064 --> 00:00:45,040 To discover the design innovation, passion, 15 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,028 and endurance needed to transform architectural vision into an 16 00:00:49,028 --> 00:00:51,032 extraordinary home. 17 00:00:51,032 --> 00:00:53,024 Look! I'm dumbstruck! 18 00:00:54,032 --> 00:00:56,020 We're travelling the globe... 19 00:00:57,064 --> 00:01:01,008 Meeting architects and owners to explore how their daring homes 20 00:01:01,008 --> 00:01:05,052 respond uniquely to local landscape, climate, and culture. 21 00:01:05,052 --> 00:01:08,084 I think this is probably the greatest house I've ever been in. 22 00:01:08,084 --> 00:01:12,036 Whether it's battling the elements to construct a dream home 23 00:01:12,036 --> 00:01:15,040 on dramatic Scandinavian terrain... 24 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,040 The architect was nervous that things would go wrong. 25 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,028 He couldn't bear to look at it. 26 00:01:20,028 --> 00:01:24,000 Pushing the boundaries of European experimentation... 27 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,016 I think that's it.I think it is! 28 00:01:26,016 --> 00:01:30,052 When I looked at the proposal, at the beginning I was almost shocked. 29 00:01:30,052 --> 00:01:34,056 Celebrating craftsmanship and beauty in Asia... 30 00:01:34,056 --> 00:01:37,068 We've likened this house to dripping chocolate sauce 31 00:01:37,068 --> 00:01:39,044 over vanilla ice cream. 32 00:01:39,044 --> 00:01:42,044 Or going all-out for glamour in America. 33 00:01:42,044 --> 00:01:46,072 We just do what you do best is to create a masterpiece. 34 00:01:46,072 --> 00:01:49,088 (AMERICAN ACCENT)Pierce! Is this too Miami? 35 00:01:56,060 --> 00:01:58,084 This time, we're in the Middle East. 36 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:02,088 Israel. Here we are! 37 00:02:02,088 --> 00:02:06,072 It's exciting to be in such an ancient culture, isn't it? 38 00:02:06,072 --> 00:02:08,092 It is.Because to be going to visit places that... 39 00:02:08,092 --> 00:02:11,068 I mean, you know, since a little girl, at school, you know, 40 00:02:11,068 --> 00:02:14,044 you've heard talk of Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee 41 00:02:14,044 --> 00:02:16,048 and all those places they've been 42 00:02:16,048 --> 00:02:18,096 kind of in one's consciousness forever. 43 00:02:21,032 --> 00:02:24,068 We've come to see the work of some of Israel's most interesting 44 00:02:24,068 --> 00:02:27,048 contemporary architects who often take inspiration 45 00:02:27,048 --> 00:02:31,032 from the country's rich cultural and historical traditions, 46 00:02:31,032 --> 00:02:35,076 creating buildings that also have to deal with an extreme climate. 47 00:02:35,076 --> 00:02:39,036 From a stunning city house carved out of a hillside... 48 00:02:39,036 --> 00:02:41,064 This is clearly what it's all about. 49 00:02:41,064 --> 00:02:44,004 It's all about the rock. It's all about the rock. 50 00:02:45,012 --> 00:02:47,068 To luxury living by the Mediterranean. 51 00:02:47,068 --> 00:02:50,056 This is one seriously glamorous boudoir. 52 00:02:50,056 --> 00:02:53,020 We're on a kind of architectural pilgrimage... 53 00:02:53,020 --> 00:02:54,080 Look at the light, Piers! 54 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,052 It's magical the way it's bouncing off the floor. 55 00:02:57,052 --> 00:03:00,068 ..as we hit the road seeking extraordinary homes 56 00:03:00,068 --> 00:03:01,088 in the Holy Land. 57 00:03:01,088 --> 00:03:06,060 I want you, Piers Taylor, to give me a sermon on architecture. 58 00:03:06,060 --> 00:03:07,064 Convert me. 59 00:03:14,068 --> 00:03:17,056 We're starting our journey just north of Tel Aviv 60 00:03:17,056 --> 00:03:18,088 in Herzliya Pituach. 61 00:03:18,088 --> 00:03:23,008 # Let the sun shine! # 62 00:03:23,008 --> 00:03:25,092 This is one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Israel, 63 00:03:25,092 --> 00:03:29,020 renowned for boutique hotels, restaurants, embassies, 64 00:03:29,020 --> 00:03:31,012 and jaw-dropping houses. 65 00:03:31,012 --> 00:03:34,016 It's a millionaires' playground by the Mediterranean. 66 00:03:37,068 --> 00:03:39,076 We're back on the beach. 67 00:03:39,076 --> 00:03:42,048 Good thing I've got my mankini with me, I can have a dip. 68 00:03:42,048 --> 00:03:43,088 God, that's a thought. 69 00:03:45,012 --> 00:03:48,040 Yours?The mental image of you in a mankini. 70 00:03:53,064 --> 00:03:57,028 These trees are insane. They're beautiful. 71 00:03:57,028 --> 00:04:01,040 When a British businessman and his Israeli wife wanted to build 72 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,008 their dream family home, 73 00:04:03,008 --> 00:04:06,048 they searched for a plot in this exclusive neighbourhood. 74 00:04:06,048 --> 00:04:08,052 They said it's hard to see from the road, 75 00:04:08,052 --> 00:04:11,012 they told us to look for a long, white wall. 76 00:04:12,032 --> 00:04:13,044 I think this is it, P. 77 00:04:16,056 --> 00:04:18,000 It's enormous. 78 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:19,068 It's huge, isn't it? 79 00:04:19,068 --> 00:04:21,084 I mean, it's like a great big liner, isn't it? 80 00:04:21,084 --> 00:04:23,036 It is.Oh, gosh, it's wonderful. 81 00:04:25,032 --> 00:04:27,044 # I put a spell on you...# 82 00:04:27,044 --> 00:04:29,068 It's a surprise to find this huge, 83 00:04:29,068 --> 00:04:33,008 intriguing looking house tucked away in a suburban plot. 84 00:04:34,012 --> 00:04:37,092 Beyond the giant white facade with its sculpted screens 85 00:04:37,092 --> 00:04:42,064 is a sleek and spacious family home designed to embrace the outdoors. 86 00:04:42,064 --> 00:04:44,072 # You better stop the things you do 87 00:04:49,024 --> 00:04:51,000 # I ain't lyin'. # 88 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,012 Shall we have a look inside? Just help ourselves? 89 00:04:53,012 --> 00:04:54,020 Yeah.The gate's open. 90 00:04:57,020 --> 00:05:01,016 This is like a gangplank onto a 1930s liner. 91 00:05:01,016 --> 00:05:04,040 It is, isn't it? And it's so lush, it's so verdant. 92 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:05,044 Look at the planting. 93 00:05:06,056 --> 00:05:08,064 It's quite tropical, isn't it? 94 00:05:08,064 --> 00:05:12,032 Ossie, who is the owner of this house, has invited us in. 95 00:05:12,032 --> 00:05:13,084 Hello! 96 00:05:13,084 --> 00:05:15,068 Welcome! 97 00:05:15,068 --> 00:05:17,092 Hello!Lovely to meet you! 98 00:05:17,092 --> 00:05:21,004 I'm Caroline, this is Piers. Don't be so ridiculous. 99 00:05:21,004 --> 00:05:22,020 Lovely to meet you. 100 00:05:22,020 --> 00:05:24,048 Thank you very much for letting us in. 101 00:05:24,048 --> 00:05:26,012 Thank you so much. 102 00:05:28,084 --> 00:05:32,076 Whew! It's already really, extraordinarily beautiful. 103 00:05:32,076 --> 00:05:34,048 Thank you. Thank you very much. 104 00:05:37,072 --> 00:05:40,088 It's immediately obvious that no expense has been spared 105 00:05:40,088 --> 00:05:43,040 in this palatial family home. 106 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,056 Ossie and her husband, Steve, have created generous living spaces 107 00:05:47,056 --> 00:05:49,068 which are warm and welcoming. 108 00:05:51,052 --> 00:05:53,016 Throughout the ground floor, 109 00:05:53,016 --> 00:05:57,040 choreographed lights and reflective pools creates a calm connection 110 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,072 with the outside world. 111 00:05:59,072 --> 00:06:03,060 Let me show you the area that we actually live. 112 00:06:03,060 --> 00:06:06,076 We actually spend most of our time here outside because it's a hot 113 00:06:06,076 --> 00:06:10,080 country. Nine months a year, we're outside. 114 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,024 I can't help myself. I'm going to slip off and explore, 115 00:06:13,024 --> 00:06:15,092 if that's OK? Enjoy yourself. Good, you slip off, P. 116 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:19,040 So how many are you here? 117 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:23,036 So I came with my three kids and my husband came with his three kids. 118 00:06:23,036 --> 00:06:25,068 Right.Thank God they really get on together. 119 00:06:25,068 --> 00:06:30,092 We all live here with friends and families and everyone come in 120 00:06:30,092 --> 00:06:32,060 and out whenever they want. 121 00:06:32,060 --> 00:06:35,068 It's really like a home. 122 00:06:35,068 --> 00:06:39,000 I think it's great that in a house which is, really, I mean, 123 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,012 quite phenomenal that it's a home as well, it's a place you feel 124 00:06:42,012 --> 00:06:45,028 you can use, the teenagers can come and live, and be. 125 00:06:45,028 --> 00:06:47,076 Yes, there's no rules in the house, as long as everyone is nice 126 00:06:47,076 --> 00:06:50,060 to each other and happy, we don't really have rules. 127 00:06:50,060 --> 00:06:53,016 So then you want everyone to enjoy it. 128 00:06:53,016 --> 00:06:54,048 If you don't mind, I will. 129 00:06:54,048 --> 00:06:57,044 I shall thoroughly immerse myself in your home, if that's OK? 130 00:06:57,044 --> 00:06:59,020 Of course. Would you like cup of coffee? 131 00:06:59,020 --> 00:07:00,060 Thank you, I'd love that. 132 00:07:11,036 --> 00:07:14,064 This is a huge house with 800 square metres of floor space 133 00:07:14,064 --> 00:07:17,024 and is set over three levels. 