Rather than distancing the buildings from clusters of trees planted in earlier years and have been carefully tended since, the key design intention is to drawing new constructions closer to them—and even making the buildings integral to them.
THE ISLAND’S SCHOOL
Originally named the “İmroz İlköğretmen Okulu (School for Primary Teachers’)”, it has been an integral part of the lives of the Island’s residents as well as its students for half a century. Its garden is a place that offers islanders and alumni a strong sense of belonging and self-comfort. More than a purely physical setting, it is an educational campus where the spirit of place is deeply felt. The school courtyard—enclosed by the former school and dormitory buildings—has developed into a multi-layered ‘place’ with its assembly ground (the former courtyard), the Atatürk bust, the stabilized sports field, with its bordering walls, and the grown-up, dense trees.
FRAMING THE MEMORIES
Preserving the strong character of this physical setting while shaping up a new life together with the elements that define it, constitutes the point of departure for the design. The new life is conceived by “embracing memories”, totally listening to the site’s memory. Even years later, alumni returning to the campus will be able to find traces preserved in the garden, and these traces will be sensed as parts of the campus’s new life. The trees are perhaps the elements that convey the greatest number of stories as part of its spirit. Rather than distancing the new compound from clusters of trees planted in earlier years and carefully tended, the key design intention was to draw the buildings closer to them—as an integral part to them.
THE NEW COURTYARD
The existing cluster of trees and the former courtyard to the front are preserved and enveloped by educational units and social–cultural facilities. The buildings are elevated from the ground to create a permeable walking route that leads axially to the existing amphitheatre. While the building rests on two small hills at the +45.00 levels of the site, it again rises on columns where the former courtyard is located. This way, the elevated education block invites the public into the new courtyard. All common spaces maintain a direct relationship to the courtyard, where the Atatürk bust remains precisely in its original position.
Lightweight community rooms and student clubs, embedded in the woods, energise the courtyard through their presence, where music continues to nourish student life. Along the bordering fascades of the courtyard, the spaces themselves and students with the townspeople remain in constant interaction. This is achieved by locating educational units on the upper levels, while common public spaces are located at ground level, establishing a clear distinction between private and public realms. In the new courtyard, however, these boundaries are blurred, enriching the environment with new possibilities.
THE SECOND AXIS
The second axis, running in the north–south direction, links the educational units, the sports centre, and the student dormitories. This pedestrian axis also connects the new residential fabric to the north and to the existing lodging buildings, which are to be conserved in the south of the town. Open sports and activity areas, embedded into the site’s natural topography, are anchored to this pedestrian route. To the north-west, hobby gardens and organic farming areas are located, an attraction point for the wider public user.
