The Hula Valley is one of the places where nature, geology, and human history come together with extraordinary force.

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The Syrian–African Rift, the sources of the Jordan River, the lake and wetlands, the draining of the Hula Valley and the return of water to the valley—all alongside the hundreds of millions of birds that pass through the region along their migration route—create a layered story that has made Hula Lake Park one of Israel’s most important nature sites.

The concept for the visitor center was to avoid building yet another structure overlooking the landscape, and instead bring visitors into the landscape itself.

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At the heart of the wetlands, a large spherical structure was proposed, immersed in water and wetland vegetation and appearing as an almost unexpected object within the natural setting.

The sphere is not merely an architectural shell; it is part of the story—a self-contained world in which visitors can experience the forces and processes that shaped the Hula Valley.

The journey to the center was also designed as part of the experience.

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Visitors would travel above the wetlands by cable car, inside spherical glass cabins, with the landscape open around them in every direction. Before the exhibition even begins, the journey itself becomes a way of interpreting the site: visitors glide above the water, vegetation, and birds, seeing the lake from a perspective impossible to experience on foot. In this way, the boundaries blur between the journey and the museum, the exhibition and the landscape, and the building and nature.

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The same principle continues inside the visitor center. Instead of a museum display based primarily on glass cases, objects, and texts, the proposal envisioned a dramatic, multisensory journey through a sequence of changing environments. The storytelling combines films and projections, immersive set design, lighting, sound, theatrical effects, and movement through space.

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The route is divided into three worlds—Earth, Water, and Sky—each telling a different chapter in the valley’s story. The bridge along which visitors move remains continuous, while its height and position in relation to each space change, shifting the visitors’ point of view. Each chapter begins with a calm atmosphere and gradually builds to an all-encompassing sensory climax.

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In the Earth space, the geological layers of the rift are revealed through projections, lighting, and sound, building toward the sensation of tremors, rolling stones, and a volcanic eruption. In the Water space, the experience begins with a quiet drip that grows steadily louder, culminating in the sensation of a flood enveloping visitors and illustrating the formation of the lake and wetlands.

 

In the Sky space, the environment opens onto the Hula Valley’s wildlife: aquatic and wetland vegetation, birdsong, projections, and images of birds in motion—building to the climax of an enormous flock sweeping around the audience.

The journey is guided by the crane and the pelican—two contrasting characters, a kind of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza of the Hula Valley. They interpret the information, lead visitors through the story’s chapters, and bring humor and rhythm to the experience.