Eda Uraz Portfolio

䔀 䐀 䄀 唀 刀 䄀 娀 倀 伀 刀 吀 䘀 伀 䰀 䤀 伀

ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY (B. Arch.)

Urban and Regional Planning (2009-2014) Architecture (2011-2016) KU LEUVEN (M. Arch.)

Architecture (2016-2018) Resilient and Sustainable Strategies Campus Sint Lucas-Gent

I am an architect and urban planner, studied within double major program in Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Faculty of Architecture, and Master of Architecture on Resilient and Sustainable Strategies in KU Leuven, Campus Sint Lucas Gent.

Based on my experiences; I have established research based methods for analysis stage and developed sustainable design approaches for the project stage for the field of architecture, urban design, urban planning, and strategic development plan solutions.

Focuses of my studies are comprised of solutions for multi-scaled architectural and regional projects in an international context. I developed student projects for varied cities in Turkey, Belgium, Finland, Morocco, Ethiopia and Nepal within diversified sociocultural structures and local cases. I participated in an urban design project in Atlanta, US as an intern, and I contributed to many more research projects and publications within ITU. Apart from my studies, I worked as an architect in Kiklop Design & Engineering for the preliminary design process of a Care Center for Elderly in Bahrain. In the design process, I worked with my colleagues on multiple tasks in a peaceful office atmosphere interactively. In June 2018, I graduated from Master of Architecture in KU Leuven. As my Master's Dissertation, I developed a prototype of an ideal school project through earthquake resistant design strategies within limited resources in Nepal (tutored by Ignaas Back). Currently, I am living in Gent and focusing on further experiences for my occupational career in Belgium.

To me, architecture is a chance for designing better solutions for today’s challenges, and nonending process of learning how we could use it as a beneficial tool and a special form of every distinctive culture for building more sustainably, and locally oriented by humanitarian design approaches.

CONTENTS

Architecture (B. Arch.)

Project 6 (2015) Istanbul, Collective Craftsmanship

Architecture (B. Arch.)

Project 8, Graduation Project (2016) Istanbul, Haydarpasa Train Station

Architecture (M. Arch.)

Project 1 (2016) Antwerp, A Peri-Urban Exploration

Architecture (M. Arch.)

Project 2 (2017) Morocco, Future Rural School

Architecture (M. Arch.)

Project 3 (2018) Gentbrugge, Living Fronts

Architecture (M. Arch.)

Master’s Dissertation (2018) Nepal, Hope&Resistance

COLLECTIVE CRAFTSMANSHIP

A project, in which local values are the most important, the local characteristics and the craftsmanship are remembered respectfully.

Istanbul has a lot of histories, stories, distinctive local crafts and architectural styles through the centuries. But also Istanbul has forgotten most of them nowadays. The city is in a competitive urbanization rush, day by day it is getting bigger, more crowded, and more hectic. It is losing the local values, becoming a model of the global brands that causes indigenous cultures to extinct one by one under the pressure of the big brands and profit oriented transformations.

This project is a critic on the fast urbanization of Istanbul and trying to remember and protect the existance of the small amount of local entities.

There are still some crambles of hope for the indigenous cultures which exist along the Bosphorus. If all the settlements try to protect their spatial characters with a local motivation, then these special cultural heritages can be delivered from one generation to another.

So, I started to design a prototype in a small settlement Kuzguncuk. In Kuzguncuk, I identified the empty plots to integrate them back to the city as a centers for local craftsmanship where people can find spaces such as local bazaars to sell or barter their products, where people can attend classes to show or improve their abilities about sewing dresses, making glass objects,designing jewelleries or cooking traditional receipts.

The project works as a campus on an identified route that is diffused among the existing neighborhood. I studied five plots as a start point of local rise up. This five examples can be easily duplicated in the neighborhood or the other small settlements for continuation of the local crafts.

Right above: Bosphorus settlements Right middle: Kuzguncuk Right below: Project site

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Left: Concept Plan, 1/200 Right above: Section AA, 1/200 Right below: Southwest view

A NEW GATE TO THE CITY

Istanbul, city of everything, every model of lifestyle, transportation, and activities, has nonstop motion and is always alive.

The city left the historical Haydarpaşa train station building forgotten and alone for a long while there as it did to many more valuable buildings in the city because of irrepressible urban growth.

The beautiful station building was facing to Marmara sea, lost the connection to the city center by the overcrowded Istanbul traffic, carparking areas, a huge industrial zone and construction sites around it.

There should be a solution in order to activate the existing transportation opportunity to the city’s infrastructure. The solution should be a focal point which activates the faded part of the city, which creates a new pedestrian zone in front of the sea, which connects the two disjointed part of the city again, and which brings not only a new station building for activation of the sustainable way of transportation, but also embraces cultural activities as a ‘new gate to the city’.

