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TA K S İ M U R B A N D E S I G N C O M P E T I T I O N

TAKSİM AN URBAN SPACE OF RECONCILIATION

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TA KS İ M : AN UR BAN SPAC E OF R EC O NC I LI AT I O N

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“Taksim”, the center of Istanbul, is the most important public space in the city with its physical spatial characteristics and its special importance as a ‘place’ with a memory as well.

Taksim and its immediate surroundings witnessed many events in the city’s history; however, all these events added up to a meaningless void, rather than to a public space that every city dweller would like to be in.

What we attempt to do can be defined as the transformation of a meaningless void into a significant space. What we did can be considered as taking everything ever happened here as data, rather than as problems.

“Layers” is the most fundamental term that crystallizes our work on the whole set of data about the place. We realized that, in order to grasp what might happen here, we had a tendency to employ a “superposition” of projects that evaluated various aspects of the same place in an architectural perspective. Therefore, we decided to employ the very same means in presenting our project: All the former interventions and all that happened here in the past have to be taken into account as basic inputs of a future project, and the outcome has to be a public space that belongs to everyone, in terms of perception and emotion.

Along with this decision, we reconsidered a number of crucial aspects and highlighted the essentials. Taksim has to become an active public space. It has to enable its dwellers to be beholders and players at the same time. It has to be a place where everyone can be themselves and reproduce their own experience without any hesitation. A city is a heterogeneous place where various social groups come together, and its public spaces are the places of consensus, where these groups negotiate and contribute to a co-existence. This is why our approach is based on the following statement: “The main aim of this competition for Taksim is to produce the democratic urban public space experience that embraces the sensitivities of all sections of society.”

Our project attempts to embody this intention. We want the place to embrace the archive of what all happened here in the past, and extend it with what would happen here in the future.

2. The interventions since the nineteenth century have added up to a meaningless void in such a way that the place once belonged to everyone belongs to no one now.

1806—1928

1928—40

1940—70

1970—2013

2020

3. Most importantly, this meaningless void that belongs to no one has to be transformed into a public space that belongs to all. The steps for such a transformation are as follows: a. Taksim should be considered as a significant element of the park, just as it was in the Prost Plan (1937). b. Gezi Park should extend towards The Marmara Hotel, and towards the undefined void on Cumhuriyet Avenue.

The significant decisions we made on our project are as follows: 1. The public space named “Taksim” is defined by the following elements: The Republic Monument and its surroundings; Gezi Park; the junctions (deltas) of İstiklal Street, Sıraselviler Avenue, Mete Avenue, Cumhuriyet Avenue, Tarlabaşı Avenue, Kazancı Yokuşu, Sağlık Street, and İnönü Avenue; the buildings such as Atatürk Cultural Center; Taksim Mosque; Maksem; Aya Triada Church, The Marmara Hotel, Maksim Night Club, Intercontinental Hotel, and apartment buildings on Talimhane Avenue and Mete Avenue. Taksim was proposed to be the most significant part of the park in the Prost Plan in 1937. Each exit with a different name becomes a different section of the city, however, Taksim’s influence in each and every one of them is visible.

REPORT

c. The Republic Monument & its surroundings should be preserved, and the area should be transformed into a Republican Square in the form of an amphitheatre with elevations towards Gezi Park, so that the dwellers can be beholders and players in any event organized 1/14

TA KS İ M : AN UR BAN SPAC E OF R EC O NC I LI AT I O N

here. This amphitheatre can be considered as an improved reincarnation of Gezi Stairs, which constitutes a fundamental element in its present form.

4. Gezi Park should be extended towards The Marmara Hotel; and the space between this platform and the present elevation of the square should be considered as a semi-open center for transportation and distribution, with the subway exits into the square. This “urban passage” placed upon the bearing system of the present infrastructure should function as a stage for art and cultural activities.

5. The extension of Gezi Park meets the entrance platform of Atatürk Cultural Center in the same elevation, and another platform between the new shopping mall in Atatürk Cultural Center and the “urban passage” connects the pedestrian routes with subway connections and with the Republican Square.

6. Lamartin Avenue, the most active part of Talimhane, extends in the same direction towards Cumhuriyet Avenue, and towards Gezi Park and Atatürk Cultural Center in the form of a platform.

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7. Gezi Park is preserved and improved to the max as an urban green space, and it connects to Atatürk Cultural Center’s shopping mall, alongside via the present pedestrian bridge by Divan Hotel; to Atatürk Cultural Center’s shopping mall, to the yard of Istanbul Atatürk Library, and to ITU Taşkışla and Maçka Park via a pedestrian passage between Intercontinental Hotel and Gezi Park. Another suggestion is to transform Gezi Park into a sculpture park and an outdoor gallery.

8. The extending end of Gezi Park includes a skateboard rink and concert areas for street musicians. This space connects to the upper elevation of the amphitheatre and to the Monument and its surroundings.

9. In this way, the unusable and incomprehensible form of the present area can be transformed into an open space of the same size, with parts that fluidly connect with each other.

CURRENT SITUATION

REPORT

PROPOSAL

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10. What we attempt to do can be defined as “building an urban public network”, by employing present clues and connecting them with urban interfaces. This network can be built by employing former interventions as inputs, and improving them with the introduction of new interfaces.