134 00:07:18,044 --> 00:07:21,096 In the basement there are three large en-suite bedrooms, 135 00:07:21,096 --> 00:07:23,060 a cinema, and a bar area. 136 00:07:25,008 --> 00:07:27,056 Upstairs, there's a main bedroom, a dressing room, 137 00:07:27,056 --> 00:07:29,032 and three further bedrooms. 138 00:07:31,024 --> 00:07:34,032 The ground floor is open-plan with a generous kitchen, 139 00:07:34,032 --> 00:07:38,016 a dining room and two sitting areas which all open onto the garden. 140 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,032 P? Hello.She's gone to make me a cup of coffee, 141 00:07:44,032 --> 00:07:47,048 but she was just telling me how they live, pretty much, 142 00:07:47,048 --> 00:07:51,004 almost entirely outside because the climate is so good. 143 00:07:51,004 --> 00:07:52,092 She says all of this opens up. 144 00:07:52,092 --> 00:07:56,052 It does. I mean, it's hard to know where the inside ends 145 00:07:56,052 --> 00:08:00,068 and the outside begins. But all of these pull back. 146 00:08:00,068 --> 00:08:04,008 And this does change the character of the house completely, doesn't it? 147 00:08:04,008 --> 00:08:06,000 Entirely. I mean you open up the side 148 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,032 and suddenly you're in a completely different space. 149 00:08:08,032 --> 00:08:11,028 And the way you feel about it changes completely. 150 00:08:11,028 --> 00:08:15,068 It does. I mean, particularly here where this goes from being 151 00:08:15,068 --> 00:08:21,012 a rather large hall into being part of the garden. 152 00:08:21,012 --> 00:08:24,020 I'll give you a hand. It's getting heavier.It is. 153 00:08:24,020 --> 00:08:27,060 This is absolutely glorious, what happens to this. 154 00:08:27,060 --> 00:08:31,048 I mean, that completely alters this entire space. 155 00:08:31,048 --> 00:08:33,084 It's really weird to actually think about it, you come in, 156 00:08:33,084 --> 00:08:36,008 and in a way if you walked in and this was open it would be 157 00:08:36,008 --> 00:08:39,028 like being in a house that's made out of one wall.That's right. Yeah. 158 00:08:39,028 --> 00:08:41,072 The far wall is actually the other side of the house. 159 00:08:41,072 --> 00:08:43,096 That's right. That's how I think it's been designed. 160 00:08:43,096 --> 00:08:46,064 The boundary wall is the outside wall. 161 00:08:46,064 --> 00:08:49,072 And everything in it is just movable screen or furniture. 162 00:08:49,072 --> 00:08:51,036 Talk about using your plot. 163 00:08:51,036 --> 00:08:55,012 Now, there are no bedrooms here, so I think we probably have to head... 164 00:08:55,012 --> 00:08:58,048 Down?Or up? Or both?Or both? 165 00:09:00,020 --> 00:09:01,028 Pretty staircase. 166 00:09:01,028 --> 00:09:04,096 Lovely staircase. I mean, lovely the way the light is brought through all 167 00:09:04,096 --> 00:09:08,028 this delicate structure, and bounced around. 168 00:09:08,028 --> 00:09:11,080 I feel like it's almost some sort of heavenly harp. 169 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,064 It's like a stairway to heaven. 170 00:09:17,032 --> 00:09:19,012 Guide you up to the pearly gates. 171 00:09:19,012 --> 00:09:21,016 Very nice.Where are you going down, down? 172 00:09:21,016 --> 00:09:23,028 Down into the dark, I think. 173 00:09:24,056 --> 00:09:26,044 I'm going to go exploring up here. 174 00:09:26,044 --> 00:09:27,080 OK. See you in a minute. 175 00:09:30,016 --> 00:09:33,008 They are beautifully made, these stairs. 176 00:09:33,008 --> 00:09:38,024 Each one of these pieces of steel is cantilevered out from the stone. 177 00:09:38,024 --> 00:09:41,044 And then the stainless steel wires pass through, 178 00:09:41,044 --> 00:09:44,012 not supporting just passing through. 179 00:09:44,012 --> 00:09:47,020 To stop you falling out. Beautiful. 180 00:09:50,088 --> 00:09:53,068 Wow, it's so different downstairs. 181 00:09:53,068 --> 00:09:55,060 And it's so dark. 182 00:09:55,060 --> 00:09:56,072 So textured. 183 00:09:58,016 --> 00:10:02,000 The moonscape wall changes the tone from the airy upper floors 184 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:03,012 and draws you in. 185 00:10:03,012 --> 00:10:07,044 The subdued lighting and dark furnishings are in stark contrast, 186 00:10:07,044 --> 00:10:08,080 to the rest of the house. 187 00:10:09,084 --> 00:10:13,000 This is the sort of room that's most blokes would fantasize about. 188 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:14,004 A bar. 189 00:10:15,024 --> 00:10:18,008 And a huge screen to watch football. 190 00:10:19,044 --> 00:10:21,068 While Piers is trying to find a remote, 191 00:10:21,068 --> 00:10:23,088 I'm seeing what the top floor has to offer. 192 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,052 I'm guessing this is the master bedroom. 193 00:10:35,028 --> 00:10:38,000 This is one seriously glamorous boudoir. 194 00:10:45,048 --> 00:10:48,064 Quite a smart bathroom as well. Fantastic walls. 195 00:10:48,064 --> 00:10:51,004 Beautiful, beautiful stone walls. 196 00:10:54,060 --> 00:10:58,044 Biggest shower head in Israel, possibly the world. 197 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,044 Massive bath. 198 00:11:04,036 --> 00:11:05,040 Lady in a hurry. 199 00:11:06,096 --> 00:11:11,016 Ossie and Steve are living the dream, and I found mine 200 00:11:11,016 --> 00:11:12,048 next to the master bedroom. 201 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:20,000 Look at these, what amazing shoes! 202 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:23,044 Yeah, incredible. 203 00:11:33,044 --> 00:11:36,084 Right. Where's that cup of tea Ossie promised me? 204 00:11:38,036 --> 00:11:42,016 While Caroline puts her feet up, I'm back in my work boots. 205 00:11:42,016 --> 00:11:46,064 I want to ask the architect, Pitsou Kedem, how they began this project. 206 00:11:46,064 --> 00:11:49,064 When you design private houses, it's all about drawing a portrait 207 00:11:49,064 --> 00:11:52,096 of your client and I think the first thing that really distinguishes 208 00:11:52,096 --> 00:11:56,000 this house and the others is the client, they are really different. 209 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,072 Steve lives in London and when I ask him what you're doing for living, 210 00:12:00,072 --> 00:12:03,092 he said, "I'm a sitter, I like to sit. 211 00:12:03,092 --> 00:12:06,032 "Sometimes I like to sit next to the swimming pool. 212 00:12:06,032 --> 00:12:08,080 "Sometimes I like to sit next to my fireplace." 213 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,084 He's a sitter, OK, so that's... 214 00:12:10,084 --> 00:12:14,028 ..in a way Ossie is the dynamic shapes and the movement 215 00:12:14,028 --> 00:12:18,004 in the house. And Steve is the all those excellent areas to sit 216 00:12:18,004 --> 00:12:21,068 around the swimming pool, and next to the fire, and the living room. 217 00:12:21,068 --> 00:12:24,096 So it's kind of drawing a portrait of different persons. 218 00:12:24,096 --> 00:12:30,036 So Steve asks you for places to sit. Yes.What did Ossie ask you for? 219 00:12:30,036 --> 00:12:34,080 Well, Ossie, she's not really a type of asking things, 220 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:36,072 she said, you know, "Let's have fun." 221 00:12:36,072 --> 00:12:38,064 And then she brought all the colour. 222 00:12:38,064 --> 00:12:41,084 I mean in a way saying that she brought the courage to the house. 223 00:12:41,084 --> 00:12:43,012 I'd drive them all mad. 224 00:12:43,012 --> 00:12:46,008 I drive Peter mad, Steve mad, I want it my way, 225 00:12:46,008 --> 00:12:50,088 and I want to do things that have personality, that have meaning. 226 00:12:50,088 --> 00:12:53,088 This wall, in particular, I adore. 227 00:12:53,088 --> 00:12:56,008 Yes, so, while we were building the house, 228 00:12:56,008 --> 00:12:59,072 I didn't want everything to be just white, I wanted to get 229 00:12:59,072 --> 00:13:02,072 a bit of a warm feeling and I really, really love 230 00:13:02,072 --> 00:13:04,052 natural stone and texture. 231 00:13:04,052 --> 00:13:07,040 I like when you go, you can touch the walls. 232 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:11,008 Just give a bit of more interesting way for the house. 233 00:13:14,096 --> 00:13:18,068 Ossie's attention to detail has created a lavish finish. 234 00:13:18,068 --> 00:13:21,056 The use of rich texture and vibrant materials 235 00:13:21,056 --> 00:13:25,000 are not the stark minimalist language you'd expect 236 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:26,080 within a modernist shell. 237 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:30,080 But here, the aesthetic brings life and warmth to the interiors. 238 00:13:32,052 --> 00:13:34,084 Great architecture often looks effortless, 239 00:13:34,084 --> 00:13:37,068 but creating a home like this is never easy. 240 00:13:37,068 --> 00:13:40,024 It took four years to design and build. 241 00:13:42,076 --> 00:13:46,016 What do you think the biggest challenge for you was here? 242 00:13:46,016 --> 00:13:49,000 Well, I think the biggest challenge was how can we mix 243 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:50,088 between the garden and the house? 244 00:13:50,088 --> 00:13:54,020 How can we really ignore the boundary between interior and 245 00:13:54,020 --> 00:13:56,072 exterior, and I think, for me, we started to design 246 00:13:56,072 --> 00:13:59,004 from the edge of the plot itself. 247 00:13:59,004 --> 00:14:02,092 It's almost like the second floor is floating in the air, 248 00:14:02,092 --> 00:14:06,080 and those windows with the inner column, they don't really exist. 249 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:07,096 You can open the windows, 250 00:14:07,096 --> 00:14:11,080 then you can really feel that you live in and outside together. 