Architecture
The design for the hotel was commissioned from a Swiss Architect, Emile Vogt, with the actual construction supervised by Jerusalem architect Benjamin Chaiken. According to Hebrew University professor Ruth Kark, Vogt's approach was typical of European architects who, commissioned to design buildings in Jerusalem, incorporated "Eastern-style domes, arches, various kinds of different-colored stone, and interior decorations with religious symbos and inscriptions," in buildings whose strict symmetry marks them indelibly as European. The public rooms were decorated by G.G. Hufschmid in motifs taken from Assyrian, Hittite, Phoenician and Muslim buildings in an effort to evoke a "Biblical" style. Hufschmid, also Swiss, stated that his intention was "to evoke by reminiscence the ancient Semitic style and the ambiance of the glorious period of King David."
Read more about this topic: King David Hotel
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