HQ architects reveal blackout project piece by piece for jerusalem design week 2023

blackout protocol by HQ architects

First established in Jerusalem in 1887, Hansen House is a historic hospital that cared for people with leprosy transformed into a design, media and technology cultural center. The home of Jerusalem Design Week opened its doors for the 12th edition in 2023 under the theme Lies and Falsehoods with the work of HQ Architects welcoming visitors and artists into the annual event. Titled Blackout Protocol, the project sought to cast a shadow-like object on the façade by creating a fragmented experience, just as a lie can take away a piece of truth, yet reveal another dimension to it.

Blackout Protocol by HQ Architects opens the doors to Hansen House for Jerusalem Design Week 2023

all images courtesy of HQ Architects | image © Dor Kedmi

HQ Architects is an international award-wining practice founded in Tel Aviv in 2008 by Erez Ella that strives to question conventions and create culturally challenging buildings, spaces and urban environments. Focusing on a strong pragmatic and programmatic approach, the practice combines high-quality design with strong technical
expertise including offices, hotels and retail projects, as well as public spaces and infrastructure. Responding to curatorial theme, Lies and Falsehoods, of Jerusalem Design Week 2023, the Studio designed the Blackout Protocol installation, responding to recurring questions behind the manipulation and deceit in the digital age: is the lie an absolute thing? Or is it a manipulation that makes use of reality itself, twists around it, inflates it, puts it on the sidelines?

‘We are very excited to return to the Jerusalem Design Week this year with a unique spatial installation that engages
with the building, while it challenges our perception of its existence. The project works in an unorthodox way by taking away parts of the existing structure and revealing a different dimension to it by creating a truthful lie of Hansen House and its surrounding environment. The protocol materializes the shadow as a physical element and puts an emphasis between what is there, what is not and what it could have been in between,’ says Erez Ella, Founding Partner at HQ Architects.

‘the project materializes the shadow as a physical element and puts an emphasis between what is there and what is not,’ says Erez Ella, Founding Partner at HQ Architects | image © Nadav Moise

the perceived X mark is an accumulation of fragmented pieces

A black cross mark greets the visitors, almost appearing suspended over the Hansen House and gardens. As the people move forward and towards the building, the shape seems to fall into pieces. The perceived X mark in reality is an accumulation of various fragmented pieces, dispersed through the compound. Blackout Protocol creates a fragmented experience, just as a lie can take away a piece of truth, yet reveal another dimension to it. The 3D object consists of a collection of black planes that merge into a single image that stretches and crawls like a shadow over the fences, the path, the stairs and the façade of Hansen House.

Blackout Protocol by HQ Architects functions as a filter that serves a particular moment and point of view, an ephemeral sense – same of the nature of casting a shadow, but ultimately it haunts the place and projects itself onto reality. Like the lie itself, the protocol covers parts of reality, it narrows the perception of the world and pushes away the richness and complexity it offers. The lie can be found in the shadows of the truth, in places where sunlight does not harm – and such is the protocol of darkness: an anti-spotlight, which consumes those who stand in its way.