ITU Meadow
Year: | 2015 |
Location: | Maslak, Istanbul |
Site: | 10,000 m² |
Client: | ITU Rectorate |
The site is located in an area where accessibility is a major problem due to elevation and slope restrictions, plants that are obstructing the view to the site and lack of infrastructure and urban furniture that has paralyzed the site relationship with the overall campus landscape and its users. The main strategy for the design was to connect the site with the adjacent main campus ring road, to allow pedestrians to reach the meadow area with a comfortable slope, and to create a flexible activity area for active and passive green space usages. In order to accomplish this, a new slope that spans further towards the meadow is created from the ring road to the meadow, this was a new contour that enables people to walk easily down the slope. In this endeavor, one of the limits was that the existing trees were at the bottom of the old topography and extension of the slope meant burying them to almost 60-100 cm. Thus, the pockets of outdoor platforms have been constructed: this has allowed a new form of activity spaces, at the same time it enabled the protection of the root zone of trees. The wooden deck structure is designed in angles to provide seating for people and water harvesting to support the trees’ water needs.