251 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:15,096 And also because you've taken water inside.Yeah. 252 00:14:15,096 --> 00:14:19,016 There's surprisingly little obvious structure supporting the weight 253 00:14:19,016 --> 00:14:22,020 of the floors above and the design team have worked hard 254 00:14:22,020 --> 00:14:24,096 to keep the structure to an absolute minimum. 255 00:14:28,064 --> 00:14:31,068 There's a real integration of architecture and engineering 256 00:14:31,068 --> 00:14:33,044 in this house. 257 00:14:34,064 --> 00:14:37,036 There are columns sunk into extra deep foundations 258 00:14:37,036 --> 00:14:41,008 which then support a network of beams which are cleverly hidden 259 00:14:41,008 --> 00:14:43,072 in the floors and interior walls. 260 00:14:45,028 --> 00:14:49,008 A lot of effort has gone into making J House feel light and airy. 261 00:14:51,092 --> 00:14:55,060 The atmosphere is really kind of vacation house. 262 00:14:55,060 --> 00:14:57,064 Just wake up for vacation every day. 263 00:15:02,060 --> 00:15:04,088 Oh, yeah, this is a lovely spot. 264 00:15:04,088 --> 00:15:09,040 This is the place when you want to chill out, relax, 265 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,052 which we come here, and I'll show you the right way of doing it. 266 00:15:12,052 --> 00:15:15,076 Yeah.So when you sit down... Yeah...you put your coffee away. 267 00:15:15,076 --> 00:15:19,004 OK. Your legs up.Yes. 268 00:15:20,008 --> 00:15:21,080 Just close your eyes for two seconds. 269 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,008 OK.Listen to the water and the birds. 270 00:15:26,076 --> 00:15:28,064 Ossie, it's fantastic. 271 00:15:29,068 --> 00:15:32,032 When I open my eyes, I think I've got one of the best views 272 00:15:32,032 --> 00:15:33,048 in the whole house. 273 00:15:33,048 --> 00:15:37,012 I've got the foliage of the tree, and the bright blue of the sky, 274 00:15:37,012 --> 00:15:41,044 and then that splash of evening sunlight on the wall, 275 00:15:41,044 --> 00:15:44,020 with the dancing shadows of the leaves. 276 00:15:44,020 --> 00:15:46,092 It's a wonderful place to sit, isn't it? 277 00:15:46,092 --> 00:15:53,032 Yeah. It's definitely my favourite part, it's so casual, easy, 278 00:15:53,032 --> 00:15:55,088 makes you relax and open your heart. 279 00:15:55,088 --> 00:15:57,096 So, this is where all the conversations 280 00:15:57,096 --> 00:16:00,060 with the kids happen, decisions of the house 281 00:16:00,060 --> 00:16:02,032 are always happening here. 282 00:16:02,032 --> 00:16:04,052 It's a house with everything, really, isn't it? 283 00:16:04,052 --> 00:16:07,020 And it looks after the people you love. 284 00:16:07,020 --> 00:16:10,052 Yeah, I think the house somehow like cuddling. 285 00:16:10,052 --> 00:16:12,028 I feel like the house is cuddling 286 00:16:12,028 --> 00:16:14,044 everything that happens in this family. 287 00:16:14,044 --> 00:16:19,048 I love it, the cuddling house. I love it! 288 00:16:19,048 --> 00:16:20,072 It wraps its arms around you. 289 00:16:20,072 --> 00:16:24,024 Yeah!I'm never getting up from here. 290 00:16:24,024 --> 00:16:27,068 Me neither. I told you to bring a bottle of wine here. 291 00:16:27,068 --> 00:16:30,048 If I had a glass of wine, I probably would never leave. 292 00:16:30,048 --> 00:16:31,080 It's just heaven. 293 00:16:33,016 --> 00:16:36,068 After four years of meticulous planning, building, 294 00:16:36,068 --> 00:16:40,084 and plenty of passion, Ossie and Steve finally have the house 295 00:16:40,084 --> 00:16:44,052 they dreamed of. Now they can sit back and enjoy it. 296 00:16:46,024 --> 00:16:49,056 # At last 297 00:16:53,032 --> 00:16:57,040 # My love has come along. # 298 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,064 Although you could look at this house, and judge it as a, sort of, 299 00:17:01,064 --> 00:17:03,088 Mediterranean European house, 300 00:17:03,088 --> 00:17:07,068 we are actually right on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean, 301 00:17:07,068 --> 00:17:10,084 it feels different, we're between two cultures, aren't we? 302 00:17:10,084 --> 00:17:13,024 There is a real sense of two cultures coming together. 303 00:17:13,024 --> 00:17:16,036 I mean, there's the culture of European modernism, 304 00:17:16,036 --> 00:17:20,060 big white plains, and masonry held up on columns, 305 00:17:20,060 --> 00:17:23,056 but the way it sits in this garden, 306 00:17:23,056 --> 00:17:27,068 with this water, these trees, this planting, the way it feels, 307 00:17:27,068 --> 00:17:31,044 the lushness of all of that, is really Middle Eastern. 308 00:17:31,044 --> 00:17:32,088 It's very fitting, really, 309 00:17:32,088 --> 00:17:36,032 because Ossie and Steve are a marriage of two cultures, 310 00:17:36,032 --> 00:17:37,096 and I think the house reflects that 311 00:17:37,096 --> 00:17:40,024 and they have brought together their two families, 312 00:17:40,024 --> 00:17:43,072 and I think this place is part of their story, 313 00:17:43,072 --> 00:17:47,060 their wonderfully generous and loving story. 314 00:17:48,060 --> 00:17:51,064 It's going to be hard to leave, but I'm afraid we have to. 315 00:17:52,068 --> 00:17:53,072 We do. 316 00:17:53,072 --> 00:17:59,008 # I found a dream that I could speak to. # 317 00:17:59,008 --> 00:18:03,064 Back to the motel? Back to the motel. 318 00:18:03,064 --> 00:18:06,084 # For you are mine 319 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,096 # At last.# 320 00:18:28,036 --> 00:18:29,064 To visit our next home, 321 00:18:29,064 --> 00:18:33,044 we're leaving the salubrious suburbs behind and heading into the heart 322 00:18:33,044 --> 00:18:34,068 of the Holy Land. 323 00:18:37,024 --> 00:18:40,048 This landscape's suddenly become really biblical, have you noticed? 324 00:18:40,048 --> 00:18:43,068 Yeah.This is what I remember from, sort of, Sunday school, 325 00:18:43,068 --> 00:18:46,052 these drawings of these arid hilltops. 326 00:18:46,052 --> 00:18:49,080 I'm really getting a sense of the ancient land now. 327 00:18:52,008 --> 00:18:53,092 We're bound for the rural north, 328 00:18:53,092 --> 00:18:56,088 where the earliest stone houses in the world have been discovered. 329 00:18:58,024 --> 00:19:01,036 Surrounded by such history, you can't help but ask 330 00:19:01,036 --> 00:19:03,060 life's most enduring questions. 331 00:19:03,060 --> 00:19:06,060 Got any sweets, anything cheap? 332 00:19:06,060 --> 00:19:10,084 I haven't got anything... Full of E numbers and colouring. 333 00:19:10,084 --> 00:19:14,000 I like a green sweet.No-one likes green sweets, I'm telling you now, 334 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,032 no-one likes green sweets. No, I like green sweets. 335 00:19:16,032 --> 00:19:20,048 You wonder why would they ever put a green sweet in a packet?Perfect. 336 00:19:20,048 --> 00:19:24,000 Our next architectural confection is built high on the slopes 337 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:29,040 of the Jordan Rift Valley, and gazes down on the Sacred Sea of Galilee. 338 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,000 We're going down now, eh? 339 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:36,048 The 'sea' is actually the largest freshwater lake in Israel, 340 00:19:36,048 --> 00:19:39,084 and it's these azure views that inspired a local family 341 00:19:39,084 --> 00:19:42,068 to snap up a building plot on the outskirts 342 00:19:42,068 --> 00:19:44,092 of their agricultural village, 343 00:19:44,092 --> 00:19:47,040 where we've had to resort to Shanks' pony. 344 00:19:50,060 --> 00:19:53,004 I like this piece of land, but it's quite rocky. 345 00:19:53,004 --> 00:19:55,040 It is a beautiful piece of land, beautiful stone, 346 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:57,028 actually, this, though. 347 00:19:57,028 --> 00:20:00,096 Piers, Piers, I didn't expect to see horses here. 348 00:20:00,096 --> 00:20:02,084 Well, I guess this is common land, isn't it? 349 00:20:02,084 --> 00:20:06,020 And people would have kept horses here historically 350 00:20:06,020 --> 00:20:10,016 for thousands of years, I guess. And what a beauty. 351 00:20:10,016 --> 00:20:11,060 What a beauty! 352 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,004 Piers... 353 00:20:19,072 --> 00:20:21,040 There it is! And, wow, look! 354 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,064 I mean, look at the colour of it, 355 00:20:23,064 --> 00:20:26,052 compared to the colour of this limestone. 356 00:20:26,052 --> 00:20:29,072 I mean, it's perfect. It's extraordinary, isn't it? 357 00:20:29,072 --> 00:20:33,088 I mean, if you got a colour chart, you couldn't match it 358 00:20:33,088 --> 00:20:39,032 more beautifully. No.It's so subtle, and so of its place. 359 00:20:39,032 --> 00:20:41,048 And speaks of land and earth. 360 00:20:41,048 --> 00:20:44,064 Yeah.And made out of masonry, I mean, it's perfect. 361 00:20:45,084 --> 00:20:49,084 This is a house that truly inhabits the landscape. 362 00:20:49,084 --> 00:20:52,012 There's something enigmatic about it, 363 00:20:52,012 --> 00:20:54,088 as if it's waiting for you to peel back those shutters 364 00:20:54,088 --> 00:20:56,084 to reveal what's inside. 365 00:21:01,004 --> 00:21:02,096 Time to go in.Very much so. 366 00:21:04,052 --> 00:21:05,056 But what's inside? 367 00:21:07,024 --> 00:21:09,012 Secret box. 368 00:21:09,012 --> 00:21:14,004 It feels almost religious, this, like a chapel, like a cloister. 369 00:21:14,004 --> 00:21:17,084 Yes! Look at the light, Piers, it's magical, 370 00:21:17,084 --> 00:21:19,076 the way it's bouncing off the floor. 