Gili Merin

It’s hard to say when I started working on this book. The search for an alternative to Jerusalem - an “analogous” city, building or landscape seems like a quest as relevant now as it was in the 7th century, when this research begins. My great grandfather (whose family came from Aleppo between 1800 and 1850) was born in Ottoman Jerusalem; my grandma was born in British mandate Jerusalem; my father born in what was then West Jerusalem - a city divided between Israel and Jordan. And I was born in so-called “unified” Jerusalem, twenty years after the occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967. My micro genealogy shows how this city has been subjected to recurring violence, destruction and displacements carried out by imperial powers looking to capitalise on the city’s symbolic value. It is for this reasons that I dedicated my PhD to studying “other” Jerusalems - places built and ritualised as an analogous version of the contested city, found away from its divisive geography. A particular version of these analogous Jerusalems is documented in my new book, along with a prologue by Pier Vittorio Aureli (who supervised my PhD alongside Maria Shéhérazade Giudici). It includes photos taken over six years of fields trips - or mini pilgrimages - with friends and family (notably @dianagrama and @niko_milo ), and three additional essays by me. An official launch will take place at the end of May, with the book available online @humboldtbooks and selected art fairs, such as @offprint_projects London. Until then, you can find the book from this Tuesday at @books.bruno in Venice! Published by @humboldtbooks @giovannamuzzisilva Graphic design: @federico.barbon Editor: @vanessaquirk Lithography by @humme_leipzig (who also took the photos above) Printed by @dza.druck and supported by @grahamfoundation

Barolo, August 2019 (and details) #mamiya7ⅱ

Was lucky to spend a night in Maison à Bordeaux (OMA, 1998) thank you @bekalemoine #mamiya7ii #leicam6 #portra800 + bonus video at the end 🫠

One of the best things I’ve seen this year is the La Geria wineries in Lanzarote, where vines are grown in cone-shaped holes excavated in volcanic sand, surrounded by volcanic ash, and enclosed by a crescent shaped stone wall to protect the plants from strong oceans winds. #mamiya7ii + bonus at the end

Casa Juanita in Lanzarote (1916). Known as the “Doll’s House,” it was built by Don Juan de Leon Perdomo for his daughter, Juanita, who was sick with tuberculosis and wanted to live next to fresh air. He modelled the house after her dollhouse, and she lived there for five years until she died in 1921 #mamiya7ii

Union ‘Wet’ Issue 07 Out Now!   UNION is a bond, and so is water. Two hydrogen atoms bind to one oxygen atom and something elemental becomes indispensable. Then it moves. As vapour. As condensation. As a single droplet. It transitions from the molecular to the bodily, from the bodily to the built, from the built to the planetary, within a cycle of condensation and saturation, and then is repeated. Water gathers on skin, threads along flashing lights, slips into a gutter, settles at a seam, seeps into soil, rises in the atmosphere. Issue 07 follows this circulation across scales. From membrane to mist, from ritual chamber to shower stall, water shapes both the construction and experience of space.   By viewing architecture and design through the lens of water, we begin to see how elemental it is to the way we consider, shape and experience space. Water can act as a source of ideas, a current of doubt, a sensory pleasure, or a point of delight.   Please submerge. You won’t stay dry.   Link in bio – cover @gilimerin   featuring: @abouttime_bathhouse @andrew.fraser @arorygardiner @b.ells___ @binet.helene @coco_flip @danishredfurniture @duncan.gibbs @eliza_ng111 @georgiasmedley @gilimerin @jbf_______ @leonardkoren @leopoldbanchini @lizzieclachan @m_a_t_o_s @passion_fingers_ @peterzumthorarchitecture @petrichor_collaborative @sashakhomenko @sedni.studio @sophielanigan_ @taylorandsmithdistillingco @te_ee_pe @willempab @zetr.co #RoniHorn   editor-in-chief @victoriapunturere features and managing editor @rachel___bw designers @alexdarbyshire_ @kyrajensenn @haymandesign sales associate @frank__graphic

Excerpt from “Analogy and Photography”, the prologue by Pier Vittorio Aureli to “Analogous Jerusalem” by Gili Merin (@gilimerin ). The book is available on our website and in bookshops. #humboldtbooks #analogousjerusalem

Frank Gehry’s El Peix d’Or (1989), shining in the sunrise light of Barcelona. Shot with a #mamiya7ii back in September 2025 as part of a series of Barcelona beaches, commissioned by @urtzigrau and @guille_pik for the relaunch of @quaderns next June. Stay tuned!

