Fall semester started with a 5 week project: “METU house in the city”. The main project of the term was on “housing”. This topic involves a large variety of factors to be considered, processed and accommodated for, which at this stage of architectural education is found to be informative. The possibilities/ constraints of the site- its topographical layout, location in the urban context, the surrounding building fabric, position with respect to the vehicular and pedestrian routes and related consideration of whether or not uses other than housing should be introduced to the site and the use of the ground level the manner of relationship of the many considerations to be weighted each on its own, and several of them en masse, to produce if need be, collected mutant effects.

Another major issue is that, housing involves an enormous range of scales. The design of the units, how the units come together, the composition of subgroups into a larger whole, which is to become a semi-autonomous residential environment with an identity of its own within the totality of the town, do indeed call for an overwhelming transfer of scales.

Alongside new neighborhoods on the periphery of Ankara, areas in the city formerly occupied by squatter houses are now being transformed into new residential districts such as the Dikmen valley housing project. There are still vacant lands in some quarters of the city which will soon to be developed in an ad-hoc manner.

The project site is such a plot in Çukurca / Çankaya. Being on a slope facing southeast and having an area of 16000 m2, the site is located in a neighborhood which was transformed from a squatter housing into an urban fabric. In the adjacent plots, there are high rise and medium-rise mass housing for OYAK, low rise lodgments of the “Constitutional Court” and conventional apartments. Various social and shopping facilities such as a cinema, a hotel, a local shopping mall, roadside shopping facilities, playgrounds, health facilities, and headquarters of different corporations are located in the close vicinity. The project brief includes residential units of various sizes (from 60 to 180m2 each, 7200 m2 total), retail shopping (2000m2), offices (4000m2), sports (1200m2), nursery school (200m2), car parking and other subsidiary functions. Initially, students are asked to analyze the site and the neighborhood, its potentials and constraints in order to develop a guiding idea and make a research on similar schemes in Turkey and abroad.

Projects

‘Student Village’ in Beytepe

Arch 301 Architectural Design III - Group 2

Housing (shelter) is the earliest architectural problem to which mankind -certainly not always the architect- has sought sound and adequate solutions throughout the ages. This theme has been chosen in order to confront this basic architectural problematic in a specific and challenging setting.

Ankara may well be considered as a students’ city among its other attributes. There are many state universities which are solid and respected both at the national and international stages. Besides, several privately-funded ones have also risen during the past two decades making the capital city a haven for scholars. Older institutions appear to house its departments within the urban context but recently established universities generally build campus zones off the city center while some of them have both of the each.

The problem is to provide adequate housing for students of Bilkent University, Hacettepe University’s Beytepe Campus and METU. Lack of appropriate student dormitories and rising demand for accomodation as an alternative to dormitories has necessitated the design of housing in accordance with specific needs of students. The past experiences as well as contemporary socio-cultural values and structural and constructional requirements also need to be taken into consideration.

The site is strategically located at Beytepe village and its proximity to those three universities makes it a convenient area for the purpose. It has a splendid view of Ankara panorama and some green landscape; it is surrounded by both old houses of Beytepe village and further new housing settlements. Interventions to the specific site and project call for discussion of keywords like identity, image, cityscape and urban character.

PROGRAM: 10 000 m²
UNITS: 30 units: 1-bedroom with study space and storage + living room + built-in or separate kitchen + bathroom, 60 m²
50 units: 2-bedroom, 90 m²
20 units: 3-bedroom, 120 m²
SOCIAL FACILITIES: Administration office and storage, shop, laundry, multi-purpose hall, internet café, café/restaurant, sports and recreation areas and parking lots.

Projects

Doğukent Development

Arch 301 Architectural Design III - Group 3

Site: The steeply sloped land at the eastern fringe of Ankara, looking towards Mühye Valley from Doğukent Boulevard. The 15-hectare site has squatter and village settlements on its eastern and southern peripheries; its western border, the Doğukent Avenue, is lined on one side with apartment blocks for high-income groups.

Problem definition: The project proceeds from two observations: a) the duality that the site embodies, with its potential for a dense urban development alongside the Boulevard, in contrast to its promise for a pastoral setting on the Valley side; b) the design poverty displayed in mainstream architectural practice throughout agglomerations of multistory point blocks. The project asks for alternatives to this mode of city building via generic housing settlements that are characterized by their lack of urban macroform and disregard of natural circumstances. The project takes into account the prevailing allowances for land use.