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11. Our suggestion is an extensive intervention in terms of its spatial formation, and thus it is easy to implement in the urban scale, as well.

12. We truly believe that this suggestion is an interface between considering urban-public space both as an outcome of social relations and as a result of them.

AN URBAN SPACE OF RECONCILIATION BOTH AS AN OUTCOME OF SOCIAL RELATIONS AND AS A RESULT OF THEM

O RGANIZAT ION T EA M For the second phase of the competition the organizational scheme follows as: — Architectural Project Team: Project management, Design of new buildings and landscapes — Project Management Consultant: Construction plan, Mass transportation plan during construction — Urban Planning Team: Estimations in new urban densities, urban equipment transportation networks — Landscape Design Team: Design of new landscapes, improvements of Gezi Park — Permaculture Consultant: Plantation planning in Gezi Park and in new landscapes, with minimum watering needs.

— Sustainability Consultant: Sustainable energy and water supply in the entire area — Static Engineering Consultant: Static calculations for new buildings and landscapes — Mechanical Engineering Consultant: Mechanical project planning for present and new underground constructions — Infrastructure Engineering Consultant: Infrastructure planning for new underground constructions and landscapes — Lighting Consultant: Lighting planning for outdoors, indoors and semi-open spaces — Acoustic Consultant: Noise control in public space — Alternative Sports Grounds Consultant: Skate rink and bicycle park planning — Art Consultant: Curation of artworks in the square and in the park — Commercial Activity Consultant: Organization of commercial activities in business units — Industrial Design Team: Design of street furniture, seating units, bike stands, lighting equipment, information — Urban Sociology Expert: Understanding and interpreting heterogeneous urban relations

REPORT

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LÜTFÜ KIRDAR CONGRESS CENTER HARBİYE OPEN AIR THEATRE

İTÜ MAÇKA

GASOMETER

İTÜ TAŞKIŞLA MAÇKA PARK DİVAN HOTEL GRAND HYATT

INTERCONTINENTAL

İSTANBUL

BJK STADIUM

ATATÜRK LIBRARY

İTÜ GÜMÜŞSUYU

TAKSİM MOSQUE MAKSEM AKM THE MARMARA HOTEL AYA TRİADA CHURCH

PROST PLAN PARK NO2 & TAKSİM SQUARE

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U R B A N PA S S A G E — S U B W AY E N T R A N C E L E V E L

PROGRAM

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DOUBLE LEVELED AMPHI—SQUARE

RENDERINGS

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V I E W O F A M P H I - S Q U A R E F R O M TA R L A B A Ş I D E LTA

RENDERINGS

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CEYLAN I NTERCO NTI NE NTA L

GEZİ PARK

TA KS İM M O S Q UE

SUBWAY TU NNEL

U RBAN PAS SAGE

ATATÜ R K CU LTU R A L CE NTE R

1 -1 SE C TI O N 0

40m

SU BWAY E NTR A NCE LE VE L PLA N 0

URBAN PASSAGE DRAWINGS

30m

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F R O M ATAT Ü R K C U LT U R A L C E N T E R

CEYLAN I NTERCO NTI NE NTA L

GEZİ PARK

TA KS İM M O S Q UE

SUBWAY TU NNEL

U RBAN PAS SAGE

1 -1 SE C TI O N

ATATÜ R K CU LTU R A L CE NTE R 0

DIRECT CONNECTION TO AKM

40m

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V I E W 1 - F RO M L A M A R T I N AV E N U E

V I E W 2 - F RO M C U M H U R İ Y E T AV E N U E

C EYLA N IN T ERC ON T IN EN TA L

THE MA R MA R A HOTE L

ATAT Ü R K CU LTU R A L CE NTE R

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GEZİ PARK

2

2 -2 SE C TI O N M ETRO TU NNEL

RENDERINGS

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40m

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V I E W 1 - F R O M T H E U R B A N C A N O P Y T H AT T U R N S F R O M TA R L A B A Ş I D E LTA T O R E P U B L I C B O U L E V A R D

V I E W 2 - F R O M T H E D E LTA O F İ S T İ K L A L S T R E E T

C EYLA N IN T ERC ON T IN EN TA L

THE MA R MA R A HOTE L

ATAT Ü R K CU LTU R A L CE NTE R

GEZİ PARK

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2 -2 SE C TI O N M ETRO TU NNEL

RENDERINGS

LOWER ROA D

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ATAT ÜRK L IB RA RY

AKM ENTRANCE

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THE M ARM ARA HOTEL

G E Z İ PA R K

TA KSİ M MO SQ U E

I NTE RCO NTI NE NTA L HOTE L

P E D E S T R I A N C O N N E C T I O N B R I D G E T O A K M & ATAT Ü R K L I B R A R Y E N T R A N C E S F R O M T H E C O R N E R O F I N T E R C O N T I N E N TA L H O T E L I N G E Z İ PA R K

ATATÜRK LIBRARY & AKM CONNECTION

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PA R T I A L S E C T I O N O F C A N O P Y

S K AT I N G PA R K A N D U R B A N C A N O P Y

RENDERINGS

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A N I N T E R FA C E B E T W E E N C O N S I D E R I N G U R B A N - P U B L I C S PA C E B O T H A S A N O U T C O M E O F S O C I A L R E L AT I O N S A N D A S A R E S U LT O F T H E M

TAKSİM — URBAN DESIGN

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