Cumalikizik Urban Rehabilitation
Competition for Ideas for the "Ottoman Village Living in the 3rd Millenium"
In cooperation with: Gokce Cibik, Ozan Avci
Bursa, 2007
✪ 2nd Prize
Background
Cumalikizik is an important cultural heritage village near the industrial city of Bursa. Its authentic traditional houses blend with organic street patterns and monumental buildings. The village has the traditional public square of Ottoman settlements. The street pattern follows the topography, and every building in it has its own character.​​​​​​​
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Challenge
It is crucial to keep the social, cultural and physical "texture" of Cumalikizik and to rehabilitate the buildings in poor condition. The aim is to preserve the heritage for future generations with new functions and contemporary spaces that meet present needs. We explored these new functions under the theme of "production":

A. Production of local goods (villages well known marmalade, wine, pancakes...)
B. Production of ideas (education)
Strategy
A newly created charitable fund covers all construction costs in the village. The education area (2) is run jointly by this fund and the University of Bursa. It hosts summer schools organised by the university, studio work, meetings and other activities, and villagers can take an active part. Students from the village school join in alongside the university students. The open plan building in the area hosts film screenings, seminars and "village weddings". Since there is no street façade, the buildings here are planned freely, in how built mass and open space relate.

Restoring the existing houses will raise property values at a rate that is hard to control. We therefore recommend restoring them gradually, over a long period and with different stakeholders taking part.
All buildings use reinforced concrete and natural stone as the construction system. Stone is used on the ground floors to match the traditional village houses and keep the street silhouettes consistent. The main purpose is to improve quality of life without harming the natural, organic layout of the village.
The jury awarded our entry for its "high architectonic quality" and put it forward to the city administration for realisation.
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