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Seddülbahir Fortress

Seddülbahir Fortress

Gelibolu, Türkiye

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Seddülbahir Fortress

Gelibolu, Türkiye

Firm

KOOP Architects

Type

Cultural › Museum

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2023

SIZE

300,000 sqft - 500,000 sqft

BUDGET

$10M - 50M

Photos

Egemen Karakaya (49)

The Seddülbahir Fortress is located at the southern entrance to the Dardanelles on the European shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Initially built in the mid-17th century by Hatice Turhan Sultan, the mother of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV, Seddülbahir, or “the Wall of the Sea,” protected the strategic waterway that connected the Aegean Sea to Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire’s capital. Despite severe coastal erosion and numerous earthquakes, the fortress, and its adjacent village survived into the early 20th century relatively intact. Both were severely bombarded by the Allied Forces in WWI, during the Gallipoli campaign. While many of the masonry towers and walls, and most of its interior structures were severely damaged, the fortress continued to be used as a Turkish military outpost until 1997 when the documentation, restoration, and re-use process of Seddülbahir began.

A multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, architectural historians, archivists, oral historians, restoration specialists, museologists, and landscape designers conducted extensive archival, archeological, conservation, restoration, and geodesic research, in collaboration with universities and different government ministries, working for 25 years to open Seddülbahir Fortress to the public on March 18, 2023.

Today the Gallipoli peninsula is a national park and a peaceful landscape of manicured cemeteries and pristine commemorative monuments to honor the WWI dead from many countries. There is little left on the peninsula that recalls the violent destruction of the battles fought there. A guiding concept in the restoration process at the Seddülbahir Fortress was to preserve the memory of the destruction of WWI and create a space to reflect on peace. Several elements of the fortress, such as the West and South Towers, are preserved as ruins and serve as “lieux de mémoire” of the toll that war has on buildings and their landscapes.

The Main Gate of Seddülbahir Fortress, and other demolished sections of the fortress, such as the Domed Building, with their silhouettes of light timber suggest-- but do not declare-- what these sections of the fortress may have looked like originally. The slatted wood frame of the Main Gate allows sunlight and air, essential elements of life, to permeate the entrance to the fortress. This gate and the Domed Building emphasize the importance of reversibility in any restorative intervention. Contemporary wood elements in the fortress are used sparingly, echoing the construction techniques used by the Ottomans.

A new museum building replaced abandoned concrete barracks from the 1960s and exhibits archaeological finds from the site, including an Ottoman era road which divides the museum building itself. Here the new masonry blocks resonate with the original masonry of the Ottoman walls lowering the visual impact of this new structure.

Today the Seddülbahir Fortress is a vibrant place. The architecture invites all to reflect upon the history of past destruction and war, and to cherish peace. With its unique entrance complex, museum, an artists’ workshop, and redesigned village square, all serving visitors and the local community, the fortress looks to a future in which war is now a distant, but important memory.

PROJECT AUTHORS:
Restoration Project Author: Arzu Özsavaşcı (Architect, M. Arch, AOTD)
Re-Use Project Author: Y. Burak Dolu (Architect, M. Arch, KOOP Architects)

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD:
Dr. Gülsün Tanyeli (Istanbul Technical University Faculty Of Architecture, Department Of Restoration)
Prof. Dr. Lucienne Thys-Şenocak (Koç University Department Of Archeology And Art History)
Prof. Dr. Rahmi Nurhan Çelik (Istanbul Technical University Faculty Of Civil Engineering Department Of Geomatics Engineering)
Prof. Dr. Feridun Çılı (Istanbul Technical University Faculty Of Architecture, Department Of Structural Statics)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haluk Sesigür (Istanbul Technical University Faculty Of Architecture, Department Of Structural Statics)
Arzu Özsavaşcı (Architect, M. Arch, AOTD)

PROJECT DATES:
1997-2004 Research and Documentation Project (Koç University - Istanbul Technical University)
2004-2009 Surveying, Restitution and Conservation Projects (Koç University - Istanbul Technical University)
2015-2023 Restoration Construction, Restoration and Re-Use Projects (ÇATAB)

CLIENT:
2004-2009 Ministry of Environment and Forestry - Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks (Çevre ve Orman Bakanlığı - Doğa Koruma ve Milli Parklar Müdürlüğü)
2015-2023 Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site (ÇATAB/Çanakkale Savaşları Gelibolu Tarihi Alan Başkanlığı)
LAND OWNERSHIP:
General Directorate for Foundations (Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü)

SURVEY, RESTITUTION, RESTORATION PROJECT TEAM:
Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Rahmi Nurhan Çelik, Gülsün, Feridun Çılı, Haluk Sesigür, Arzu Özsavaşcı, Deniz Özkan, Umut Almaç, Selin Gener, İrem Nardereli, Nurdan Kuban, Günnur Çalışkan, Murat Alaboz, Günder Varinlioğlu, Arzu Öztürk, Carolyn Aslan, Bensen Ünlüoğlu, Gülay Karcı, Günşıl Kılıç, Kemal Sümer, Senem Uyanık, Tevfik Özlüdemir, Caner Güney, Banu Yüksel, Göksel Akkoca, Yelda Ademoğlu, Mehmet Erim, Bora Sayın, Serdar Erol, Bihter Özöner, Dursun Z. Şeker, Davut Erkan, Hasan Karataş, Yeşim Anadol, Işıl Cerem Cenker, Ahmet Ersen, Marisa Laurenzi Tabasso

