Final Jury – Modes of Learning

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The components of social interactions between the residents, artisans, employees and students used to create the urban texture of the Cebeci, today it has changed and social interactions weakened in time. Preserving its identity and togetherness of the Cebeci people are our major concerns.

First, we analyzed the people who will use the site. We grouped them as formal and informal users. Formal ones include the high school and preschool students while the informal ones include all other people. Then, we developed our strategy around the idea of making the site open from all sides to provide easy access and togetherness to all users at all ages for 24/7. Therefore all roads around the site continue through inside with the same axis and connect by creating their own tiny squares. Because of the slopy topography, our roads are connected with the stairs and touch the buildings at all levels.

After defining the road axis we started to locate the buildings. We started with locating the high school to the top corner of the site where roads come to an end and create a more private area for formal users without disturbing their education disrupting the strategy.

Then we thought how we can make our site attractive to informal users and we decided to make some educational buildings which can be used by everyone and located them to the entrance to make them available to easy access and strength the idea of making an educational center for all ages. These buildings include art and language workshops, a library and a big foyer with a 300 people stage and an exhibition hall. Also, each of them has designed entrances to again make them attractive to everyone. These entrances connect with the surrounding roads and create shortcuts for pedestrians without making a necessity to use the buildings. We also used these road connections at our buildings by the bridges to create a continuous circulation like the ground street circulation. Besides these, we decided to design fragmented buildings rather than making big masses to allow the streets, to be able to use the land at all levels and to increase the attractiveness.

Finally, we located the public and commercial buildings such as accommodation, sports hall and the restaurant to the top of the site to differentiate them from the educational buildings and to offer a landscape view of Ankara thanks to the height of the land. Moreover, we collect the whole buildings at a big square which also provide strong interactions between the formal and informal users when it is needed by the help of the corner of the school building which has big, sliding, window doors.

In general, we used bridges to connect the different levels of the buildings and used roof windows and courtyards to lighten the inner space and strengthen the visual connections of the storeys which are provided by floor openings. We also used many roofs as terraces.

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High School, Library & Language Workshop plans and sections

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  Perspective from inside of the school

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  Perspective from the square

We create our own zero level and the others. School building’s ground floor is at +9.00 level, which is same with the square, and connects to the library at +4.00 level and connects to the restaurant at +17.00 level. Under the school, car parking continue and use the columns and some walls in common with the school. These perspective drawings show the two stories high corner of the school which provides a strong relation with the square. We worked this relation as “Modes of Learning”.

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Restaurant, Sports Hall and Dormitory & Guest House plans and sections

High School’s dining hall sits on the restaurant building and connected with a bridge. The restaurant building also works as a cooking workshop as “Modes of Learning”. The sports hall is two stories high but one is under the ground to not block the view from the road that goes to the 50. Yıl Parkı. Also, its roof can be used for many sports activity as “Modes of Learning” and to watch the landscape. Roof is accessible from the road to increase the attractiveness of the site.

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Stage & Exhibition Hall, Art Workshop and Preschool plans and sections

The stage is totally buried under the square and the preschool sits on it with a direct relation with the square. Preschool also uses the roof of the exhibition hall to create a special garden for the children. It also has some detail works in plans as “Modes of Learning” Art workshop is again a fragmented building which its parts are connected by a bridge. In the middle of it, it has a common working and exhibition area as “Modes of Learning”.

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Car Parking

The car parking goes through under the high school, one part of the stage building and the restaurant. It uses the columns, some walls, elevators and stairs in common with them. Car parking has two entrances. One is at its lowest floor which is at -4.00 level and the other one is on the top floor which is at +4.00 level. It also has an important elevator goes through the square with other elevators that goes to the stage and restaurant buildings which are made for the disabled people’s transportation in the site. Also, the elevator that goes to the restaurant is made for food and trash service of it.