A new building, a modest architectural design as a completion of the historical station building with respect to its identity and dignity, would be a new station and a new cultural center as a new hub of the city for the public transportation.

A courtyard, a space for the community and the passengers, welcomes different architectural compositions in the same time, in the same place.

Having a break in a restaurant, meeting a friend for a coffee, walking through the waterfront, visiting an exhibition or just waiting a train are very decent reasons to be there, to be under the shadow of magnificent Haydarpasa-the old station building, silence of the green courtyard and modesty of the new community center.

Master plan, 1/500

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Left: Ground floor plan, 1/200 Right above: Section AA Right middle: Section BB Right below: Section CC

GREEN COMMUNITY

Hemiksem, a peripheral neighborhood of city of Antwerp. A place where people lives quietly and commutes to their workplace everyday. A place where a lot of industrial activities were pushed to. And a place with a lot of potentials for non-industrial and undiscovered very environmental friendly activities.

When i was walking in the street there, the silence and stagnant energy of the neighborhood begged for an escape way, wanted a discover to value its potentials.

Then i started to dream Hemiksem with much more green and sustainable activities which bring the local community together and make the city life brighter for them.

In the last century, before the industrial dominance started in Hemiksem, the agricultural facilities or individual gardening were much more active in the city. Today, especially in the weekdays, the streets look like too dry and without any spirit. So, I started to develop a strategy about bringing agricultural facility back with another aspect.

I found out the empty plots which continuously go after each other and reach to the big agricultural fields where the settlements end.

In my proposal, the urban agriculture starts with green houses to grow hemp for the existing industry and fragile fruits for the community. The second part of the activity continues with the flower gardens which allows the community to come with their crops and experiment growing their own flower garden. And the last step of the proposal ends with an agricultural school and agroforestry camps for growing special kind of forest herbs under the big canopy trees. So that, the existing community can become together and embrace new experiences all together as it is mentioned ‘Gardening is an activity proven to create community’ in the book ‘Carrot’ City’.

Master plan, 1/1000

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Left: Ground floor plan, 1/500 Right above: South side view Right middle: Section AA Right middle: Northeast view Right below: Southwest view

PRODUCTIVE SCHOOL

Anfeg, province of Sidi Ifni in Morocco, is a rural area and lacking a proper educational facility.

The ambition of the project had started with the idea of designing a “Productive School” which means “education starts from the first day”. The idea is to bring the local community together in the school and encourage them to participate in the construction of new school.

The main activities in “Productive School” are both learning local construction techniques with local materials and applying those techniques while building the school itself by the local community with the supervision of the professionals while the primary school is the second part of the future school as a fundamental education facility for the village.

The three most important inputs of the design process are culture, identity and the nature.

While the design process completes its mission to improve the social structure, the building itself should respect the surrounding identity, reflect the culture and adapt to the lifestyle. The logic of the project is “creating life space” as a first step. After that, the facilities surround the space according to the main activity.

The complete volume of the school building includes 2 separate spaces which will be built in three phases. The main reason behind phasing is not to interrupt the ongoing primary school education while construction of other parts is going on. Also, different phases would ease providing the construction budget.

As a consequence, “Productive School” is a concept for building comprehensive educational space for the local community in accordance with the social, natural, and cultural aspects within well-defined guidelines and design strategies.

Organigram

Construction Phases Construction Phases

PHASE 1 PHASE 1

PHASE 2 PHASE 2

PHASE 3 PHASE 3

In the first phase, the productive space will be built In step. the first phase, the productive space will be built as a first After the space will start to be used, as a first step.

Aftersuch the space will start be used, the surrounding facilities as storage, labto and thewill surrounding facilities as storage, sanitary be built within the such productive schoollab and sanitary will be built within the productive school program. program.

In the second phase, the school garden will be built as theAfter second the school facilities garden will a first In step. that,phase, the surrounding suchbeasbuilt as a first staff step.room, Afterand that, the surrounding such as classrooms, sanitary will be builtfacilities within the classrooms, staff room, andthe sanitary will beand builtteawithin the productive school program.

Then dormitores productive school program.

Then the dormitores and cher’s residence in the first floor will be constructed on top tearesidence the firststep floorofwill be constructed ofw thecher’s ground floor as ainsecond second phase. on top ofw the ground floor as a second step of second phase.

In the third phase, the common facilities such as In the phase, thebuilt common such as dining hall andthird library will be in orderfacilities to bridge diningprogram hall andin library will be built in order to bridge two school the central location of the school program in the central location of the projecttwo area. project area.

