Kadıkoy Square Urban Design Competition

Project Year: 2020

Project Team: Yilmaz Deger, Elif Ekinci, Elif Akman, Selen Catal, Sinem Ozturk, Melih Bozkurt, Seda Altan

Assistants: Dilara Ucar, Salime Benan Kaya, Hande Metin, Zeynep Hazal Tokmak

Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Organisor: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

Kadikoy the geography of events.
Emptiness and fullness are defining qualities that enable the formation of both urban and architectural spaces. The alternating tension between emptiness and fullness problematizes how architectural spaces can have an atmospheric effect, where the boundaries are blurry rather than creating a finished form. One of the main points of the design is to reveal the potentials of the square. Thus, the concept is to create a fragmented and vacuolar construct. Another aspect of the design is to layer functions and environmental elements within or on top of each other, allowing them to affect each other’s perceptions and allow fusion. In line with these purposes, scaffolding systems are used as structural, fictional, and spatial elements. The skeletal structure system enables the space to be unfinished, open-ended it empowers the space to reproduce itself continuously. To adapt to changes and different needs, the scaffolding system consists of units that can be attached and removed from the grid skeleton. While scaffolding systems provide a fullness with the potential to host different functions, it also creates a void that is permeable, adaptable to change, and visually lightweight. The square is considered not only as a transfer node but also as an area to spend time. Thus, it is aimed to transform the entire project area into a promenade.