The
first highway bridging Istanbul to Europe is D100. Once it gets in the city
(From Bakırköy district) it becomes E5. Istanbul was always known for its
velocity and growth even before it got its actual density. Today we can tell
that D100/E5 turned into an intern road rather than a highway extending to
Tekirdağ (another city located on the west of Istanbul). TEM (Trans European
Motorway) is another alternative highway spanning in the west-east direction
located on the north of D100. While TEM take the role of D100, D100 became
since 1.5 years a line open to new usages.
A
mixed use project located on this route, in the past velocity and the actual
density, serving the region automobile and side industries with multiple office
units. Due to the property of an area on
the E5 façade not belonging to the project area, there is partial relation
between the project land and the highway. Due to the client’s request the
ground floor was reserved to commerce while upper floors were defined as
offices and studios. The project has a one leg short U form because of its land
use. With one short side the U form, the complex was designed as a courtyard
building with a strong orthogonal impression. This impression was created by
the 8mx8m structural grid system applied to the plan which was reflected to the
vertical system and façade configuration. Inside each of the 8m floor height a
withdrawn façade pattern was created with an intermediate floor and vertical
segmentations. A Cartesian coordinate system composed of the vertical
circulation and horizontal floor cavities was integrated into the grid system
created on the facades, each of these cavities are located in different axis in
the two blocks, used as terrace gardens. There is a bridge articulating from
the cavities of the blocks connecting the two different terrace gardens located
on the two blocks.