Differentiated from the building’s main body with its materiality, the “Public Trajectory” forms a circulation route extending from the entrance hall to the urban amphitheatre, then along the building’s perimeter to cultural spaces at the upper level, and finally to the rooftop garden.
AN INVITING VOID
The broad, monumental space of Cumhuriyet Square has historically been defined primarily by official ceremonies. With its controlled and distanced character, it offers only limited opportunities for public life in everyday life. Citizens can participate in the square’s daily life mainly through low walls along its edges, on which they can sit, make evening strolls around, and have spontaneous encounters. The project proposes not merely an open space, but an inviting void for the urbanites. No scheduled event, institutional invitation, or special occasion is required to enter and participate. People may easily approach the building from the street, pass through, sit and rest in its amphitheatre, and allow the space become part of everyday life.
“SITUATED MULTIPLICITY”
The public potential described by Ash Amin through the concept of “situated multiplicity” complements the project’s understanding of the void. Public life extends beyond the relationships between people; it emerges from unpredictable assemblages formed in the same space by bodies in motion, climate, material, sound, and image.
The design is not a completed stage that predetermines these encounters. Rather, it is an open infrastructure that allows different activities and new forms of use to emerge over time. The building’s doors may close, but the public life it generates continues uninterrupted
The building is an “Urban Intensifier” that does not consume the void at ground level, but carries it across different levels, welcomes citizens in without requiring an invitation, and makes room for unpredictable encounters.
PERMEABLE AND CONTINUOUS
The absence of a rigid floor-area requirement defining size of the building in the brief shifts the fundamental question of design from “How much can be built?” to “How much space can be spared open for the city?” The height defined by the conservation-oriented development plan, the neighbouring listed buildings, and the historic skyline are taken as the primary design parameters. As the building reaches the permitted height, it creates a permeable and continuous urban space at ground level.
The cultural units are located at the upper levels within a unified, double-height volume. The void beneath this volume defines a horizontal threshold that responds to the massing of Atatürk Primary School and the Kurşunlu Mosque. This way, the project preserves low scale of the historic surroundings while making its contemporary identity visible.
PUBLIC TRAJECTORY
The Municipality’s Cultural Affairs units and a tourist information point are located on the ground floor. Thus, the ground level thus becomes an urban interface where obtaining information, waiting, and meeting can take place simultaneously. A circulation route is defined, extending from the ground level to the rooftop garden. More than a means of circulation, this route is a public trajectory. Differentiated from the building’s main body through its materiality, the route extends from the entrance hall to the urban amphitheatre, then follows the perimeter of the building to cultural spaces on the upper level, and finally reaches the rooftop garden.
As users move between levels along this route, they experience the historic surroundings, the urban skyline, the micro-climate, and the building’s different forms of life. Boundaries between open, semi-open, and enclosed spaces become blurred; publicness permeates the building, connecting programmes across different levels. Human movement along the trajectory merges with the movement of shade, wind, exhibitions, sound, and everyday activities, generating new forms of situated multiplicity.
LIFE UNDER THE SHADE
The urban amphitheatre can also be used during hours when the building is closed. Independent of the “Black Box” programme, it provides an open ground for screenings, gatherings, and collective viewing events. With the lowering of the movable screen, the amphitheatre transforms into a stage, while its café makes it a space that remains active throughout the day.
The generous overhang, which regulates Muğla’s intense sunlight, establishes the climatic infrastructure for the life beneath it. In addition to providing physical comfort, shaded spaces bring people together, enabling them to wait and spend time collectively
PERMEABLE ENVELOPE
The perforated metal envelope surrounding the building reinforces its monolithic character while functioning as a climatic filter. The porosity of the envelope varies according to the daylight, visibility, privacy, and shading requirements of the functions behind it. The façade thus becomes a permeable perimeter that bears the traces of the programmes and activities taking place within. Behind the envelope, the public trajectory extending from ground level to the upmost can be observed. Movement within the building merges with life in the city, while life in the city permeates the building.
