Urban Valley

Project idea

The site, Papazın Bagı lies in the district of Gazi Osman Paşa (G.O.P), a densely populated and affluent district in the metropolitan city of Ankara, G.O.P and in turns Papazın Bağı, lies on one of the highest elevated locations in the city. With varying geographical texture and urban patterns, the area is very characteristic and unique, making it one of the limited and few locations in Ankara that has the potential to offer an overly rich experience for its users and in particular, pedestrians. The area of Papazın Bağı, has a rich history embedded in the culture and the history of the city itself, with many of the city's greatest figures frequenting and speaking of the area at one point in time.
However, the current state of the site is a shadow of what it once used to be, with a deterioration of the open green areas, tightly packed urban blocks and the lack of street activities or areas to practice them, hence rendering the site in loss of all of its potential.

Project description

Rehabilitate the green valley, by creating and facilitating access opportunities to it through the use of ramps.
Managing the land across the valley through the plantation of appropriate trees and their management.
Offering a visual variety and spiking interest through the use of differing forms that follow the same concept.
Incorporating greenery into the daily life of the building users.
Mixing a variety of units to promote cohabitation and the “neighborhood life”.
Offering opportunity areas through the addition of activity spaces, urban furniture for spectators and a variation that extends along the site.
Managing parking areas so as to not interrupt pedestrian activities.
Facilitate communal living and cohabitation

Technical information

A variety of housing, incorporating green into the life of the users through a series of partially green roofs and terraces, facilitating communal activities by providing appropriate activity areas, easing accessing and movement along the site through the use of a ramp system.