Scope and scales: The project is executed in two phases: a) a visionary design for a target population of about 10,000 people, to be carried out as team work in upper scales (1/2000, 1/1000); b) partial designs for about 2,000 and 200 households (1/500, 1/200, 1/100, 1/50). The following aspects are emphasized under the theme ‘sectional variation’: distribution of private and public domains; sectional distribution of households, house types and outdoor spaces; variation of ceiling shapes and heights; the fundamental question as to how the buildings meet the ground and the sky.

Background studies: Case studies on collective housing (from literature); study trip to Eskişehir (traditional and modern urban fabrics); study trips to suburban mass housing sites (Oran, Korukent, Eryaman 3-4) and urban housing (Maliye Blocks, Yamaçevler, Dikmen); content analysis of advertisements for real estate market; films (Familiestere, Nemasus) and fiction (Story of Five Cities by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin).

Projects

Neighborhood and Housing Design at Eryaman

Arch 301 Architectural Design III - Group 4

Following a short term structure design project of an equestrian hall, the main project of the semester was housing design. We started to work on the project with an assignment entitled: “Housing as Utopia”, an exercise which opened up questions on the utopian nature of housing to begin with.

Eryaman, which is a planned satellite settlement near Ankara, was chosen as a site from which students could learn. The overall planning of Eryaman is based on the principle of neighborhood units, connected to each other by continuous green spaces and pedestrian walkways. The 3rd and 4th phases of Eryaman were realized through an experimental process. In the 4th phase, different parts of the area had been assigned to five different architects who developed their own ideas for each of the sub-areas. As a result, a significant architectural variety was achieved, however, the area can hardly be perceived as a neighborhood having unity. This is partly because the center of the neighborhood has been left vacant.

The aim of the project was to design a residential neighborhood that will also function as the center of the 4th phase. In this first stage, the students were asked to work with 1/2000 to 1/500 scale drawings and working models. The neighborhood to be designed was expected to offer a legible urban structure, a well structured net of open public and semi public spaces, a balanced mix of uses together with housing, including social facilities –i.e. a community center, a kindergarten- commercial facilities, sports areas, playgrounds for children and open areas for people to meet. In the second phase of the project, students were asked to focus on the three dimensional quality of housing blocks and the design of housing units.

Students were encouraged to search for alternative urban design and architectural solutions for creating “better housing environments” for people to live in.

Projects

Hotel and a Concert Hall in Afyonkarahisar

Arch 302 Architectural Design IV - Group 1

The term started with a 4 week project, which was the design of a transient shopping facility on the plot of the demolished “Modern Çarşı” in Ulus. Students were expected to get acquainted with different structural systems and develop their projects accordingly.

The second project of the spring semester was to design a city hotel in an urban setting, in a provincial town: Afyonkarahisar. Afyon has a unique geographical layout; three hills swelling up, and on one of them, the castle. It is interesting that the town is laid out right amongst those three hills. This region is also blessed with natural hot springs.

The town has been endowed with notable governmental and school buildings of the ‘20s and the ‘30s that are a witness to the new Republican era, alongside the historical authentic texture of vernacular architecture. Afyon has had an important place in our recent history; the decisive Başkumandanlık Battle was fought very near. This is commemorated with a monument (Utku anıtı) in a park in the city center where the official buildings such as the Governor’s Office, City Hall and Victory Museum are located.

Location of the project is close to the city center with this rich urban heritage, which was a challenge to arouse the students’ awareness intended to remain throughout their careers. Since the project was to be within a partially realized neighborhood, students were expected to work with this context which led them to attach to the existing apartment buildings around. Such limitations encouraged unique solutions rather than adaptations of established hotel layouts.

Hotel projects have a variety of functions with different spatial requirements. This hotel will have tourists, those who seek therapy from the spas, and businessmen for its clientele; another group of guests will be those who will visit at jazz and classical music festivals that are recently being regularized. This means that the hotel includes a concert hall into its program. Total built area with the concert hall reaches to 8800m2.

Projects

A Guest House and Sporting Faculties for a Field Hockey Club In Beypazari

Arch 302 Architectural Design IV - Group 2

Beypazarı, a small town near Ankara now, has been a notable centre for different cultures for centuries. Its past goes back to several thousands years so far as Hitites. Known as ‘Lagania (:Rocky Peak)‘ in Roman times, Beypazarı was on the legendary ‘Silk Road’ and had always been a commercial node on the east-west trade route. 10 000 people lived in Beypazarı in 1573 which indicates its popularity also during Ottoman times.

