Walls of History
Şanlıurfa has a hot climate with a high-density population in the city centre. When we look at the historical background of the city, we see that there were several civilizations that lived there which makes the city multi-cultural and layered over the years. Due to the high density in the city, houses were built next to each other which creates a privacy problem. People handled that problem thanks to high walls that create streets and the outer boundaries of the houses. Because of these high walls, shadows fell on the narrow street which makes them cooler and private areas were able to be obtained in the inner courtyard of the houses. In this context, the term ‘’Wall’’ is focused.
The design intention is to create cool spaces for the people and to take advantage of the walls. In this context, the design approach is to create closed, open, semi-open and recreational spaces defined by walls. Since there will be a research centre and accommodation part and all other related facilities that should be out of sight, and a public visitor centre, the area is defined into parts like private, and public. Then, the location of the walls is determined by considering both pedestrian circulation and the function of the spaces for both private and public areas. A passage is created in between private and public zones and the whole structure is oriented on the north-west and south-east direction. When visitors came to the boarding area, they will pass through to the passage and will see the Karahantepe. After that, they will visit all the related spaces and finally leave the site for the excavation area. When they came to the site from the visit, they will again pass through the open exhibition area, and they will go to the departure area by passing through the same passage. This time they will see the Keçlitepe which is a listed archaeological site dated later periods. With this orientation of the project, people will be able to observe Karahantepe during the entrance and Keçlitepe during the departure. In addition to that, the heights of the walls are determined according to both topography and functions. Walls turn into landscape elements through to the end of the visitor centre. While the circulation at the visitor centre is linear, it is spread in the private area because of the functions of the spaces. Since the spaces defend by the walls, by taking advantage of these high walls, reliefs, and findings from the Karahantepe is exhibited on the walls by using the parametric brick-laying method.
