A documentary film examining the power of architecture and the role it has played— aesthetically, ideologically and strategically—in sharping modern Jerusalem. Following the 1967 war, Israel took control of East Jerusalem, including the Old City, home to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. In the years that followed, the city was declared the country’s united capital; the goal to make re-division of the city materially impossible.

Architecture and stone became tools in physical transformations of the city. At the centre of the story is the narrative of Jerusalem Stone, a material decreed by law to give the city its aesthetic quality, used for buildings throughout the city since the British Mandate period. The film takes the viewer on a journey to see how design and the perception of beauty influenced the modern development and identity of the city. Presenting the viewpoints of architects — including Moshe Safdie — responsible for the construction of the new Jerusalem, as well as Palestinian workers who built and were impacted by it, Rule of Stone reflects how design, material and policy intersect in one of the world’s most historically and politically complex places.

Sponsored by Exchange District BIZ.