EC3 is honored by the invitation from my young colleague - Burak Pekoglu - to collaborate with his firm BINNA in the competition to re-imagine the Sirkeci neighborhood in Istanbul. Our two-month design process is documented by three entries in the Design Journal - with Part I focusing on the overall urban design approach, and Parts II and III focusing on the two final proposals.

I have traveled to Istanbul many times since I was an architecture student. It's unique geography between Asia and Europe, and its rich history that transcends cultures, makes it one of the most special places in the world. The prominent site is located by Golden Horn waterway, and adjacent to the famous Galata Bridge.

It is bounded on its south side by a very busy, and often congested motorway - a major obstacle for making pedestrian connection from the site and its surrounding neighborhoods to the water.

The site's proximity to the transportation hub by the Galata bridge stresses the its importance in providing a link through its architecture from surrounding neighborhoods to the water and beyond.

Our team in LA collaborated closely with the team in Istanbul to develop the proposal, with Burak Pekoglu acting as the liaison between both teams.

An intensive workshop in LA generated multiple urban strategies for the re-development of the site. These strategies are documented as sketch massing models in the following sequence.

1. Kristal Saray Galeri / Crystal Palace Gallery

2. Kentsel Odalar / Urban Rooms

3. Gizli Hazine / Hidden Treasure

4. Kent Parki / Urban Park

5. Kentsel Mucevherler / Urban Jewels

A second workshop in Istanbul allowed the teams to evaluate the feasibility of these strategies in situ, and further refine them into the final proposal.

A matrix is developed to evaluate these urban strategies against various programmatic criteria:

Kent Parki / Urban Park
Tasarim Otel - Ofis / Design Hotel - Office
Kopru / Bridge
Sahne / Stage
Meydan / Square
Carsi / Bazaar (or shopping district or market place)

Based on the score on this matrix, two final strategies emerge; which are documented in Parts II and III of the Sirkeci District Masterplan.