RE-USE COMPETITION PROJECT:
KOOP Architects, Museum Exhibition Works

RE-USE PROJECT TEAM:
Y. Burak Dolu, Alper Karasu, Barancan Dağıstan, Birsen Parlar Erkan, Dilara Öztürk, Elif Tuğba Gürkan, Enes Pilavcı, Gamze Yeşildağ, Koray Bayraktutan, Nurseray Sarıçayır, Saleh Malek, Seçkin Maden

LANDSCAPE PROJECT:
caps.office
Mehmet Cemil Aktaş, Pınar Kesim Aktaş, Şeyma Kahraman, Gülşen Ayla Olgun

LIGHTING DESİGN:
Lightapp
Ali Ülgen, Zeycan Abay

EXHIBITION & INTERİOR DESİGN:
Koop Architects, Koruma Akademisi
Rabia Şengün, Aykun Haddeler, Nihan Demiral, Sezen Cezan, Tuğba Ağcabay, Betül Tuğçe İzgi, Kübra Keskin, Aykun Haddeler, Sezen Cezan, Nihan Demiral, Hakan Öğütçü, Yasin Tosun, Y. Burak Dolu, Elif Tuğba Gürkan, Gamze Yeşildağ, Koray Bayraktutan

STRUCTURAL PROJECT:
Arke Engineering & Architecture
Murat Alaboz

MECHANİCAL PROJECT:
KDP Engineering, Mahmut Kaya,
MNM Can Engineering, Melih Sayı

ELECTRİCAL PROJECT:
KDP Engineering, Selçuk Özdoğan,
Nira Architecture Engineering, Handan Gürler Akçay

INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT:
Süheyla Kuru

MODEL:
Küçük Atölye, Barış Taş

PHOTOGRAPH:
Egemen Karakaya,
KOOP Architects,
ABMA Construction Restoration

MAİN CONTRACTOR:
ABMA Construction Restoration

SUB-CONTRACTORS:
ASMAZ Wood Frame Structures, Şanlıbayrak Steel, Met Construction, Fibula Architecture, Karınca Advertising, Temay Landscape, ERD Marine, Sıraç Electrics, EF Air Conditioning, Atempo

DIRECTORATE OF GALLIPOLI HISTORIC SITE TEAM:
Gökhan Gümüşdağ (Restoration Group Leader, Art Historian)
Aslıhan Kervan (Historian)
Aydın Karabıyık (Electrical Engineer)
Aykan Özel (Restorator)
Emin Murat Özdemir (Restorator)
Marziye Eşki (Topographical Engineer)
Mehmet Akif Erdoğan (Topographical Engineer)
Mert Çatalbaş (Archaeologist)
Mustafa Kafkas Dereli (Architect)
Özge Alpaydın (Mechanical Engineer)
Özlem Coşkun (Landscape Architect)
Serpil Savaş (Art Historian)
Tolga Kaan Çakmak (Civil Engineer)
Ümit Yılmaz (Construction Technician)

SİTE MANAGERS:
Rabia Şengün,
Merve Çankaya,
Özge Mutlu,
Vezir Hezer

CONSTRUCTION SITE TEAM (ABMA Restoration):
Maksut Refik Dönmezler (Civil Engineer, Restoration Specialist)
Abdülmenaf Yakiş (Restorator)
Ahmet Ağar (Art Historian)
Bekir Can İzmir (Architect)
Burhan Kutucu (Architect)
Ebru Koçak (Architect)
Enes Demirel (Civil Engineer)
Erdal Aslan (Civil Engineer ,M.Sc)
Erdal Civelek (Architect, M. Arch)
Ergin Or (Archaeologist)
Erol Bulut (Archaeologist)
Erol Usman (Restorator)
Esra Tunçer (Construction Technician)
Fadim Koçak (Archaeologist)
Gizemnur Bağ (Architect)
Hakan Demirarslan (Archaeologist)
Hakan Öğütçü (Topographical Engineer)
M. Emin Alpaydın (Topographical Engineer)
Mehmet Fatih Okan (Civil Engineer)
Merve Çankaya (Architect)
Nazım Soylu (Archaeologist)
Ömer Can Kara (Restorator)
Özge Mutlu (Civil Engineer, M.Sc)
Rabia Şengün (Civil Engineer, M.Sc, Restoration Specialist)
Seda Yalçınkaya (Architect)
Serkan Eloğlu (Archaeologist)
Vezir Hezer (Master Mason)
Yasin Tosun ( Topographical Engineer Msc)
Zeki Şahbaz (Archaeologist)
Zuhal Güler (Art Historian)

CONSULTANTS:
Ahmet Tanyolaç (Architect)
Ali Osman Avşar (Sculptor)
Bodrum Underwater Archeology Museum
Dokuz Eylül University Institute Of Marine Sciences And Technology
Dr. Serkan Angı (Geological Engineer, Istanbul Technical University Geological Engineering Department)
Murat Alaboz (Civil Engineer, M.Sc, Restoration Specialist, Arke Engineering)
Ömer Arslan (Historian)
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özger (Civil Engineer, Istanbul Technical University Civil Engineering Department, Hydraulics Division)
Prof. Dr. Necati Ağıralioğlu (Civil Engineer, Istanbul Technical University Civil Engineering Department, Hydraulics Division)
Prof. Dr. Ünal Akkemik (Forest Engineer, Iuc Faculty Of Forestry)

Product Spec Sheet

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Collaborating Firms

Caps.

Landscape Design

AOMTD / Arzu OZSAVASCI

Survey&Restoration Project Author

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Team

Elif Tugba Yilmaz

Architect

Koray Bayraktutan

Architect

Yusuf Burak Dolu

Principal Designer

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Seddülbahir Fortress

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Other Projects by KOOP Architects

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Mosul's Al Nouri Complex Project Competition

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Product Spec Sheet

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