Museum of Tolerance ex-architects fight plans to use their design

The planned site of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Photo by Shiran Granot

The original architects of Jerusalem's Museum of Tolerance, who quit the project a number of months ago, say they own the rights to their design and the Simon Wiesenthal Center cannot use them.

The husband-and-wife architect team of Bracha and Michael Chyutin are owed an estimated several million shekels for their work on the Wiesenthal Center's controversial project. The Israeli couple was hired after the prominent Los-Angeles-based architect Frank Gehry, resigned from the project in January 2010.

The Chyutins were awarded the job after winning a closed design competition sponsored by the Wiesenthal Center, also based in Los Angeles. They submitted a new design for the structure in October 2010, and began applying to the Jerusalem Municipality for the required permits. Their relationship with the Wiesenthal Center ran aground last September over what has been described as "a business disagreement."

The Wiesenthal Center has proceeded with the project using the Chyutins' plans, saying it owned the rights to the design. Last month the municipality gave the go-ahead to begin construction.

Early on in the project, controversy erupted over the choice of the museum site, part of which is an old Muslim cemetery.

A spokesman for the Wiesenthal Center, Lior Horev, declined to comment specifically on the Chyutins' claims, which he called "imaginary, but he said the Chyutins' contract provides for binding arbitration in the event of a dispute with the Wiesenthal Center. He said that once all building permits are received construction is expected to take about 48 months. The Chyutins' lawyer, Rakefet Peled, said no architect, engineer or other professional associated with the project has permission to use the plans her clients developed.

Haaretz has learned that detailed plans for the museum are currently being developed by Jerusalem architect Yigal Levy and Aedas, a British-Singaporean group of architects. The choice of Aedas, which is one of the world's leading architectural firms, is seen as a sign of the Wiesenthal Center's determination to proceed with the Jerusalem museum.

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Museum of Tolerance ex-architects fight plans to use their design