GAZIANT - UP - CYCLE / Mohit Purshotam
The massive influx of refugees and asylum seekers from Syria has had created many challenges in Turkey. Cities such as Gaziantep have not been able to cope up with the rapid population increase, and this has led to both economic, social, and environmental problems.
Many refugees find labour intensive and low paying jobs such as collecting re cyclable waste and selling it to recycling centres, even though most still ends up in landfills. The illegal importation of waste from the UK and Europe makes it even easier to exploit these refugees. Therefore, the linear cycle of waste process should be slowly replaced with a more sustainable, circular approach. Upcycling is creating more value out of these waste products by converting them into commodities. This area has a huge potential and if a space is created to educate and integrate the local community and the refugees, it can create employment, create awareness, and get people working together increased.
This project aims to create awareness and solve these issues, including an additional one which is of European and UK waste being imported in vast amounts that may be used as an advantage to create economically favourable situations for a large population of unemployed refugees. Gaziant-Up-Cycle is a social inclusion hub and an up-cycling centre that invites people of all backgrounds indiscriminately.
The internal form comes from the Kastel underground water collection systems, something quite vernacular to Bey Neighbourhood, but this project interprets that as the collection of waste and people to integrate into a contemporary gathering centre. The project makes use of large open spaces, galleries to make connections on most levels and a panoramic elevator in the core, which is a high chimney like structure observed in the Kastels. The façade makes use of both upcycled rusted metal sheets, as well as a suspension of up-cycled roof tiles that are traditionally used in the neighbourhood.