371 00:21:27,056 --> 00:21:30,088 This house is beautifully crafted and understated. 372 00:21:30,088 --> 00:21:32,048 There is real simplicity here. 373 00:21:33,056 --> 00:21:36,040 The subtle use of colours and materials integrate the house 374 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:40,016 into its pastoral surroundings, while its passive design 375 00:21:40,016 --> 00:21:43,036 keeps it cool, even in the 40-degree summer sun. 376 00:21:45,072 --> 00:21:47,084 Do you want a cup of tea? I'd love a cup of tea. 377 00:21:52,004 --> 00:21:53,096 Are you happy with any old tea? 378 00:21:53,096 --> 00:21:55,092 English tea is fine. 379 00:21:55,092 --> 00:21:58,056 Those screens just work absolutely brilliantly. 380 00:21:59,072 --> 00:22:03,048 It just makes this space a really wonderful place to be. 381 00:22:04,056 --> 00:22:06,060 This is a really ancient way of making buildings 382 00:22:06,060 --> 00:22:10,048 in this part of the world, where you use passive mechanisms, 383 00:22:10,048 --> 00:22:13,044 so these screens that filter the light, filter the heat, 384 00:22:13,044 --> 00:22:17,080 and make a beautiful, subtly lit, cool interior. 385 00:22:20,028 --> 00:22:23,008 Shall we grab a pew... Thank you...for the brew. 386 00:22:23,008 --> 00:22:25,016 Before we have a snoop around, 387 00:22:25,016 --> 00:22:27,084 I want to soak up the atmosphere of this home. 388 00:22:27,084 --> 00:22:30,040 Shall we open this up a bit more?Yeah. 389 00:22:36,032 --> 00:22:38,020 You know, it's a pretty good space to be in. 390 00:22:38,020 --> 00:22:40,076 You've got the sun, you've got shade... 391 00:22:40,076 --> 00:22:43,020 Piers Taylor standing, talking to you about architecture. 392 00:22:43,020 --> 00:22:45,008 With the Sea of Galilee behind him. 393 00:22:45,008 --> 00:22:46,060 What could be better?Nothing. 394 00:22:46,060 --> 00:22:48,092 It's a religious experience. 395 00:22:48,092 --> 00:22:54,024 We are very close to where Jesus preached one of his greatest sermons 396 00:22:54,024 --> 00:22:57,016 to the masses. I want you, Piers Taylor, 397 00:22:57,016 --> 00:22:59,084 to give me a sermon on architecture. 398 00:22:59,084 --> 00:23:04,096 Convert me.Well, my top point would be, in this part of the world, 399 00:23:04,096 --> 00:23:10,092 deal with heat, light and air, in the most economical possible way. 400 00:23:10,092 --> 00:23:12,064 And this house does it beautifully. 401 00:23:12,064 --> 00:23:15,012 I mean, it does it so simply, no complexity, 402 00:23:15,012 --> 00:23:16,072 just correct orientation, 403 00:23:16,072 --> 00:23:21,068 correct, simple, passive means of filtering heat, and light, and wind, 404 00:23:21,068 --> 00:23:25,036 and, look, the whole house benefits from this simple move, 405 00:23:25,036 --> 00:23:27,040 and you're benefiting from it now. 406 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,000 I'm converted, and, oh, so comfortable. 407 00:23:34,048 --> 00:23:37,084 This entrance veranda is a key aspect of the house. 408 00:23:37,084 --> 00:23:41,052 It acts as a breezeway, a space between the shutters and the glass, 409 00:23:41,052 --> 00:23:44,028 which cools the air before it enters inside. 410 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:51,016 This breezeway opens up to a large open-plan kitchen-diner living room, 411 00:23:51,016 --> 00:23:53,056 an en-suite guest room, and a utility. 412 00:23:56,008 --> 00:23:59,096 Upstairs, there is a main bedroom, two bedrooms for the children, 413 00:23:59,096 --> 00:24:02,012 and a comfortable family sitting area, 414 00:24:02,012 --> 00:24:04,012 which leads on to a generous balcony. 415 00:24:05,068 --> 00:24:09,092 Like the ground floor, upstairs is bathed in gentle light. 416 00:24:09,092 --> 00:24:14,048 The unassuming rooms never distract from the beauty of the landscape. 417 00:24:14,048 --> 00:24:18,064 The house is permeated with fresh air drifting up from the sea. 418 00:24:19,064 --> 00:24:23,048 This gentle, simple home is rooted in its environment. 419 00:24:24,056 --> 00:24:28,064 The couple who live here have a young family, 420 00:24:28,064 --> 00:24:33,072 and I think this is just the most charming little girl's bedroom. 421 00:24:33,072 --> 00:24:37,000 It's really simple, really quiet. 422 00:24:38,024 --> 00:24:39,048 And it also has... 423 00:24:43,028 --> 00:24:48,072 ..its own miniature version, of all the other shutters in the house. 424 00:24:52,032 --> 00:24:56,064 Every bedroom has a window out on this world, and in this climate, 425 00:24:56,064 --> 00:24:59,004 the south-facing ones in particular benefit 426 00:24:59,004 --> 00:25:01,080 from an indigenous feature to help them keep cool. 427 00:25:06,096 --> 00:25:10,044 The idea of balcony has been lost in contemporary architecture, 428 00:25:10,044 --> 00:25:13,072 because nowadays we deal with huge screens of glass 429 00:25:13,072 --> 00:25:16,068 that slide and move away, but there's something about 430 00:25:16,068 --> 00:25:19,096 the proportion of an opening like this that make sense 431 00:25:19,096 --> 00:25:25,036 in this climate. The heat is usually so extreme, the light is so extreme, 432 00:25:25,036 --> 00:25:29,004 that a small opening, with a pair of doors that you can shut, 433 00:25:29,004 --> 00:25:33,032 a between space that keeps the heat out, and then a screen 434 00:25:33,032 --> 00:25:35,012 that deals with light. 435 00:25:37,008 --> 00:25:39,004 It's timeless and perfect. 436 00:25:40,052 --> 00:25:43,024 # Here comes the sun, do, do, do, do 437 00:25:43,024 --> 00:25:47,032 # Here comes the sun, and I say...# 438 00:25:47,032 --> 00:25:50,048 One of the things I really love about these shutters, 439 00:25:50,048 --> 00:25:55,016 is that they're almost industrial, or rural, 440 00:25:55,016 --> 00:25:58,040 they're like they're part of this, sort of, countryside, really, 441 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:03,092 because they could easily be on a cow barn, or on a cattle shed. 442 00:26:03,092 --> 00:26:06,088 There's nothing remotely pretentious about them, 443 00:26:06,088 --> 00:26:08,040 they just do their job... 444 00:26:10,024 --> 00:26:14,032 ..in a really simple and beautiful way. 445 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,004 This lovely house was designed by husband and wife, 446 00:26:19,004 --> 00:26:23,052 acclaimed architects Galit and Yaron Golany. 447 00:26:23,052 --> 00:26:27,096 What starting point did you have, I mean, because it does have the most, 448 00:26:27,096 --> 00:26:30,084 I mean, probably one of the most extraordinary views in the world, 449 00:26:30,084 --> 00:26:34,056 actually? Was that quite a daunting thing for an architect? 450 00:26:34,056 --> 00:26:37,000 Erm, more than that, it was a privilege. 451 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,060 It just dictated all the design, 452 00:26:39,060 --> 00:26:43,072 the fact that we wanted to open to the south and east, 453 00:26:43,072 --> 00:26:47,056 to really engage with this ancient landscape. 454 00:26:47,056 --> 00:26:50,056 We had to raise the house a little bit in order 455 00:26:50,056 --> 00:26:54,088 to see the Sea of Galilee, so very early in the design 456 00:26:54,088 --> 00:26:59,032 we came here with the owner and we climbed the ladder... 457 00:26:59,032 --> 00:27:03,012 And just determined what is the minimum raise... 458 00:27:03,012 --> 00:27:06,060 Oh, OK,.....to start and view the Sea of Galilee. 459 00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:09,068 So you built it, in a way, as low as you could. 460 00:27:09,068 --> 00:27:13,004 Yes.But still maintain a clear view to the Sea of Galilee. 461 00:27:14,068 --> 00:27:16,060 To guarantee the sweeping views, 462 00:27:16,060 --> 00:27:21,024 the house had to face south, directly into the searing sun, 463 00:27:21,024 --> 00:27:25,068 which in turn pushed Galit and Yaron to create a distinctive look, 464 00:27:25,068 --> 00:27:29,036 with balconies, breezeways and, of course, the shutters. 465 00:27:31,016 --> 00:27:33,060 Were there any challenges with the build, 466 00:27:33,060 --> 00:27:36,040 anything that you came up against that was difficult to deal with? 467 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:37,068 Yes, the budget. 468 00:27:37,068 --> 00:27:39,008 THEY LAUGH 469 00:27:39,008 --> 00:27:41,080 If you have less money, you must work harder. 470 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:42,088 I think that's right. 471 00:27:42,088 --> 00:27:48,052 I do, and I think with your house here that's what we sense. 472 00:27:48,052 --> 00:27:51,044 The effort, and the thought that's gone into those details, 473 00:27:51,044 --> 00:27:54,084 but for us as visitors to the house that's one of the magical things 474 00:27:54,084 --> 00:27:58,040 about the house, I think. Thank you.Thank you. 475 00:28:03,036 --> 00:28:05,024 In an age of environmental awareness, 476 00:28:05,024 --> 00:28:06,064 there's a tendency to think 477 00:28:06,064 --> 00:28:10,048 that you need hi-tech methods to deal with climate, 478 00:28:10,048 --> 00:28:14,004 particularly in a place like this, which gets baking hot. 479 00:28:14,004 --> 00:28:18,000 It's 40-odd degrees here for much of the year. 480 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,020 The question is how do you make usable living spaces 481 00:28:21,020 --> 00:28:24,052 when you've got that kind of climate, and what you do, 482 00:28:24,052 --> 00:28:26,028 is what this house has done. 483 00:28:26,028 --> 00:28:31,092 You take the least important bits, which are the utility, and so on, 484 00:28:31,092 --> 00:28:34,076 and you put them in the south-west corner 485 00:28:34,076 --> 00:28:37,004 because that's the hottest sun, 486 00:28:37,004 --> 00:28:41,036 and then almost half the depth of the floor plan 487 00:28:41,036 --> 00:28:45,064 is given over to a breezeway that exists through here. 488 00:28:45,064 --> 00:28:48,004 And, effectively, what this breezeway does 489 00:28:48,004 --> 00:28:51,068 is act as a buffer from the heat and moderates the light, 490 00:28:51,068 --> 00:28:54,020 moderates the heat and everything else, 491 00:28:54,020 --> 00:28:56,052 between the outside and the inside. 