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production space production +0.00 130 m² space 130 m²

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+0.00

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+0.00

Ground floor plan 1:200 Ground floor plan 1:200

Prospective section AA Prospective section AA

lab-class 35 m² lab-class +0.00 35 m² +0.00 +0.00

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classroom 40 m² classroom staff room 40 m² +1.00 30 m² staff room +1.00 30 m² +1.00

+1.00 +1.00

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+0.00

library 45 m²

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library 45 m²

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classroom 30 m² classroom 30 m² +1.00

school garden 205 m² school garden 205 m² +0.00

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interaction passage 35interaction m² passage +0.50 35 m²

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classroom 40 m² classroom 40 m²

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storage 30 m² storage +0.00 30 m² 300

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cooking dining hall cooking 60 m² dining hall +0.50 +1.00 60 m² self +0.50 self cleaning cleaning

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playground playground

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mud pool mud pool

classroom 30 m² classroom 30 m² +1.00 +1.00

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Left above: Master plan, 1/500 Left middle: Traditional way of growing Left below: Project phases Right above: Project phases Right below: Ground floor plan, 1/100

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PRODUCTIVE SCHOOL

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+4.50 +4.00 +3.20

+1.50 +1.00

North Elevation1/200

Above: North side view Below: Section AA

LIVING FRONTS

A place for production and a collective life.

A place where the life happens in harmony and in silence. A tiny linear neighborhood, living more beyond the doors. A street with a strong linear axis of buildings. And a wall, hiding a great potential of birth of a new life beyond.

This place is in Gentbrugge, opressed in between the dominance of residential use and industrial facilities. The approach of the project was developed by following the existing circumstances in the district such as embracing the new environment to be the another half of the neigborhood.

The project is about a collective housing where the different profiles of the community would become together in the same place by the common fundamental activities of a living space. There are housings for students, families and elderlies.

Furthermore, this project is also about bringing a new industrial activity to the neighborhood which shows the recycling process of a paper as a big exhibition space to the people who pass by and who lives already in the neighborhood. Also by its proximity to the street, it increases the visibility of interior activities while the other building is located further from the street in order to have a public park in front of the housing for the families and elderlies and for the existing neighborhood.

These two building proposals have the same idea behind themselves: bringing people together in collective places, increasing the energy of the street by bringing the collective life to the fronts by the exterior circulation systems.

As a materiality, buildings are as silent as the street, they just have two materials without any joints or add-ons on them. They just have glass and concrete panels. They just exist there by bringing the people's life to the facade, to the front in order to give a visibility to the lives and bring the colors of life to the fronts.

Ground floor plan, 1/500

Left: Family housing south side view Right: Section CC, 1/20

Above: South side view Middle: Section AA Bottom:Section BB

MASTER’S DISSERTATION: HOPE&RESISTANCE

This master’s dissertation is about developing a series of systems and strategies for a prototype school which can be adaptable to different climate regions and buildable with different material options based on local availabilities and limited resources in Nepal.

This master’s dissertation addresses the lack of educational facilities in Nepal, where 8.000 schools were lost in the devastating Gorkha earthquake in 2015. There is a need to complete the educational facilities as fast as possible. This project aims to develop an ideal school, which must be flexible and easily applicable with its special strategies to any climate region. The vision was to develop a school project that is safe, earthquake resistant, and which represents local identity. Recently, the confidence in the local structural quality has been diminishing among the local cultures, as the desire for stronger structure is popularised with concrete buildings. However, most studies prove that the local structural quality is very stable and still standing after 3 big earthquakes rocked Nepal in the last century. Hence, the aim of this master’s dissertation is to complete a school project with earthquake resistant techniques by combining local architectural footprints and contemporary ones within a participatory design process: by including local communities in order to teach them new interpretations, to build an educational building from scratch, to establish confidence in the safety of the new building, and to incentivise the local people to carry out new techniques in the future. This way, Nepal would be stronger against possible earthquakes that may happen in the future and protect its indigenous cultures by following local characteristics.

Consequently, this architectural proposal is completed by research based approaches within environmental and spatial strategies in order to design a prototype, a home as a community space, a flexible design, a proven earthquake-resistant building and a safe shelter.

1/100 Proposal Model

1/100 Master Plan

1/50 Section, Life in the School

Locally Available Roof Slates

Secondary Structure: Third Bamboo Layer for Carrying Roof Slates

Secondary Structure: Second Bamboo Layer for Carrying Roof Slates Bamboo Sheet for Waterproofing

Secondary Structure: First Bamboo Layer for Carrying Roof Primary Structure: Wooden Truss Ststem

Second Ceiling: Wooden Ring beam Bamboo Sheet Wooden Supports to Carry Bamboo Sheet Wall: Hollow Cored Sun Dried Brick Bamboo and Gravel Reinforcement

Ground and Foundation: Stone Foundation Stone Soling Rammed Earth Mud Tiles

Left: Structural scheme Above:Safe School Below: Life in the interiors