Phosphate Works

One of Israel’s major mining industries is the exploitation of the phosphates in the Negev Desert.  For decades the Negev Phosphate Works have been removing these materials by open-pit mining. The result has been the creation of a desolate landscape of huge holes with adjacent waste heaps some 40 meters high. Mounting public pressure compelled the company to commission a plan to deal with the ecological and environmental damage caused by its mines.

Our strategy called for new mining procedures that eliminate the open pits by refilling them once the phosphates have been removed. The area, slope, and shape of the fill deposits are predetermined in the plan and echo the surrounding crescent-shaped geological formations. The end result is that a new landscape in effect, a gigantic environmental sculpture, is created.