Exhibition of “FORCED REUSE” research in Dropcity in Milan is a result of a two-year-long research that investigates the phenomenon of adaptive reuse driven by acute community needs and conducted by users independently from architects and designers. The project uncovers the driving force behind non-professional reuse of building elements and spaces. In particular, it is interested in the reasons that push communities to rethink conventional building practices in regions where necessity overrides formal systems — where people are forced to reuse. A refugee shelter made from old oil containers, a house built with used car tires, an old bus repurposed as a countryside barn, a bridge constructed from a train wagon, a war bunker transformed into a car repair shop, and a cooperative garage converted into an improvised gym — these are just a few examples of unique typologies discovered in the research. Structures built not from what is traditionally meant for building — built from scarcity and poverty, and at the same time always smartly reusing something that is in excess, what is conventionally considered “waste.” These structures are crafted with immanent smartness, wit, and beauty, making them inherently ecological. This exhibition lasts for five weeks after the opening on November 1st. Publication of the research results will follow next year. The scenography where the exhibition takes place — is a 1:1 replica of the case study FO012, where a greenhouse was used as a shelter for humans after the earthquake in Japan. The design of this exhibition is zero-waste: the greenhouse will be reused after the exhibition as a real greenhouse for the agriculture purposes in the Venice region; the tires — will be returned to a car tire storage. The research was realized by KOSMOS Architects, HEAD — Genève and Gili Merin. Photos 📸 by Niko Miloradovic @niko_milo

Next week in London I will have a book talk about Analogous Jerusalem @csm_news Jerusalem is not just a city; it’s an idea. For millennia, it has been frequented by visitors of all faiths and social classes seeking to interact with its sanctity, entailing cycles of violent battles for its control, catalysing the need to relocate the idea of Jerusalem to places far from its physical boundaries. ‘Analogous Jerusalem’ is a five-year photographic journey exploring these ‘analogous’ shrines in various landscapes, capturing the continuous topography of pilgrimage with elements belonging to mutually exclusive categories: the sacred and the profane. A three-part essay explores the translation of the sacred sites from Jerusalem to Europe, the rituals of virtual pilgrimage common among mediaeval nuns and the history of photographic journeys. Together, the images and text construct a travelogue through places that are perhaps more ‘real’ than Jerusalem itself. Supported by @grahamfoundation Published by @humboldtbooks Prologue by Pier Vittorio Aureli Design: Federico Barbon Studio @federico.barbon

Throughout the past year, with baby Lara growing in my belly and a new puppy, I had the privilege to photograph Vienna’s public bath houses and social housing for the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale @austrianpavilion Entitled “Agency for Better Living,” the exhibition was curated by Michael Obrist, Sabine Pollak and Lorenzo Romito, exploring the “opportunities, spaces, and rules that provide better living for all.” It was extra exciting to bring Lara, at two months old, to the exhibition opening, where she also saw her father’s (@niko_milo )numerous videos that documented housing experiments (both old and new) across the city of Vienna. The exhibition is open until November, and for those who want to dive deeper into the concept of Better Living, check out @archplusnet latest issue! Installation images by Hertha Hurnaus / opening ceremony image by Clelia Cadamuro / shots on #mamiya7ii and some bonus iPhone bts!

Back in November, @niko_milo and I spent a week exploring the chapels, paths, and caves of Montserrat with students from my design studio “The Cosmic Mountain” at @raum.tuwien . We slept, ate and worked in the Montserrat Abbey while making films about sacred topographies, rituals (old and new), mass tourism, pilgrims’ travelogues, viewpoints and platforms, and the influence of the iconic mountain on the layout of neighbouring villages. To watch the films, join our midterms on December 17th with Lara & Fredrik @spacepopular and our finals on January 22nd with special guests @bekalemoine - stay tuned for more info! #mamiya7