There are varying subjects of interest in Beypazarı such as architecture, nature, gastonomy, arts and crafts attracting visitors from all over the World. Today, it is one of the few towns in inner Anatolia which still can maintain its architectural integrity. Examples of Turkish domestic architecture are significant and restoration works of nearly 3000 traditional houses have gained momentum for some time.

Hence, it seems to be the right time for such a rich district like Beypazarı to engage itself with yet another public activity: sports. A field hockey club with a natural pitch including a guest house for sportsmen/women would suit nicely to this prominent historical and natural environment.

History of game of field hockey can be traced well back to ancient Egyptian and Greek periods. Modern field hockey originated in England and first club was founded in Blackheath near London in 1861. Turkish field hockey started with the establishment of ‘Hockey Union’ in 1915. Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Altınordu, Beşiktaş, Gürbüzler and Anadolu Hisarı İdman Yurdu regularly took part in the ‘İstanbul Hockey League’ matches until 1925 during which Fenerbahçe came top, winning 4 championships. Turkey became a member of ‘International Hockey Federation’ in 1927. Today new ‘Turkish Field Hockey Federation’ is 5 years old and runs a league consisting of 8 men’s and 8 women’s first division clubs along with u-18 and u-21 teams.

Program: (Total: 4750 m²): Entrance and Lobby, Management, Guest Rooms, Social and Cultural Facilities, Facilities, Services.

Projects

İznik Tiles Center and Vocation School

Arch 302 Architectural Design IV - Group 3

The proposed Iznik Tiles Center integrates research, training and production functions within a flexible program for an international vocation school. The Center undertakes certificate courses, master-apprenticeship programs and research-development activities, all combined with production, display and purchase functions. The core elements of the program include ateliers/workshops, classes, library, museum and exhibition hall, assembly and multipurpose halls, leisure and accommodation facilities (dormitory and guest house). Priority and size of spaces may vary according to group scenarios.

Each group is expected to produce a master plan (1/2000, 1/1000) based on concept designs at urban and building scales. Proceeding from this common ground, group members may either share the buildings among themselves or may prefer to work out their own proposals in 1/500 and lower scales.

The project site is one of the 35 x 70 meter urban blocks within the gridiron plan that dates back to the town’s Roman period, which is among overlapping archaeological layers of the city. Apart from some listed buildings, including an Ottoman madrasah and several traditional houses, the site contains a building stock that is not much commendable in architectural quality. On the other hand, these buildings are part of an urban typology that strongly defines the perimeters of each urban block, contributing to the spatial structure and place characteristics of the town. The distinction between ‘space creation’ and ‘place making’ should be noted, the latter necessarily suggesting a character that emerges from tectonic characteristics of architectural form (Kenneth Frampton). For further discussion on the subject, the class is advised to read the provided excerpts, which focus on the following themes: new buildings in historical settings, urban renewal and regeneration, in-fill within historical fabrics, contextual design and compatibility; together with relevant concept pairs such as imitation vs. innovation, local vs. universal, tradition vs. modernity.

Projects

Drama Theater in İzmir

Arch 302 Architectural Design IV - Group 4

A building program specifically designed for theater displays was the topic of Arch 302 in our group. Besides its programmatic complexity, the project deserved research and innovation on technical issues like large span structures, acoustics and stage mechanics. Believing that the theater is a node of public life in the city, a centrally located site was selected in Izmir, in between the historical core and the modern maritime façade of the city.

The project was studied in three stages. Modern theaters are based on the historical examples and vary according to the type of drama, the stageauditorium relations as well as the capacity of seating and the scale of the facilities. After having dwelt on the history of theater, its building typologies, and the related codes and standards, the first stage of the project was finalized with a theater project without a site; the exercise was entitled “a theater from within”.

In the second stage, which began with the excursions to the theater buildings and site survey in Izmir, daily practices and movement patterns between Konak Square and the historical commercial center Kemeralti, land-uses in the area and accesses to the site were observed by the students in situ. Back to the studio, the urban/architectural context was studied in detail through morphological analyses, urban and architectural history surveys; and the site model was produced.

In the following stages, the students were confronted with the task of adapting their programmatic studies to the constraints of the site. The program of the building comprised a proscenium type of theater hall with an auditorium of 600 people, forestage and back stage facilities, rehearsal rooms and workshops; the public spaces including the foyer, an exhibition hall, a library and a café to be conceived as meeting places between the citizens and actors. An additional scene for an experimental theater was left to the free interpretation of each student. The residential facilities for traveling theater companies and administrative functions were incorporated into the project program. The total building area was given as 4570 m2.

Projects