Week 5 - Development of the Masterplan

Wind will play a very crucial role in the development of the masterplan. With the right usage of wind the area will have right amount of air quality as much as a certain amount of freshness. 

If we look at the existing wind conditions in the Inciralti area we see that annually the wind direction is dominantly from north and northwest. It is also same in the summer season which is quite important for the comfortableness of the people.

Prevailing Wind directions (1.Annual 2.Summer)

So the alignment of the residentals were placed best way to embrace the wind. Some corridors with specific angles opened continously in order to create wind corridors.

Creating corridors between the blocks are done in order to improve the wind circulation. The general layout of the plan also consists lines coming out from the natural borders of Inciralti, a connection between pier and combination of different lines.

Placement of the spaces on their locations. Gardens will be located between two residental stripes. A productional square with an agricultural merit will be located on the western site of Inciralti. At the intersection between the pier and well being center a public space will be located there which will be called as "Square of Assesment" which will play the role of a portal between stressful Izmir Uurban life and the new Inciralti vision.

A view of a bar located in the "Square of Asssesment" under the huge roof structures with a specific design language.

A site section which shows the relationships between the masterplan elements. With the usage of hills on the southern side of Inciralti the site will actually turn its back to the city since it will become a place that people want to escape in the future. Between the residental units you can see the gardens for recreational/visual purposes surrounded by a electrical tram system. 

In this site section you can get a notion of where the "Square of Assessment" will be located in relation with the other elements such as pier, residentals and gardens.

A future lighting feautre which will be used in the streets of the masterplan. Lights collect their energy by the simple panel on its top with the support of the wind hole. The language of the design also goes well with the basic language of the entire area.

Some design visions which will be located as seperate amenities in the masterplanned area. There will be several different juxtapositionings of the same design in order to keep the consistancy in the architectural language of the area.

Week 4 - Masterplan Phase

With the end of the scenario phase, masterplan phase starts..

Presentation board of the scenario..

In the starting point of masterplan the area will be developed in a lined understanding. The lines will be referenced from the borders of Inciraltı, Üçkuyular Ferry Terminal. These lines will have interaction within each other and with lagoon.

Lined understanding which will be interacted with each other depending ont he environmental factors in the further planning stages.

Main theme of the masterplan is "detoxation center" in relation with the scenario.The plan will consist productional squares, residences, well-being facilities, utilities and a public plaza which will be located in the intersection of pier and residences. This will be a very important public place in the area since it will be the main entrance to the detoxation center. 

How to turn this type of understanding into a well functioning public space?

That public space should provoke feelings such as a certain node of relaxation, a certain amount of observation. People should really feel like they are entering a special unique place designed for them. 

A conceptual framework on how that public space should make people feel..

Week 3 - Future Izmir and Inciraltı Vision

With depending all the data and the scenario we can get a glimpse of what may the future Izmir might look like. Izmir will be a quite bigger city than it is today thanks to urban sprawl and increased density. If we also consider the fact that the air pollution and over usage of technology the urban citizens will be stressed out a lot.

With the future usage of Inciraltı citizens of Izmir will have a chance to get rid of their stress at least for a certain time.

Bayraklı

Konak Square

As you can see there is a strong traffic both in terms of pedestrian and vehicular, a certain amount of air pollution, personalized advertisements (pressure of consumption/money), a pressure of crazy/futuristic designs in architectural language. All these factors creates a stressful urban life for citizens...

The citizens of Izmir will think/feel like in the above. So what will be the escape for them?

So future Inciraltı will be an escape for the citizens of Izmir. It will be a place where people can find themselves and detox from the negative effects of the urban life as it was described in the scenario..

"Basic" interior visions where people will only have basic furniture for their needs

Detoxation from the negative aspects of the city..

People producing their own food with a "basic" way. Not with an help of a machine.

Future view of the Inciraltı lagoon. It will tried to be protected as much as possible. It plays a key role to interact Izmirans with the nature..

Some furniture sketches for the interiors. They are not complex/over technological and only used for the "basic" needs of the people.

And here is the table..

Week 2 - SCENARIO

SOCIO-POLITICAL:

A- Local governments become more powerful than the general government/economical benefits
B- Local governments started to take precautions in order to protect citizens of Izmir
C- Population of Izmir has exceeded 7 million in 2054
D- Izmir will become a much more streesful city to live than it is today
E- A shift to "basics"
F- Local Government will propose a system for Inciraltı. People will be chosen by depending on their applications and they will live a sustainable and healthy life for a week.

