Istanbul Harbor Revitalization

By:  | February - 6 - 2015

The rapid population increase of the city in the past 10-20 years has resulted in a huge waste of public spaces. Given that Istanbul is going to expect a heavy earthquake whitin the next 25 years, those public spaces could be a place of refuge. Due to fast growth and expantion of the city, the transportation system has been disregarded and important transport nodal points are just now being built. Our goal was it to show with this project a possibilty or rather an idea of how a revitalisation and an upgrading of a harbour area in this part of Istanbul could take place or look like.

In doing so qualities, as well as useful functions and places of the area should be analysed and afterwards packed in suchlike design so that the character, as well as the function of each area and zone are preserved, new areas are being developed who enforce the function of already existing and furthermore help places to attain a new identy and quality of life.

The idea oft the project was to create so-called attractors and to locate them directly at the waterfront. These attractors incorporate the already existing Haydarpasa trainstation, a new museum, an expansion of the existing harbor building and a new congress centre which includes hotels and other programs.

The attractors or hot-spots, as we called them, distinguish not only in their aesthetics but also in their functions. This is important to attract different human groups and to activate the whole harbour area.

The promenade should be a connecting element for the whole area, and it should tie the Haydarpasa train station to the already existing promenade in the south of the wastewater treatment plant. The connection of the hotspots with each other is enabled through water taxis and by the expansion of the established tramway.

The four-lane highway alongside the housing front is becoming a boulevard with new shopping opportunities, bars, restaurants, cafes, and so on. The boulevard covers the whole project area. The inclusion of functions of the housing front on it’s own is insufficient to connect the harbour area with the residential area, so the characteristic narrow streets and alleys shall not only provide a visual aspect; they have to connect the waterfront with the nearby residential areas as well.

Based on facts like the axial subdivision and the hotspots defined by us, an area for living, working, shopping, relaxing, recovering, entertainment, sports, culture and leisure activities is being developed.

Project Team: ERSIN ÖNER and ANTON PRAMSTRAHLER
Type: HARBOR REVITALIZATION
Location: KADIKÖY (Istanbul – Turkey)
Instructors: Prof. Bart Lootsma – Institute of Architectural Theory, Prof. Reinhardt Honold – Institute of Urban Design

 

 

 

 

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