KIBBUTZ

The Kibbutz was conceived as an egalitarian community established in Israel in order to realize a system of values which included an emphasis on equality and participatory democracy in its economic as well as political institutions. Since itis an open society that forms an inseparable part of the society around it and not a closed sect committed to unchangeable codes, the kibbutz, throughout the hundred years of its existence, has displayed an openness to trends of change that have been implemented in practice in the architecture of the settlements .Existing areas have taken on new roles, functions have been changed in order to respond to changing needs, and in every sphere both planned and improvised solutions have been implemented while blending into the region. The secret of the flexibility of the kibbutz settlement derives from these qualities - the mobility of elements in an open space without the enforced yoke of categories of prop- rietorship or use, the vitality of the common public space, the preservation of a balance between the private and the public domains, and most importantly the preservation ofthe community’s sovereignty in the framework of a broad and dynamic movement.

Since the late 1980 because of economics problems which have led to major soci- al and ideological changes. Basic kibbutz principles and values have been questi- oned, shifted the emphasis from the group to the individual thus also leading to an erosion in the status and value of the Kibbutz and of the kibbutz member. The transition from agriculture to industrial and post industrial eras displaces the land and the connection to the land from their central status.