492 00:28:56,052 --> 00:29:01,028 And what happens is that there is a screen that runs along there 493 00:29:01,028 --> 00:29:04,060 and then the bulk of the heat, the bulk of the harsh light, 494 00:29:04,060 --> 00:29:06,084 are filtered by this screen, 495 00:29:06,084 --> 00:29:12,092 and that then allows this to be a usable shaded space, 496 00:29:12,092 --> 00:29:15,080 and they make it into something of real beauty. 497 00:29:20,064 --> 00:29:23,068 You can see why the owners wanted to build a house here. 498 00:29:23,068 --> 00:29:26,012 But they weren't the first people to think of this place 499 00:29:26,012 --> 00:29:28,004 as a really desirable location. 500 00:29:29,088 --> 00:29:34,056 Out there, they have discovered evidence of human habitation 501 00:29:34,056 --> 00:29:38,012 from as long ago as 14,000 years. 502 00:29:38,012 --> 00:29:41,092 That's right, I guess you could call it the birthplace of architecture, 503 00:29:41,092 --> 00:29:44,060 the birthplace of making buildings and homes 504 00:29:44,060 --> 00:29:47,092 in the way that we understand them today. 505 00:29:47,092 --> 00:29:52,092 And I imagine that 14,000 years ago they were living in, and loving, 506 00:29:52,092 --> 00:29:56,044 their homes in exactly the same way as we do now. 507 00:29:56,044 --> 00:29:59,048 But what's brilliant is they did the same things then that they do now. 508 00:29:59,048 --> 00:30:02,092 They take the stuff of the ground and they make it into poetry. 509 00:30:10,096 --> 00:30:13,060 This property is poetic. 510 00:30:13,060 --> 00:30:17,088 It's a simple, ingenious, extraordinary family home. 511 00:30:27,036 --> 00:30:31,016 For our third house, we've come to the holy city of Jerusalem. 512 00:30:32,032 --> 00:30:35,028 Piers, Piers, Piers, look at the gold, the shining gold 513 00:30:35,028 --> 00:30:38,056 on top of the... Wow. I think it's a monument. 514 00:30:38,056 --> 00:30:40,096 Yeah.Yeah, because there's the garden on the other side. 515 00:30:40,096 --> 00:30:44,032 Yeah, that's...that's the Garden of Gethsemane, surrounding it, 516 00:30:44,032 --> 00:30:46,004 all those cypress trees. 517 00:30:46,004 --> 00:30:48,044 That's actually mind-blowing... 518 00:30:48,044 --> 00:30:50,076 Mind-blowing, mind-blowing, it's like nothing else. 519 00:30:50,076 --> 00:30:53,096 ..to see that, isn't it?Yes. 520 00:30:53,096 --> 00:30:57,076 Dating back 6,000 years, Jerusalem is one of the oldest 521 00:30:57,076 --> 00:31:00,068 and most fought-over cities in the world. 522 00:31:01,072 --> 00:31:05,044 Today, it's still a place of pilgrimage, where Muslims, 523 00:31:05,044 --> 00:31:08,024 Jews and Christians come to worship at sites 524 00:31:08,024 --> 00:31:12,032 connected with the very foundation of their faith. 525 00:31:12,032 --> 00:31:15,028 With its distinctive Jerusalem stone buildings, 526 00:31:15,028 --> 00:31:20,052 some dating back thousands of years, this city is like nowhere else. 527 00:31:20,052 --> 00:31:24,032 Look at Jerusalem spread out beneath us. 528 00:31:24,032 --> 00:31:29,044 And what's amazing is to see all the spires, the minarets, the mosques, 529 00:31:29,044 --> 00:31:32,024 on the skyline, all jockeying for position. 530 00:31:32,024 --> 00:31:33,072 I mean, look at the buildings. 531 00:31:33,072 --> 00:31:37,052 I mean, they're all completely different from one another, 532 00:31:37,052 --> 00:31:40,000 all equally beautiful. 533 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,072 Highly decorative, incredibly simple, I mean, 534 00:31:42,072 --> 00:31:46,000 you couldn't get a more diverse range of buildings. 535 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,068 It's interesting for me to see that it is the buildings 536 00:31:49,068 --> 00:31:51,060 that claim the space for the religions. 537 00:31:51,060 --> 00:31:53,024 It's always about the buildings. 538 00:31:53,024 --> 00:31:54,096 It is for you, always about the buildings. 539 00:31:54,096 --> 00:31:57,044 For me it's always about the art, the literature, the theatre 540 00:31:57,044 --> 00:31:59,032 and music.Yeah, there are a few other things. 541 00:31:59,032 --> 00:32:01,068 For you it's about that. And what would you build here, 542 00:32:01,068 --> 00:32:04,000 of all places, in Jerusalem? 543 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:05,024 Let's go and find out. 544 00:32:07,072 --> 00:32:11,020 Whatever is built here must be made with the characteristic 545 00:32:11,020 --> 00:32:15,072 local limestone. It's a law dating back a hundred years 546 00:32:15,072 --> 00:32:19,092 to protect and preserve the aesthetic of this ancient city. 547 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,004 The owners of our next house found a place to build in one of Jerusalem's 548 00:32:25,004 --> 00:32:29,048 most desirable neighbourhoods, and then bravely gave their architects 549 00:32:29,048 --> 00:32:31,040 carte blanche with the design. 550 00:32:34,044 --> 00:32:36,000 Oh, it's a fork in the road. 551 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:37,076 The palm trees are nice, aren't they? 552 00:32:37,076 --> 00:32:39,076 Palm trees are always nice in the right places. 553 00:32:39,076 --> 00:32:42,040 This one, I think, that's the modern one. 554 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,072 So yes, it has a textured gate. 555 00:32:44,072 --> 00:32:46,048 Right. 556 00:32:46,048 --> 00:32:50,048 Now, the owners aren't here, so I'm going to do this code. 557 00:32:50,048 --> 00:32:51,076 Oh, you could just do that. 558 00:32:55,076 --> 00:32:57,012 It's beautiful. 559 00:32:57,012 --> 00:33:01,044 # I saw miles and miles of squares, 560 00:33:01,044 --> 00:33:03,068 # Where's the feeling there 561 00:33:03,068 --> 00:33:06,016 # Still nobody cares. # 562 00:33:06,016 --> 00:33:08,060 The architects have built a four-bedroomed family home 563 00:33:08,060 --> 00:33:11,068 that certainly showcases that Jerusalem stone. 564 00:33:13,032 --> 00:33:18,020 The fascinating facade catches the light and throws intriguing shadows, 565 00:33:18,020 --> 00:33:22,044 creating an ever-changing surface, as the sun moves through the sky. 566 00:33:29,028 --> 00:33:31,056 The stone gets more interesting the closer you get. 567 00:33:31,056 --> 00:33:34,048 That's the test of a good building, in a way, the closer you get, 568 00:33:34,048 --> 00:33:35,076 it gets more interesting. 569 00:33:40,032 --> 00:33:42,028 We're in.We are in. 570 00:33:42,028 --> 00:33:46,056 My magic key has brought us into this lovely room. 571 00:33:46,056 --> 00:33:48,092 Wow, it's so glossy. 572 00:33:48,092 --> 00:33:52,044 The furniture, the lights, everything is white, 573 00:33:52,044 --> 00:33:53,076 shiny and glossy. 574 00:33:53,076 --> 00:33:56,064 It really is, it's like walking into some sort of Powell Pressburger 575 00:33:56,064 --> 00:34:00,032 version of heaven, isn't it? It's extraordinary. 576 00:34:02,064 --> 00:34:05,096 The highly polished floors and surfaces contrast perfectly 577 00:34:05,096 --> 00:34:09,064 with the rough, textured exterior, and they also reflect it, 578 00:34:09,064 --> 00:34:11,020 bringing the outside in. 579 00:34:13,012 --> 00:34:16,036 And just when you think the outside can't get any closer... 580 00:34:16,036 --> 00:34:19,084 Look, Piers, this is clearly what it's all about. 581 00:34:19,084 --> 00:34:22,020 It's all about the rock. It's all about the rock. 582 00:34:28,056 --> 00:34:32,012 The architects have left the ancient limestone cliff exposed 583 00:34:32,012 --> 00:34:35,012 as a bold counterpoint to the super-smooth interiors. 584 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,012 This is fantastic, isn't it? 585 00:34:39,012 --> 00:34:43,056 It's great to see the rock face left in its almost virgin state. 586 00:34:43,056 --> 00:34:45,040 I mean that's what they've done, isn't it, 587 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,008 they've seen that, and thought let's not dig it out. 588 00:34:48,008 --> 00:34:50,068 Clearly most people excavate right back. 589 00:34:50,068 --> 00:34:53,080 When land is so valuable in cities that people press buildings right up 590 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,048 against it and use every inch of space, 591 00:34:56,048 --> 00:34:58,068 but here they've left it for a breezeway 592 00:34:58,068 --> 00:35:00,020 and it is really cool here. 593 00:35:00,020 --> 00:35:03,020 It's lovely, it's actually a really lovely place to be, isn't it? 594 00:35:03,020 --> 00:35:06,008 It's really lovely.It's like a private garden space. 595 00:35:06,008 --> 00:35:10,060 It's, sort of, not at all what I expected Jerusalem to have, somehow. 596 00:35:10,060 --> 00:35:14,016 It's much wilder, the rest of the city is quite formal, isn't it? 597 00:35:14,016 --> 00:35:17,000 And this is just, well, it's a bit bonkers, frankly. 