The Israel Museum was established in May 1965 at Givat Ram in Jerusalem. Alfred Mansfeld designed the masonry buildings that first housed it. The Billy Rose Art Garden, designed by Isamu Noguchi for the original campus, is called one of the finest outdoor sculpture settings of the 20th century.
The Shrine of the Book, designed by Armand Bartos and Frederick Kiesler, also opened in 1965. A white dome rises over a building that is two-thirds below ground, reflected in a surrounding pool. Across from it stands a black basalt wall. The dome stands for the Sons of Light and the wall for the Sons of Darkness. The form was meant to resemble the pot in which the scrolls were found.
A $100 million campaign to renovate the museum and double its gallery space was completed in July 2010. Efrat-Kowalsky Architects renovated the buildings, and James Carpenter designed the connecting passageways and five new pavilions.
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