A project that reads Bursa and the Inns District through ‘intervals’ at different scales and of diverse historic layers. It produces a unique morphology that both connects and multiplies with the ‘interval-space’ that produces spaces with different permeability according to the environment it passes through.
Design: NEW EXPLORATION INTERVALS
The intervals in Çarşıbaşı are formed by interconnected paths and differences between them. Temporal intervals that can be observed at urban scale, street structure, bridge, garden, commercial building, inn courtyard, facade organisation, silk loom and daily life have been considered from a historical perspective. By making this unique quality the basic principle of the design approach, a ‘contemporary interval’ is proposed for the area, which is monolithic, fluid, connecting and multiplying, intertwined and separate, but above all with the present. In the experience of the wider context, scenarios of transport, circulation and accessibility (for pedestrians, bicycles, electric scooters) come to the fore, which will allow traces of exploration at multiple scales.
Architectural Design: BALANCE OF CONSERVATION AND USE
The proposed adaptive reuse programme enables flexible and diverse programmatic and spatial arrangement required at Çarşıbaşı. This programmatic diversity creates a dynamic urban space used across different time periods. The museum, research centre, city hotel, and culinary school will attract a population to the area; different age groups and users will be involved in Çarşıbaşı at various times of the day. At the same time, since the approach is based on the idea of producing conservation-oriented projects on the plots of demolished registered buildings in the region, the reconstruction of the Bursa Old Central Bank building, designed by Şevki Vanlı and Ersen Gömleksizoğlu and constructed in 1967, along with three examples of civil architecture, is proposed.
Just as it is necessary to read, look, and see between the lines without skipping the meaning in order to make the unseen visible, as Shams Tabrizi (Şems-i Tebrîzî) puts it, “sometimes it is necessary to distance oneself in order to approach.” In Bursa, in order to perceive the space, one must be in the interval, look from the interval, and hold the interval. Space and time are intervals, “in the unbroken flow of a vast, seamless interval.”
- Old Central Bank of Bursa: To preserve the commercial memory of Bursa and make it available for national and international studies, this building is to be rebuilt with the proposed function of the “Bursa Commercial Museum and Research Centre”. The transparent block as extension of the north facade of this building aims contemporary use providing access to the museum and exhibition space maintains the continuity of the east and west facades of the building in harmony with the historic urban environment.
- Pirinç Han: It will be adapted with the use of a city hotel on the upper floor, a social centre and food and beverage units at the courtyard level. The courtyard will be cleared down and re-architectured to reflect the identity of the district.
- Meyhaneli Hamamı: It will be transformed with the function of performing arts and the area in front will be allocated to open air art activities.
- İpek Hanı: It will be redesigned as a culinary school for Bursa cuisine, with community kitchens and workshops on the courtyard level.
- Kapan Han: It will be designed as an area for the preservation and development of artisan culture of the Inn District and will have functions such as conducting heritage inventory studies of inns and artisan groups, compiling and updating existing studies, and reintroducing symbolic artisan groups to Çarşıbaşı.
Landscape Design: READING THE CITY AS LANDSCAPE
As the area located “Between Two Cities (Hisar (the Castle) and Inns District)” and “Between Two Streams (Gökdere and Cilimboz)”, it has a unique topography and a unique green interval that archives the cultural and natural landscape memory of Bursa. Through the ecological and urban intervals defined with reference to original topography of the city, the environment and tools to re-read Bursa as a landscape have been produced. The ecologic intervals (Cilimboz Stream, Gökdere and Hisar Slope) are defined as the nature of the city, which is a common living environment for all living things.
The landscape starting from the west of Hisar and extending to the competition area along the Tophane slopes was re-exalted within the city, addressing it within continuity of ecologic and urban intervals defined in a broad context. Slopes of the Tophane Hill are designed as nature within the city, where the seasonal cycles can be traced, escaping construction and intense structural landscaping practices. The landscape is in a serene, natural setting where the slope can be perceived at different speeds and levels.
Taking reference from the original architectural and urban texture of the Inns District, a site-specific constructed landscape language has been developed that will show integrity with the colour and texture of existing architecture in the ‘intervals’ where the citadel walls of inns and street floors are considered through horizontal-vertical continuities.
The routes conceptualised as “Discovery Traces of Bursa” can be multiplied and reproduced at proposed ecologic and urban intervals. These ecologic and urban intervals will allow ‘Green Bursa’ to get experienced. This way, it will be possible to establish a relationship in a wider context with the cultural heritage site, the Inns District, and to create new types of spaces where the place and what belongs to the place interact with the visitors to the city.
Vegetation Design: SPONTANEOUS LANDSCAPE
The ‘spontaneous vegetation’ approach, which offers highly advantageous, sustainable and aesthetic solutions in terms of planting costs, maintenance process and adaptation to local site conditions, is the basis for development of ecologic ranges and the landscape texture on the Hisar Slopes extending to Çarşıbaşı. Attributing value to existing landscape texture in the area where monumental trees are located, it exhibits a selective attitude in the design of new spaces and emphasises the use of two tree species specific to Bursa. Both on the hillside landscape and in the open areas in Çarşıbaşı, redbud, plane and linden trees, which also have important historical references, are used.