598 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,032 It is a bit.I feel quite tempted to... 599 00:35:19,032 --> 00:35:21,036 Every good building has a bit of madness in it. 600 00:35:21,036 --> 00:35:23,052 Is that right? Is that what you architects all say? 601 00:35:23,052 --> 00:35:25,088 That's what I say. I never thought of you as a rock climber, 602 00:35:25,088 --> 00:35:29,056 but, actually, you're pretty good. Do you know, I do actually, 603 00:35:29,056 --> 00:35:33,000 I'm quite interested in rock climbing, not falling, but climbing. 604 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,048 Caroline Quentin, Everest explorer. 605 00:35:35,048 --> 00:35:36,052 Well, what about it? 606 00:35:38,048 --> 00:35:40,060 To construct this four-storey building, 607 00:35:40,060 --> 00:35:43,064 77 tonnes of rock had to be excavated. 608 00:35:44,060 --> 00:35:46,084 The lower basement houses a garage, 609 00:35:46,084 --> 00:35:48,080 above which there is a large games room. 610 00:35:50,032 --> 00:35:52,024 The ground floor of the house sits 611 00:35:52,024 --> 00:35:54,048 1.5 metres from the exposed rock face, 612 00:35:54,048 --> 00:35:56,088 which runs along the living and dining rooms, 613 00:35:56,088 --> 00:35:58,020 leading onto a kitchen. 614 00:35:59,044 --> 00:36:03,088 The first floor meets the rock face sheltering the stone wall below. 615 00:36:03,088 --> 00:36:07,076 Upstairs there are four en-suite bedrooms. 616 00:36:07,076 --> 00:36:11,092 Outside, the entire exterior is clad in 5,000 stone tiles 617 00:36:11,092 --> 00:36:14,016 shaped from the excavated rock. 618 00:36:15,028 --> 00:36:16,056 It's kind of surreal in a way, 619 00:36:16,056 --> 00:36:19,028 because this is so wild here, Caroline.Yeah. 620 00:36:19,028 --> 00:36:23,036 And yet it's like a little David Hockney painting outside, isn't it? 621 00:36:23,036 --> 00:36:28,076 I love that comedy perfection of that citrus tree there, as well. 622 00:36:28,076 --> 00:36:31,068 Just boinging out over the swimming pool against the blue. 623 00:36:32,088 --> 00:36:36,008 Piers, I don't know how to get upstairs. Yes, I do, I've found it. 624 00:36:37,076 --> 00:36:39,012 I wonder what's up here. 625 00:36:43,024 --> 00:36:46,008 And suddenly we are almost outdoors again, 626 00:36:46,008 --> 00:36:50,016 because here in a pot, and only in Israel would you find this, 627 00:36:50,016 --> 00:36:53,064 there is a potted kumquat tree. 628 00:36:53,064 --> 00:36:55,024 It makes fantastic marmalade. 629 00:36:58,032 --> 00:37:00,056 This is a wonderful room. 630 00:37:00,056 --> 00:37:04,012 Because not only have you got the double aspect, 631 00:37:04,012 --> 00:37:09,040 but from this side, I can see a balcony. 632 00:37:16,076 --> 00:37:21,008 And here it is, the real star of the show. 633 00:37:21,008 --> 00:37:22,056 The city of Jerusalem. 634 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:29,008 What's really clear, standing up here, 635 00:37:29,008 --> 00:37:34,000 is the juxtaposition of this modern stone, these rectangles, 636 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:35,064 where the light plays so beautifully, 637 00:37:35,064 --> 00:37:38,092 but then when I cast my eyes down there I see the more ancient, 638 00:37:38,092 --> 00:37:43,032 the older Jerusalem stone, which is rougher hewn, hand-cut, 639 00:37:43,032 --> 00:37:46,008 and it's just fantastic that these modern buildings 640 00:37:46,008 --> 00:37:50,020 and the ancient buildings are all made from exactly the same stuff. 641 00:37:52,028 --> 00:37:55,008 Barud House gets its name from the warning calls 642 00:37:55,008 --> 00:37:59,012 shouted before Jerusalem rock is exploded, and it's fascinating, 643 00:37:59,012 --> 00:38:02,060 the way that this building honours this hallowed stone 644 00:38:02,060 --> 00:38:06,032 in all its forms. It's almost as though a sculptor has been at work, 645 00:38:06,032 --> 00:38:09,008 taking the raw material and shaping it. 646 00:38:10,012 --> 00:38:13,064 In architecture, there's always this conversation between form 647 00:38:13,064 --> 00:38:18,044 and material, so shape and space and the material that those spaces 648 00:38:18,044 --> 00:38:22,052 are made from, and typically material is always subservient 649 00:38:22,052 --> 00:38:23,076 to form and space. 650 00:38:23,076 --> 00:38:27,008 So, the thing you remember is never the material. 651 00:38:27,008 --> 00:38:31,096 But this house inverts that and it's the material that I read much more 652 00:38:31,096 --> 00:38:33,060 strongly than anything else. 653 00:38:34,068 --> 00:38:38,008 Having said that, the spaces here are pretty good too. 654 00:38:40,020 --> 00:38:44,028 Working out the dimensions of this house was a mathematical challenge. 655 00:38:44,028 --> 00:38:48,004 The architects designed the building around multiples of the 53x25 656 00:38:48,004 --> 00:38:52,000 centimetres stone blocks, in order that none were cut. 657 00:38:53,060 --> 00:38:56,080 The result is a perfectly resolved geometric puzzle. 658 00:38:58,092 --> 00:39:02,020 The architects behind this almost Rubik's cube of a house 659 00:39:02,020 --> 00:39:05,028 are husband and wife Paritzki and Liani. 660 00:39:07,004 --> 00:39:09,080 So when you were here nine years ago and you walked around, 661 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,092 did you know immediately how you wanted to treat the rock? 662 00:39:12,092 --> 00:39:17,052 Er, yes, the impression that we received when we arrived here 663 00:39:17,052 --> 00:39:21,064 was very strong, because this raw rock was very beautiful 664 00:39:21,064 --> 00:39:24,004 and the presence, it's very important, 665 00:39:24,004 --> 00:39:26,084 especially in the symbolic way for this city, 666 00:39:26,084 --> 00:39:32,012 because for each culture the stone is very, very important issue 667 00:39:32,012 --> 00:39:34,080 and we wanted to keep it as it was. 668 00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:38,036 It's the strong presence, and the heart, and the core of the house. 669 00:39:38,036 --> 00:39:42,048 The big idea about the rock face, keeping it, 670 00:39:42,048 --> 00:39:46,060 and then using the stone with a deep relief, 671 00:39:46,060 --> 00:39:48,096 how did you present that to your client? 672 00:39:48,096 --> 00:39:51,052 In the beginning, we put five stone samples 673 00:39:51,052 --> 00:39:55,008 and, actually, they really gave us carte blanche. 674 00:39:55,008 --> 00:39:58,052 They were really open and there was also another thing, related to 675 00:39:58,052 --> 00:40:01,040 relations of the client that, for us, was also some kind of lesson, 676 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,004 because the owners are religious, 677 00:40:03,004 --> 00:40:06,064 so there was a nice dialogue with us that we don't know as many of the 678 00:40:06,064 --> 00:40:09,092 rules, for example that we couldn't use paintings, 679 00:40:09,092 --> 00:40:12,056 and that's why we say that the main painting of the house 680 00:40:12,056 --> 00:40:15,092 will be really this... Pattern. This pattern, or this rock. 681 00:40:15,092 --> 00:40:17,072 That's incredibly interesting. 682 00:40:17,072 --> 00:40:19,064 I mean, they have no art, is that right? 683 00:40:19,064 --> 00:40:22,016 None. No, they're not allowed to. Not allowed. 684 00:40:22,016 --> 00:40:27,080 So the building in a way had to take the place of artwork. 685 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:32,020 You know, in a way you are right, because it's performing 686 00:40:32,020 --> 00:40:38,048 a kind of intriguing changing during the seasons and the hours, 687 00:40:38,048 --> 00:40:43,000 so it's like an installation, in a way. 688 00:40:44,092 --> 00:40:48,092 This impressive facade might be an architect's flight of fancy, 689 00:40:48,092 --> 00:40:52,004 but this is a practical family home. 690 00:40:52,004 --> 00:40:55,064 A generous courtyard with a pool favours outdoor living. 691 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:02,060 And inside, the use of glass for the walls creates a sense of space 692 00:41:02,060 --> 00:41:05,088 which remains cool, thanks to that rocky breezeway. 693 00:41:07,052 --> 00:41:12,004 Upstairs the teenagers' bedrooms can be accessed separately, 694 00:41:12,004 --> 00:41:15,088 allowing them independence and their parents some peace and quiet. 695 00:41:17,084 --> 00:41:21,036 This architect has done something deceptively clever, 696 00:41:21,036 --> 00:41:26,004 because the main living space sits perched on this rock, 697 00:41:26,004 --> 00:41:31,024 and it's got a space below it where another level sits, 698 00:41:31,024 --> 00:41:36,056 and then, above it, there is all of the bedrooms. 699 00:41:36,056 --> 00:41:40,016 What this architect has done is to take the top floor 700 00:41:40,016 --> 00:41:43,032 and bridge over covering this space that I'm sitting in, 701 00:41:43,032 --> 00:41:50,096 and that means that by pulling these floors away from the rock face, 702 00:41:50,096 --> 00:41:55,064 what you get is all of the light comes flooding in 703 00:41:55,064 --> 00:42:01,016 and hits this space that I'm sitting in now and brings all of this light 704 00:42:01,016 --> 00:42:06,016 into these rooms. And similarly, because it's so baking hot here, 705 00:42:06,016 --> 00:42:11,048 what all of these rooms can do is cross-vent all of the time 706 00:42:11,048 --> 00:42:15,056 and every bit of this house has access to a very intimate 707 00:42:15,056 --> 00:42:19,040 relationship with this rock face, and the other side, 708 00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:23,072 they have this incredible panoramic view of Jerusalem. 709 00:42:23,072 --> 00:42:27,020 So you always have both, and not either or, 710 00:42:27,020 --> 00:42:28,048 and that's really special. 