Finally, I want to say that dealing with this slopy topography, regulating the levels for our streets to apply the strategy was very challenging for me and my group mates. Through the semester we worked so hard without any break. We made many plans and section in detail. Unfortunately, at the final jury, any of the jury members did not show any interest in our drawings. They did not even stand up and look at them. Besides of that, despite we have taken many detailed critics through the whole semester such as the column systems, fire-escape stairs and service systems, at jury any of them have not even mentioned. Only strategy and diagrams were discussed at the jury which means that our two months works, pains and sleepless days are worthless. It makes me sad to say that but I think that this semester was not efficient and our teachers were not coordinated to direct us in common.

Here are some family pictures as DEMO Architecture…

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Second Prejury

First Prejury

Cebeci is a region that has an urban texture that formed synchronously with the capital Ankara. Because of its location between the old town & the new town and political & social background, Cebeci turns into a region that stands out with its importance and character.

In time, Cebeci has become a place of universities, hospitals and military institutions. Therefore, interest to the region has increased day by day and the concept of a neighborhood has improved. Cebeci started to get a character with young & dynamic students, middle class, literate people. Together with the rapidly increasing population because of the growing capital, the neighborhood has expanded and turns into a district that students, artisans and employees live together in peace by creating a social neighborhood life by public spaces, facilities and by sharing the campus of the Ankara University to all ages. When this campus life is compared with today’s Ankara University, the essence of space and its usage disappeared today.

However, because of the intense urbanization at all around the city, Ankara had grown too fast with the migrations from rural towns. Due to that uncontrollable growth, city plans became unworkable and slums that called third Ankara after old and new city have occurred at the 1960s. An inevitable consequence of that these slums were settled also at Cebeci. Besides these newcomers, political issues have shown up at the 1970s and 1980s, Ankara University, which has welcomed all people of the neighborhood, closed its doors to the public use and Cebeci’s characteristic feature as being a neighborhood that manages itself has started to change. The components that create social interactions between the students, artisans and employees have disappeared in time. The balance between the residents and the ones that come from outside because of institutions got tensioned.

In conclusion, the problem is that Cebeci lost its urban memory, social neighborhood character and people profile that formed with togetherness of the residents and the students. We think that we should provide social interactions like the neighborhood’s old days.

This semester’s project aims to provide a good education environment which also regenerates the neighborhood life.

Modes of Learning

We were assigned to understand the stereotype of a learning environment and explore new, different possible variations of what else can be without considering their effectiveness as a learning/teaching environment.

First, we analyzed the basic components and their relations in sort of subjects, objects, spaces and time. We studied the concepts of bodily/visual relationships of subjects to subjects; subjects to objects; subjects to space; objects to objects; objects to space; space to space in variable scales, movement and temporality (duration, speed). Then we produced variations by changing relationships with the help of the “What if?” question.

 

Site Analysis

This semester our project is a school complex that is alive 24/7 and used by all ages 7 to 77 that includes a high school and a pre-school and re-generates the lively neighborhood of Cebeci, Ankara.  The site is between the Ankara University Cebeci Campus and the 50.Yıl Park which is cleared for urban renewal. To understand the physical factors and field conditions of the site such as culture, topography, landscape, traffic & parking, activity nodes, roads & buildings, functional diversity and residential, commercial units; we went to the site and made our analysis in there.

First, we analyzed the public, educational and residential areas around the site. Then we analyzed the site itself and saw that the site has a high slope which provides a landscape view through some important landmarks such as Anıtkabir and Ankara Kalesi. We also analyzed the traffic jam around the close environment of the site. The main transportation road is at the North side of The AÜ Campus and secondary roads that comes from it continue and surround the site between the residential units.

50.Yıl Park side of the site is the South and the landscape at the North which means that sunlight comes from the back and enlighten the landscape. Besides the landscape and slope, 50.Yıl Parkı is at the top of the hill and separates the district from the other side. Therefore orientation and the impact of the site is through the AÜ Campus direction.

Partnership

We have started the new semester by making partnerships with 4 people groups. Every group chose a name and created a logo. We made our name “DEMO Architecture”. The word ‘demo’ comes from ‘demonstration’ which means giving an example of a product or procedure to show how it works. We thought that our partnership is like an example of a real one so we are like a demo version of a real architectural firm.