TECHNICAL

A- Petrol consumption will be decreased
B- Technology is being used for the goodness of the people
C- Clean cars are being used more efficiently
D- Local government forces Inciraltı as a self-sustaining neighbourhood

ENVIRONMENTAL

A- Dam levels in Izmir region become very unstable because of the unpredictable precipitation
B- Local government encourages the usage of geothermal, solar energy etc.
C- Rooftops are being used more efficiently


"Inciraltı will become a unique region in Izmir. The local government will hire architects to design the area, the area will be designed with a simple understanding since the lifestyle shift towards th basics. People of Izmir will make applications to local government and if their applications will be accepted they will live a self sustaining and healthy life for a week. With in that week they will detox from all the negative effects that 2054's Izmir Urban area produce. This will be funded by a small amount of tax that local government will collect.

I as an architect and a citizen of Izmir will give my application to local government and if it will be accepted i will live there a one week in a sustainable and basic way with my friends. I will detox and gain energy from my one week"

Week 2 - Return to "BASICS"

With the overuse of terms such as "hi-tech" and "futurism" the future might not be what we imagined so far. People may prefer to return to living more "basic" What i mean by basic is just living by taking things from our environment and using them with a clean and modern understanding.

Overall people will dress more basic, live more basic and think more basic. There won't be cars flying around or jetson's type settlement or Zaha Hadid type design typologies.

Is it how it will be really??

Just a simple combination of geometric shapes

People dressing more "basic"

Week 2 - Data Search

If we consider the "Principle of Continuity" and "Principle of Analogy" we can get a sense of future. This means that consditions in the past will continue in the future.

URBAN GROWTH

Izmir's urban are growed a lot over the years which means that it will continue to spread in the future as well. The sprawl will me mostly through north and south axis since the city is landlocked on the east and west with the mountains and sea. Despite the sprawl the density will also rise which will produce stress on the urban life of the citizens of Izmir

PRECIPITATION

Precipitation of Izmir become unbalanced a lot in the last years which indicates that it will be even a lot more unbalanced in the future. One month will be very wet with floods while the other month will be very dry. 

Recent Years vs Future

POPULATION

If we calculate the population growth rate between 1960 and 2000 we can estimate that the population in the 2054 will hit 7 million mark. This is quite an extreme increase of population and we should question that what will these people will do, how they will live etc.

INCIRALTI TRANSFORMATION

Depending on the google eart views we can see what has changed in Inciraltı and in Balçova between 2000 and 2014. In this 14 years of time we can observe a lot of changes. Some new roads are opened, there are less agricultural facilities on the land, lagoon seems to be "grown" a bit when we look at the condition of the lagoon borders, there are more residental development/malls/consumption, and a new cityforest is built on the vicinity of the lagoon which should be protected in the future since this is one of the most valuable last green areas so close to citycenter of Izmir

2000 vs 2014

SOIL TYPES

Soil type of Inciraltı is mainly alluvion soil which is perfect for agriculture but in the recent years the soil get drier because of the Balçova Dam. Balçova Dam prevented both Ilıca river and underground water reaching to Inciraltı which effected the agriculture negatively in Inciraltı.

WIND MAP

We can see that Izmir is actually a quite lucky place for wind energy but Inciraltı is not the best place for this

GEOTHERMAL USAGE

Geothermal usage in the are is one of the highest in Izmir. It should be even more efficint in the future for the sake of environment.

Red areas shows the neighbourhood which uses geothermal energy

Week 1 - Introduction

Inciraltı plays a important role for Izmir since it is one of the most underutilized areas close to city center. It really offers a lot opportunities which can be used in order to improve the life of the citizens in the future.

In the field trip, it is very understandable that the site is surrounded with good infrastructure - good roads, bus terminal, new bicycle lanes and ferry terminal. The site is surrounded by a high fence which isolates the land from the outside world. When you enter to the site you feel like you are in a another world. You hear the sounds of the traffic but you feel like you are in a countryside. 

Fenced off site

Also after a little walk we faced with some little suprises. First we were not expecting level differences but we saw some small hills which are done by humanking not naural. This gives us a idea of forming small hills for observational purposes. From one of the hills you can see a wide grassland with small shacks which was obviously a swamp land before because of the vegetation there. So it might be logical to develop a pond there since it used to be a watered are in the past naturally. So it is about forming ideas by taking the fundemental idea from the nature itself.

Man-made hills and green shacks

There were lots of trees grouped within each other which should be protected. Soil was very dry since the dam in the Balçova prevented water reaching through Inciraltı which also killed the agriculture in Inciraltı over the years.

Soil types

Overall the site is very exciting in terms of environmental factors. There are lots of things to think about while producing a vision there.

Sketch 1 - Site's position with coastal roadway, citycenter, ferry terminal etc

Sketch 2 - Inciraltı with Balçova landmarks such as Tteleferik and Ege Park