711 00:42:40,004 --> 00:42:43,060 Jerusalem doesn't have a cohesiveness that allows you 712 00:42:43,060 --> 00:42:45,024 to read it at first glance. 713 00:42:45,024 --> 00:42:49,032 It's always been groups of people jostling in and making it their 714 00:42:49,032 --> 00:42:51,020 own, and making a stake on it. 715 00:42:51,020 --> 00:42:54,080 Well, I think what does make it cohesive is this use 716 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:59,012 of the Jerusalem rock, and I think that's one of the most spellbinding 717 00:42:59,012 --> 00:43:01,068 things about the place, and, of course, 718 00:43:01,068 --> 00:43:03,076 it is true of this house as well. 719 00:43:03,076 --> 00:43:09,016 It's the rock that gives it its personality and makes it so special. 720 00:43:22,096 --> 00:43:27,048 For our final home we've made our way to the Arab village of Musmus, 721 00:43:27,048 --> 00:43:29,048 close to the occupied West Bank. 722 00:43:33,088 --> 00:43:36,048 It's very, very different from the rest of Israel, isn't it, 723 00:43:36,048 --> 00:43:38,092 where we've been?In my mind I thought maybe 724 00:43:38,092 --> 00:43:42,060 it would have some sort of European references, 725 00:43:42,060 --> 00:43:45,028 but it doesn't feel like that to me. 726 00:43:45,028 --> 00:43:48,088 It's quite a surprise.If you close your eyes and open them, 727 00:43:48,088 --> 00:43:50,084 where would you think you were? 728 00:43:51,096 --> 00:43:53,000 Musmus. 729 00:43:55,044 --> 00:43:58,092 We've been told the house we're looking for sits on top of a hill, 730 00:43:58,092 --> 00:44:02,008 but around here they seem more like mountains. 731 00:44:02,008 --> 00:44:04,072 I don't know if it's going to get up here, Caroline. 732 00:44:04,072 --> 00:44:06,092 I don't feel very safe. Oh! 733 00:44:06,092 --> 00:44:10,024 Oh!Have you got a hill start? 734 00:44:11,068 --> 00:44:12,072 Piers!Oh! 735 00:44:14,092 --> 00:44:16,056 I'm really struggling to get up here! 736 00:44:17,092 --> 00:44:21,064 Oh. I feel...I think I might be about to see my breakfast again. 737 00:44:25,036 --> 00:44:28,032 The owner of this house must have a cast-iron stomach... 738 00:44:29,056 --> 00:44:31,044 Hang on, hang on. Oh, there. Turning, yeah. 739 00:44:31,044 --> 00:44:34,064 ..as well as cast-iron gates. Well done. 740 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,020 This is quite glamorous. 741 00:44:41,020 --> 00:44:44,052 Isn't it? This is just beautiful. 742 00:44:44,052 --> 00:44:46,080 Look at the planting, look at the cypresses. 743 00:44:47,084 --> 00:44:48,088 Shall we stop here? 744 00:44:55,028 --> 00:44:56,052 The air is different up here. 745 00:44:57,064 --> 00:45:00,004 It's like we're in a completely different land. 746 00:45:04,064 --> 00:45:08,004 These plants are great, aren't they? Smell good. 747 00:45:09,020 --> 00:45:10,068 It's absolutely wonderful. 748 00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:22,044 Commanding its hilltop position is this spellbinding property. 749 00:45:25,024 --> 00:45:30,004 The challenge here was to revamp the family's pre-existing home, 750 00:45:30,004 --> 00:45:33,016 by combining modernism and Islamic architecture. 751 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:37,076 Creating three beautiful gardens, 752 00:45:37,076 --> 00:45:41,056 the owner wanted the entire space to celebrate his Arabic heritage 753 00:45:41,056 --> 00:45:42,088 in a modern setting. 754 00:45:44,048 --> 00:45:47,052 He's kindly agreed to show us round. 755 00:45:47,052 --> 00:45:50,080 Adnan. Hello. Caroline, lovely to meet you. 756 00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:52,096 Nice to meet you. This is Piers. Hi, great to meet you. 757 00:45:52,096 --> 00:45:56,044 Hi.We've loved walking in through your beautiful gardens. 758 00:45:56,044 --> 00:45:58,076 You're welcome.These screens are fantastic, 759 00:45:58,076 --> 00:46:03,032 this light coming through is really interesting, beautiful. 760 00:46:03,032 --> 00:46:06,036 Can I have a look and see what's behind?Yeah, please, OK. 761 00:46:06,036 --> 00:46:09,016 Come on.I'd like to look at the gardens, can I do that? 762 00:46:09,016 --> 00:46:12,060 Of course. Will you take me?Yeah. Thank you very much.Please. 763 00:46:17,036 --> 00:46:20,072 This screen is so evocative of this part of the world. 764 00:46:20,072 --> 00:46:25,020 In Islamic culture the lattice screen is a really big deal, 765 00:46:25,020 --> 00:46:29,000 and, in a way, the lattice screen within a projecting bay 766 00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:32,052 is part of the vocabulary of Islamic architecture. 767 00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:36,060 In the Middle East, these mashrabiya screens 768 00:46:36,060 --> 00:46:38,040 have been used for centuries. 769 00:46:38,040 --> 00:46:41,068 The architects could have chosen a traditional Islamic design, 770 00:46:41,068 --> 00:46:43,060 but they bought this one bang up-to-date 771 00:46:43,060 --> 00:46:47,020 with an abstract depiction of the pomegranate. 772 00:46:47,020 --> 00:46:49,040 An auspicious fruit in Islamic culture, 773 00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:52,072 it's known as the apple of paradise and is a symbol of fertility 774 00:46:52,072 --> 00:46:57,044 and beauty. This is such a clever way of controlling the environment 775 00:46:57,044 --> 00:47:00,060 because, of course, this filters the light, 776 00:47:00,060 --> 00:47:04,044 it actually creates a ventilation path for the house, 777 00:47:04,044 --> 00:47:07,016 but it shelters the house from this burning heat. 778 00:47:08,052 --> 00:47:10,000 I'm loving what I see so far. 779 00:47:14,012 --> 00:47:17,068 The architects inherited a fairly traditional Arabic four-bedroomed 780 00:47:17,068 --> 00:47:19,012 family home. 781 00:47:20,016 --> 00:47:23,084 Their brief was to make sense of the buildings that had no real coherence 782 00:47:23,084 --> 00:47:26,036 and create a large Arabic entranceway 783 00:47:26,036 --> 00:47:29,088 with a sitting area above, and to add more living space, 784 00:47:29,088 --> 00:47:33,016 a family room in the east wing, and a formal dining area 785 00:47:33,016 --> 00:47:34,056 in the west wing. 786 00:47:35,092 --> 00:47:39,032 A large drawing room was created from two small sitting rooms, 787 00:47:39,032 --> 00:47:41,068 leading onto a new outdoor terrace. 788 00:47:43,016 --> 00:47:46,032 Two new gardens with distinctive atmospheres were created 789 00:47:46,032 --> 00:47:49,052 next to the house, with a third large terraced garden 790 00:47:49,052 --> 00:47:52,028 making the most of the steep approach. 791 00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:01,056 Two different worlds have been brought together by the architects. 792 00:48:01,056 --> 00:48:04,024 An Islamic world steeped in tradition, 793 00:48:04,024 --> 00:48:07,080 and the 21st century sense of modernity. 794 00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:08,084 This is a liwan. 795 00:48:08,084 --> 00:48:13,012 This is the type of space that's been used in Islamic and Persian 796 00:48:13,012 --> 00:48:15,024 architecture for about 2,000 years, 797 00:48:15,024 --> 00:48:18,012 and the purpose is, of course, to bring people in, 798 00:48:18,012 --> 00:48:20,044 to greet them, to display your wealth, 799 00:48:20,044 --> 00:48:24,024 but it has a really important role in cooling the rest of the building, 800 00:48:24,024 --> 00:48:29,028 because all the air washes off it and cools the whole space. 801 00:48:29,028 --> 00:48:31,052 But there is something in this space 802 00:48:31,052 --> 00:48:34,020 that you wouldn't normally find in a liwan. 803 00:48:34,020 --> 00:48:36,076 This is not quite the elephant in the room, 804 00:48:36,076 --> 00:48:38,092 but certainly something I can't ignore. 805 00:48:38,092 --> 00:48:42,032 It's a really quite sculptural staircase, 806 00:48:42,032 --> 00:48:45,052 and I'm in a space that in many ways could be 2,000 years old, 807 00:48:45,052 --> 00:48:49,068 but this very much anchors it in the 21st century. 808 00:48:51,084 --> 00:48:54,032 The simplicity of the new white additions, 809 00:48:54,032 --> 00:48:58,044 combined with the lush mashrabiya screens to create a spacious 810 00:48:58,044 --> 00:49:00,056 and almost magical atmosphere. 811 00:49:06,064 --> 00:49:10,096 Adnan's family have had a home here for longer than anyone can remember. 812 00:49:10,096 --> 00:49:15,012 His ancestors once grew olives and grazed sheep on this hillside. 813 00:49:16,036 --> 00:49:20,020 He wanted to maintain this family connection with the land by creating 814 00:49:20,020 --> 00:49:22,060 beautiful outdoor living spaces. 815 00:49:23,084 --> 00:49:29,032 Is this an Arabic garden?Yes, yes, my grandfather lived here 816 00:49:29,032 --> 00:49:33,044 and you see the stones, we take from his house. 817 00:49:33,044 --> 00:49:37,048 Really? These stones? Yes, these stones. 818 00:49:37,048 --> 00:49:43,072 His house, yes, and they made it, like, form the gardens. 819 00:49:43,072 --> 00:49:49,088 May I go into this garden? Yeah, OK. When you come through this archway, 820 00:49:49,088 --> 00:49:51,036 it's very moving, actually. 821 00:49:51,036 --> 00:49:55,084 You're almost moving through part of your grandfather's house.Yes, yes. 822 00:49:55,084 --> 00:50:02,044 Now I built it and make an innovation, you know, and live here. 823 00:50:02,044 --> 00:50:06,080 It's my childhood, it's very sweet. 824 00:50:09,008 --> 00:50:11,092 The architect has created an interpretation 825 00:50:11,092 --> 00:50:13,092 of an Islamic paradise garden. 826 00:50:15,012 --> 00:50:17,028 Flowing water representing life. 827 00:50:18,044 --> 00:50:23,072 Shady planting and seating. It's a place for rest and reflection. 