Evka-3 Social Center and Transit Station Competition Proposal
Izmir / Turkey, 2017

Evka-3 Social Center and Transfer Station Architectural Project Competition was opened by the Metropolitan Municipality in the province of Bornova in 2017 in Izmir. The competition aimed at obtaining an environment-friendly "Social Center and Transit Station" design that allowed flexible use and requirements to be created over time in the area allocated as a Municipal Service Area within the Erzene Quarter boundaries. The project area is the last station point in Bornova direction of İzmir metro network towards Manisa-Istanbul. The project area, which is defined as a closed area with its surrounding housing texture, can not establish a connection with the Aegean University Campus and can not form a rich, social and accessible transit network. The complexity and dysfunction of the Evka3 Metro Station and the ESHOT-operated bus stop and the open-air car park area on the project site were observed and it was planned to redesign as an urban distribution point.

Starting from there, rgg Architects observed that there are many physical infrastructural interventions and interim dividers that prevent access to the project area. Firstly, it has been observed that Istanbul Road is divided into two districts. It has been determined that there is no connection with the project area for the bicycle and pedestrian access on the Aegean University campus, which is located in the south direction. In addition, it has been observed that the campus area can not be reached through the green park area parallel to the Istanbul road near the project area, which is considered as an important main circulation axis. Furthermore, it has been determined that the metro station building in the project area is not designed as an integrated building block and the transportation solutions that determine the technical and infrastructural elements are solved as random as possible. In this sense, it has been observed that functional blocks that do not move systematically in the present condition have not been able to relate to the present urban life by producing sufficiently uncomfortable and purposeless gaps in the project area.

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rggA Architects' proposal for the project area begins with the creation of various green corridors to reduce the effect of the Istanbul Road dividing the district into two. This green space corridors aim to link independent points of the city to the project area both visually and functionally at the same time. One of the proposed corridors of the green space is designed as the Botanic Bridge connecting the project to the other side of the road. The green corridors in the project will show themselves as a new architectural mega structure and will also create a new space for pedestrian circulation, flora and fauna. The project includes six main functions: the Transfer Center, the Bazaar, the Cultural Center, the Education Center, the Additional Areas and the Botanic Bridge.The circulation schemes proposed between these functions are designed as permeable spaces, and each of them is designed to meet another function and flow into one another.

The simple geometric architectural language of the project was created by maintaining the integrity of the structure with the Clay Solar Sunshade panels, which are enriched with different scales between the recommended materials and volumes and dominant in the project as a whole. The transitions of the red colors in different tones are designed to dominate all the volumes. Exposed concrete, which appears at intermediate scales, floor-to-ceiling glazing and clay sunshade panels have been proposed to help to manage possible climatic conditions that may arise between the blocks. Passive systems are used throughout the project to balance the sustainable and ecological systems of the project and it is anticipated that the use of active systems supported locally will also maximize the natural energy needs of the project. All detailed functions of the project and the transportation network between the levels, climate and green strategies are explained in detail in the competition project report.

You can find the project report here.

Project facts

Competition name: Evka-3 Social Center and Transit Station Competition

Location: Bornova, İzmir, Turkey

Date: 2017

Site area: 21,108m2

Design: R.Güneş Gökçek