Urban Fabric
Research
Center
Location: Next to the Gazanferaga Complex, Historical Peninsula, Istanbul, Turkey
City expresses a different social order that affects human behavior and thoughts. Cultures become similar to each other and become global, and hence identities of cities. Istanbul is a city of 8500 years. It has been the capital of different states for 1600 years. During this period, the city has taken its structure from the current geographic elements.
After being conquered by the Ottoman Empire, it was redesigned with a different understanding of urbanism and religion.
In the republican period-approximately the last 100 years-, it gained different textures and is exposed to new problems (traffic, air pollution, noise pollution, unplanned urbanization) with the sudden development of technology. Besides, with the establishment of national states, the number of indigenous people in Istanbul decreased by emigration and a large number of people settled in Istanbul with a large migration wave from Anatolia with industrialization. To protect the unique atmosphere of Istanbul instead of organizing an ordinary global city, an upper-scale plan is necessary.
Therefore, in this research center, besides the offices that research sociology, specialized spaces and simulations where mathematical models will be made and displayed will be needed.
Some of the people who will work here:
-City Planners
-Traffic engineers
-Mathematic Engineers
-Computer Engineers
-Sociologist
-Mechanical Engineers
-Model Experts
-Guest Students
-Whoever interested in the urban texture of Istanbul
In Urban Fabric Research Center, the structure of the city is applied to abstract models to arouse curiosity in students who do not have detailed knowledge on this subject, to teach the old and new modeling methods, to attract the attention of the public by displaying the produced physical models in the foyer in front of the conference hall and even the models suitable for external conditions in the garden. In other words, the feature of this research center will be to transform the theories on the city into physical models.
The design approach of the building aims to follow the atmosphere of the surrounding Aqueduct, water tower, historical mosques and madrasas. For this, similar to the surrounding structures, a semi-open courtyard was created between the two buildings. The roof of the conference hall, which is the first building of the project consisting of two parts, creates a visual connection with Fatih Park as a walkable green roof. Thus, Valens Aqueduct is not excluded from the design and becomes a part of the green space by not being an obstacle. The water tower and the management part of the first building provide physical integrity and take their place in the tower design. The second building connects the two levels by taking entrance from both the courtyard and the walkable green roof. Wood and stone-finished coatings were used as facade materials to maintain the natural atmosphere.
