Location: İstanbul

Year: 2023

Employer: Istanbul City Council

Category: 

Project Area:

Proje Office: SCRA & 2x1 

Team: Ramazan AVCI (Architect), Kutlu İnanç BAL (Architect), Seden CİNASAL AVCI (Architect), Hakan EVKAYA (Architect) , Altan ÇAKILYILMAZ (Civil Engineer)

Advisors: Emrah GÜRAVŞAR (Electrical Engineer), Alpaslan SÜTBAŞ (Mechanical Engineer), Elvan ENDER ALTAY (Landscape Architect)

Assistans: Gülay KARİP (Architect), İrem MALGAŞ (Architect), H. Melih BAKTIR (Architect), Serhat ÇAKIR (Architect), Anıl Sidar İLDAN (Architect), Sıla Berdan SAYGILI (Architect), Elif Zeynep OKUR (Architect), Damla DEMİR (Architect), Umut ASLAN (Architect), Esra ULUKAVAK (Architect), Mehmet ERBAŞ (Architecture Student), Şevval GÜNGÖR (Architecture Student)

In contemporary urbanization, where concrete masses dominate the landscape, the importance of green recreational areas and cultural-art structures is increasingly recognized. Istanbul emerges as a metropolis struggling with a lack of amenities and facing issues of overdevelopment and unplanned urbanization. In today’s world, where pedestrian movement is not prioritized and the value of urban ground is often overlooked, it is essential to take crucial steps to address these problems. In this context, our project aims to provide solutions to the challenges faced by urban areas in Istanbul and the surrounding competition site. While these solutions may not be entirely novel on a global scale, they hold significant value and do not lose their relevance when repeated. The competition outlines a paradoxical issue: it proposes replacing an existing urban green area, albeit currently underutilized, with a large-scale cultural and arts facility. Although the intention is to serve the public by creating cultural spaces, the necessity of sacrificing one vital element for another is not entirely satisfactory. This design's core motivation is to pursue a journey that seeks to maintain both aspects rather than exchanging one for the other.

Urbanexus is designed as a structure that returns as much as it occupies, defining the existing different levels with a transitional variety. Its physicality envelops a multi-layered approach to open and closed spaces and functions, integrating harmoniously with the topography. It acts as an urban adapter, connecting different levels with its self-generated intervals that do not obstruct its configuration. It aims to intricately resolve the interaction between the defined outdoor spaces and the indoor spaces and functions it hosts. Its proximity to metro and bus stations makes the structure accessible to all residents of Istanbul. However, the strategic location of the project not only facilitates transportation but also establishes a focal point for the residents of Ünalan Neighborhood. This enables the northern neighborhood to position itself as a meeting point for culture and arts, turning the project into a cultural artery that enhances accessibility between the two points.

The 13-meter elevation change is a fundamental determinant of the project. This difference is bridged by creating two intermediate levels connected by amphitheaters and staircases, facilitating both perceptual and physical flow between the four distinct heights. At the southernmost point, where the metro exit is located, a three-story-high transparent facade accommodates the main entrances of the building and manages potential high traffic. As one moves northward, interactive surfaces positioned along the cleft edges optimize service relationships, natural lighting, and ventilation, while also defining vibrant spaces for users.

"The design replaces the parking area at the entry level with drop-off bays and a vehicle access road that serves the parking and delivery entrances at the western corner, transforming the remaining area into an urban plaza that prepares the space for the structure and its surrounding context." This vehicle route reestablishes the previously disconnected relationship between Derem Street and Ayazma Avenue, potentially functioning as a ring road that encircles the entire Ünalan Neighborhood.

The immediate eastern edge of the building is enhanced by pedestrianizing the section of Barajyolu Street from the northeastern corner of the site to Demir Street, and adding a secondary green buffer that integrates with the rear gardens of the buildings along the street. A secondary entrance to the north facilitates permeability to both the retail courtyard and, above, the workshops and library courtyard.

Urbanexus addresses the integration of three distinct large volumes by combining auditoriums, foyers, and backstage areas. The basement level features a decorative entrance accessed by a manageable slope, which serves the backstage units of the auditoriums. Interactive surfaces, wrapping around the building on either side of the cleft, enhance the spatial experience. These surfaces accommodate the entrance points and balcony levels of the main auditorium and theater.

Retail and dining facilities, as well as the library and workshops, are positioned along the edges of the cleft, creating outdoor spaces within these intermediate levels. At the top level, the north-facing alignment connects with the neighborhood, while its expanding structure and existing green fabric integrate it into the urban fabric as a daily-use recreational space.

The building establishes a strong connection along the north-south podium axis, complemented by a secondary entrance at a lower level for the library, and vertical circulation elements strategically placed at key points to connect lower and upper levels. Negative spaces on the building’s upper surface create internal gardens for required spaces. The roof, conceived as a green expanse, incorporates walking paths and some hard surfaces, allowing for diverse activities. Galvanized steel planters added near the edges of the grass areas enable the growth of taller plants, enhancing the third dimension of the landscape. Particularly above the large auditorium, areas with steel structures are covered with lightweight platforms and narrow landscape sections using sedum ground cover to minimize soil thickness.

The overall landscape approach prioritizes a calm, natural aesthetic with dense plantings to enhance oxygen production, rather than focusing on decorative elements. Urbanexus represents much more than just an architectural structure; it integrates into the city's fabric, supports cultural activities, and preserves green spaces. This project offers not just a building, but a space for living, culture, and art. As an urban focal point and attraction, it contributes to Istanbul’s vitality while fostering a symbiotic relationship between the city and its artistic community. We hope this project will serve as an important role model in addressing the challenges faced by Istanbul and similar metropolises.