Gedikpasa Neighborhood

2010

The Gedikpaşa project is a contemporary solution to one of the oldest building typologies of the East - the bazaar. The bazaar historically has been an essential component of Istanbul's urbanism, life, and culture. This proposal focused on a site in the Gedikpaşa district of Istanbul that seeks to reinvent the bazaar, studying its core principles and the way in which fundamental architectural forms may be combined and multiplied in new ways. Conceptually, GAD’s Gedikpaşa proposal begins with a simple structural grid that is distorted and adapted to the parameters of this particular site. The result is a system or componential structure, that can be stacked and grown as permitted by the parameters of the site. The intention is that this system, as reflected in the iteration of one particular scenario in Gedikpasşa, could be adapted and multiplied in a number of different locations in the city as a component system for a bazaar for the 21st century. Importantly this system would provide a modular way to redevelop urban territories with an eye to flexibility and optimization.

The arch, one of the oldest forms in architecture and construction, serves as the fundamental element in this design. The arch is combined and multiplied to arrive at an unpredictable complex spatial organization. Green terraces and semi-open spaces fill the void between stacked modules creating variations in solid and void. Wooden panels and colorful enclosures begin to define space and the distinction between inside and outside is blurred. The result is something familiar as a bazaar yet a new invention for a historic problem for Istanbul and for this age-old typology now adapted into contemporary times. At the core of these strategies are complex yet functional possibilities for the fluctuating demands of urbanism in Eastern cities such as Istanbul.

Awards:
2012 Urban Regeneration and Master Planning Award for GDKP, MIPIM AR Future Project Awards