Odakule Passage
2019
Our proposal is to emphasize the binary life of Odakule that we believe is not only a passage but also a space for intermission, observation and tranquillity. Today, the best present to give İstiklal Avenue is an open air public “pocket” regarding the current atmosphere: heavy flow of pedestrian traffic and lack of programmed spaces in which content and meaning can be given by the users themselves.
Location
İstanbul, TurkeySize
710 m²Client
İstanbul Chamber of Industry
Existing walls, fences, technical equipments and various objects that damage the area and break it into pieces of meaningless lands, are organized into one and continuous urban surface. While this uninterrupted surface reunites the street with physically trapped church at the adjacent site, an open air theatre whose stage is happened to be İstiklal Avenue is built with stairs connecting two different levels. This little, slowly escalating space sustains an area for users to take a break, sunbathe, watch a play and witness big crowds that ceaselessly come and go through avenue.
Passage is equipped with programmes and structures with different functions and daily rhythms. Little coffee shop at Tepebaşı entrance and stairs in front of hidden church are intermission spaces. They are marked with sculptures of “Kuşlar” and “Göktaşı”. Passage between these spaces provides an open air exhibition space. Achievements and history of national industry accompany people during their walk through Odakule Passage, from a continuous glass surface.
