OFFICIAL COMPETITION BRIEF – Find a site (building, open space, neighborhood) in Istanbul where redevelopment could help to enhance the city’s competitive edge in the European and global context as a generator for ideas and trends, and a magnet for jobs and investment. Redevelopment should be organic; that is, it finds its roots in the city’s existing cultural and physical topography. It should also be socially and economically responsive to the needs of multiple members of the community

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY - The oxymoronic debate of Traditional vs. Modern; Europe vs. Asia, etc made it germane to ask what culture means. It is a way of life and the relation of a people with the natural topography of the place. But mostly it is the attitude shaped by the simple daily activities of the people who produce and sustain. Culture is the human spirit of the place. Unique to the culture of Istanbul is the concept of home based work (HBW). It is the symbol of resilience of an ‘invisible workforce’. A study of its organization and internal processes has led us to identify this aspect of community life as a quintessential example of human spirit.

THE DESIGN U.S.P. - This project is an effort to express architecture as an integral part of the city itself (on which it depends) and the people (from whose culture it derives meaning). The project does not look at architecture in isolation but as a closely interwoven fabric of events involving a variety of scales. In the end the role of the architect is not restricted to the design of the form and function alone but extended to the status of a visionary who understands the larger picture in terms of culture, economy, ecology and sociology.