Existing Conditions

The project is located in Üsküdar, one of Istanbul’s central districts, right in the centre of Üsküdar and next to the newly built municipal service building. 

This is an urban transformation and renewal project. The plots on the site were considered as a single city block, and the owners and the contractor agreed on terms allowing the transformation to be carried out at block scale rather than plot by plot.   

Approach

Because of its location, the site carries a great deal of urban and historical information. The building traces in this area have always followed one another and have survived to the present day. Even as the buildings on the plots, their sizes and qualities changed, the street traces have remained for centuries. As an area with a rich historical background, building proportions have stayed within certain limits, creating a structural pattern. We took this structural pattern and these historical traces as an important reference and made them the foundation of the project’s concept. 

Guided by this reference, we aimed to bring the mass of the new building to a proportion that could join the existing fabric. Through block heights, building envelopes, the movement of the blocks and the relationship of solid and void, we sought to maximise its harmony with the fabric. 

Instead of a building that puts itself forward and constantly draws attention in its neighbourhood, the result is a project that disappears into the fabric, makes itself barely felt and becomes part of its surroundings.