Following the #OccupyGezi Protests (May 2013) the project aims to redefine how public space can continue its relevance in the city of Istanbul today.
Following the financial crisis in Turkey (2002) Turkish economic growth has become heavily dependent upon the construction sector, driven by the corporate domain and neglecting the public domain. In May 2013, Gezi Park and Taksim Square became the most recent sites for mega urban transformation; eliminating one of the only public spaces which remain in the city.
Following the collective public movement of #OccupyGezi against these transformations, Taksim square is now strictly regulated and has undergone a significant infrastructural transformation leaving the square in a position where it can be argued that it no longer functions for the public domain.
By reading the notion of the city, as a city of neighbourhoods with a vibrant street life the proposal inverts the common form for congregation (being the stepped spaces which occur due to the topography of the landscape) internally. Inverting the street from an outward facing to an inward facing architectural element.
The project itself becomes a physical manifestation of the thoughts and processes following the occupation of Gezi Park and in doing so becomes a form of protest within itself. Suggesting protest may not always have to remain as a singular monumental event and can continue beyond the realms of a single monumental square.
By using the language of the city and the site the project is to allow for the continuation of the emerging cultural shift in Istanbul through a new form for congregation, using congregation as the ‘stabilizing’ form for the city.
An inversion of the street to the interior of the modern block.
Facilitating the continuation of fragmented spaces into one of the few remaining unused spaces in the city: The proposal inverts the street from an outward facing to an inward facing architectural element, towards a centralised congregational space taken from the common form for congregation in Istanbul.
Proposal splits down into three main elements.
The stepped congregational space, the pathways and the reading room below. (A fourth can be seen as the projection and extraction of existing grid).
Isolated Proposal and combined elements.
By reading the notion of the city as a city of neighborhoods with vibrant street life around the block, the project inverts the common form for congregation internally.
Streetscape continues internally beyond the area's of police regulation
"Strangely enough we are divided and yet might have to divide, that is to sharem even more" (Latour, 2004)
By continuing the collective fragmentation through the city the project becomes a physical manifestation of the thoughts and practices following the occupation of Gezi Park.
Reading the notion of the city as a city of neighborhoods with a vibrant street-life the proposal inverts the common form for congregation internally. The project in a way becomes a form of protest which suggests that protest can continue beyond a singular monumental event and through its fragmentation transcending the realms of a singular monumental square.
1:100 Physical Sectional Model
1:5 Detail of 2 stepped components which are pre-fabricated and assembled on site. A combination of 4 step components allow for seating and transitional spaces above with a well ventilated space with maximum daylight and minimum radiation in the void below.
Ambiguity between public/private, interior/exterior spaces are visible within spaces of transition. Existing program extends within intervention as intervention extends within existing.