828 00:50:23,072 --> 00:50:27,012 A reminder of the paradise that awaits believers in heaven. 829 00:50:31,048 --> 00:50:34,048 The second garden is a more practical affair, 830 00:50:34,048 --> 00:50:37,016 a traditional terraced Arabic bustan 831 00:50:37,016 --> 00:50:41,016 and agricultural garden filled with fruit trees. 832 00:50:45,052 --> 00:50:47,072 It's absolutely beautiful. 833 00:50:48,084 --> 00:50:49,088 Yeah, thank you. 834 00:50:50,088 --> 00:50:54,080 And grapefruit. Yeah.Can I pick one? Yeah, I can pick it. 835 00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:57,044 Can you? Thank you very much. You've got a little more height. 836 00:50:59,080 --> 00:51:00,092 It's beautiful.Yes. 837 00:51:00,092 --> 00:51:04,072 And the smell of these things, does it take you back to your childhood, 838 00:51:04,072 --> 00:51:06,028 to when you were here with your... 839 00:51:06,028 --> 00:51:12,032 Yes, yes. Does it?I walk here, I go back with my childhood. 840 00:51:12,032 --> 00:51:14,056 A lot of things, you know. 841 00:51:14,056 --> 00:51:18,076 You could have come and built a house here, a big, white house, 842 00:51:18,076 --> 00:51:21,088 but you decided to build a modern house, but with, I don't know, 843 00:51:21,088 --> 00:51:26,056 old traditional things?Yes, I think, I think to build 844 00:51:26,056 --> 00:51:30,044 a modern house, and my friend is an architect. 845 00:51:30,044 --> 00:51:34,068 I call him and I ask him if he can make a house 846 00:51:34,068 --> 00:51:40,052 who is mix the traditional of my culture with the modern life. 847 00:51:40,052 --> 00:51:42,004 And he say - "Good idea." 848 00:51:43,004 --> 00:51:48,068 And we meet and we start to talk about this, and we make it. 849 00:51:48,068 --> 00:51:54,076 We make a good house with memories with the past life, my life, 850 00:51:54,076 --> 00:51:57,048 my childhood, and with the modern life. 851 00:51:58,048 --> 00:52:01,028 The architects, Ron Fleisher and Golan Hadari, 852 00:52:01,028 --> 00:52:03,044 had to get up to speed on Islamic culture 853 00:52:03,044 --> 00:52:06,032 in order to work convincingly on Adnan's house. 854 00:52:08,004 --> 00:52:13,024 We are here in an Arab village, so we, coming from Tel Aviv, 855 00:52:13,024 --> 00:52:18,080 had to learn the traditions and reinterpret them into architecture 856 00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:20,088 of the 21st century. 857 00:52:20,088 --> 00:52:25,004 And the outside spaces feel as important as the inside spaces. 858 00:52:25,004 --> 00:52:27,000 I mean, more so, in some ways. 859 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:32,000 Yeah, I think it connects to the way the family lives. 860 00:52:32,000 --> 00:52:35,080 They are a big family, they entertain 861 00:52:35,080 --> 00:52:39,000 and do family gatherings a lot. 862 00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:44,004 It's very hot during almost all year and the outside atmosphere 863 00:52:44,004 --> 00:52:46,072 is great all over.That's very different from the way 864 00:52:46,072 --> 00:52:51,000 that we northern Europeans think about gardens as things to look at, 865 00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:53,060 as a way of taming the wilderness in front of us, 866 00:52:53,060 --> 00:52:58,016 but you need them here to live in, for six months of the year, I guess. 867 00:52:58,016 --> 00:52:59,036 Even more.Even more, yeah. 868 00:52:59,036 --> 00:53:03,056 But I think the gardens are like extra free rooms. 869 00:53:03,056 --> 00:53:07,048 The one in the entrance down there, it's more wild, it's more like, 870 00:53:07,048 --> 00:53:09,088 you know, like it used to be, 871 00:53:09,088 --> 00:53:13,084 and then there is the garden in front of the living room, 872 00:53:13,084 --> 00:53:19,064 which is more cultivated, and the third garden is like for me, 873 00:53:19,064 --> 00:53:23,024 it was always like a secret garden and I like this story very much, 874 00:53:23,024 --> 00:53:27,044 about the secret garden, and for me it's like an interpretation. 875 00:53:32,016 --> 00:53:35,060 The architects have created a unique and personal living space 876 00:53:35,060 --> 00:53:38,060 which works really well for Adnan and his family. 877 00:53:40,024 --> 00:53:43,084 From this beautiful liwan to the light, spacious drawing room 878 00:53:43,084 --> 00:53:47,024 and those three gardens, there's a real sense of the ancient 879 00:53:47,024 --> 00:53:50,032 being woven effortlessly into the contemporary. 880 00:53:57,092 --> 00:54:00,076 There's something timeless about buildings like this, 881 00:54:00,076 --> 00:54:05,028 and in many ways architects think that history started in about 1930, 882 00:54:05,028 --> 00:54:08,016 with modernism, but architects working in other cultures 883 00:54:08,016 --> 00:54:09,040 don't have that hang up. 884 00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:12,036 They have thousands of years of architectural history 885 00:54:12,036 --> 00:54:13,064 they can draw on. 886 00:54:19,052 --> 00:54:21,088 The third of Adnan's gardens, 887 00:54:21,088 --> 00:54:25,012 overlooked by the dining area to the rear of the house. 888 00:54:26,048 --> 00:54:30,060 For six months of the year the family spend a lot of time here. 889 00:54:30,060 --> 00:54:35,036 It's planted in a Mediterranean style with olives, citrus and figs. 890 00:54:37,004 --> 00:54:40,088 But the traditional Arabic influences are never far away. 891 00:54:45,016 --> 00:54:48,040 It's really hard to believe, when you're in this wonderful 892 00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:50,072 Arabian Nights style garden, 893 00:54:50,072 --> 00:54:55,044 that just a few feet beyond the wall is the really busy, thriving city 894 00:54:55,044 --> 00:54:59,052 of Musmus, because in here all I'm aware of is the blue sky, 895 00:54:59,052 --> 00:55:03,028 the rustling of the leaves, the fantastic mosaics, 896 00:55:03,028 --> 00:55:07,036 which are all around me, and the sound of birdsong. 897 00:55:07,036 --> 00:55:09,060 Utterly enchanting. 898 00:55:09,060 --> 00:55:14,068 And in a way it makes this place even more extraordinary, 899 00:55:14,068 --> 00:55:19,016 that you know that only over there the real world exists. 900 00:55:22,024 --> 00:55:23,056 A moment of peace. 901 00:55:27,008 --> 00:55:29,016 I knew it wouldn't last. 902 00:55:29,016 --> 00:55:30,096 Hello.Oh, there you are. 903 00:55:30,096 --> 00:55:33,016 I've been looking for you.Yeah. 904 00:55:33,016 --> 00:55:38,040 What have you been doing?I've just been adoring being in this magical 905 00:55:38,040 --> 00:55:41,008 secret garden. Do you know what that is? 906 00:55:41,008 --> 00:55:44,024 That's the biggest grapefruit I've ever seen. 907 00:55:44,024 --> 00:55:47,004 No, Piers, that's a pomelo. 908 00:55:47,004 --> 00:55:49,044 Is it?Yeah. 909 00:55:51,060 --> 00:55:55,084 Can we pick it? Oh...Can I feel its weight in my hand? 910 00:55:55,084 --> 00:55:58,036 Yes, but don't pick it, Piers, please don't pick it. 911 00:55:58,036 --> 00:56:03,036 That is a big... Oh! No!Piers! 912 00:56:03,036 --> 00:56:05,004 Get it back on! 913 00:56:06,072 --> 00:56:09,096 I'll just stay... She did it, she did it! 914 00:56:15,012 --> 00:56:18,000 He's run away and left me holding the pomelo. 915 00:56:23,056 --> 00:56:26,036 Thankfully it wasn't Adnan's pride and joy, 916 00:56:26,036 --> 00:56:28,064 and it doesn't stop him and his wife, Haifa, 917 00:56:28,064 --> 00:56:31,004 providing us with a feast before we go. 918 00:56:32,008 --> 00:56:33,092 Oh, it smells so fantastic. 919 00:56:33,092 --> 00:56:35,076 This is his rice?Rice. 920 00:56:35,076 --> 00:56:39,060 Maklouba. Maklouba is opposite. 921 00:56:39,060 --> 00:56:42,088 This is amazing, thank you. 922 00:56:42,088 --> 00:56:46,020 The food in Israel is the best food in the world. 923 00:56:46,020 --> 00:56:49,060 It's wonderful. Yes. It's really wonderful. 924 00:56:49,060 --> 00:56:52,024 The meal is out of this world. 925 00:56:52,024 --> 00:56:54,092 All I need now is an Arabic coffee. 926 00:56:59,036 --> 00:57:02,016 Ithink this house has reminded me of how, 927 00:57:02,016 --> 00:57:04,044 in contemporary architecture, 928 00:57:04,044 --> 00:57:07,056 we think that we have 100 years of history to play with, 929 00:57:07,056 --> 00:57:11,088 but, actually, we have 13,000 years of history to play with, 930 00:57:11,088 --> 00:57:15,068 and this house shows how you can really play with things 931 00:57:15,068 --> 00:57:18,028 that come from any era. 932 00:57:18,028 --> 00:57:24,068 And what you end up with is glorious interwoven lantern, 933 00:57:24,068 --> 00:57:27,076 a shining beacon on the top of this hill. 934 00:57:29,012 --> 00:57:32,012 And Israel.What can we say about Israel? 935 00:57:32,012 --> 00:57:34,064 I don't think I could ever have expected anything 936 00:57:34,064 --> 00:57:39,036 to be as culturally, geographically, architecturally diverse as this. 937 00:57:39,036 --> 00:57:40,064 It's been so exciting. 938 00:57:40,064 --> 00:57:44,016 Everything we've seen, the people we've met, everything we've eaten, 939 00:57:44,016 --> 00:57:48,016 it's been new and challenging, and rather thrilling. 940 00:57:48,016 --> 00:57:50,048 It has been, and really stimulating. 941 00:57:50,048 --> 00:57:53,000 Incredibly stimulating. 942 00:57:53,000 --> 00:57:54,076 Maybe, maybe that's just the coffee. 943 00:57:54,076 --> 00:57:56,056 Yeah, the coffee is really stimulating. 944 00:57:56,056 --> 00:57:59,044 I'm slightly overstimulated, I think, actually. 945 00:57:59,044 --> 00:58:00,092 Oh!I could fly.