Uploaded on 2020-04-15 by Leah Hamilton

This is the Israeli Embassy in Berlin. Through the middle you can see a large slab of stone - this is Jerusalem stone (brought from the stones around Jerusalem), typically used as a symbol of Israeli identity. It was also built by an Israeli architect, Orit Willenberg Giladi. This shows the globalized economy that plays a part in building, not just in materials but also in labour. The use of this stone, and the outsourcing of labour to an architect from Israel, shows the wealth of different and global approaches to building and building materials that can be taken, in ways that are not just purposeful or useful, but also symbolic and meaningful.