ISTANBUL STUDIO FALL 2013 All Images and Text © Weldon Pries 2017
Istanbul
The Historic Hans, Suleymaniye Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar
Special Topics Studio ARCH916 5th Year Fall 2013 Professor Weldon Pries
Istanbul and Turkey are emerging as Western, Islamic, and secular societies. Strategically located at the intersection of Europe and Asia, and at the center of world trade routes over land and sea, Istanbul expresses historic and present-day cultural influences in its layering and form, and embraces the diversity of its people, cultures, and civilizations.
The Historic Peninsula, where the soaring mosques, palaces and Orthodox churches rise, is surrounded by the shimmering Sea of Marmara and Golden Horn, a natural harbor of transportation and commerce. The majestic skyline of domes and minarets of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque form the backdrop for the city on the water. Within the Historic Peninsula are the communities where ethnic groups of Muslims, Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Europeans and recent immigrants have settled. The Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and the adjacent Topkapi Palace are the symbolic entry and center of the city, located at the intersection of the Bosphorus River, Golden Horn, and the Sea of Marmara.
Istanbul Project:
The Historic Hans, Suleymaniye Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar
The Istanbul Studio addresses the role of cultural influences and architecture in the evolution of the city and its form and urban design, in their relationship to the religious monuments and the commercial center of bazaars and hans. The focus of the studio is the future formation and expression of the architecture of the city and its relationship to the water’s edge, with facilities for culture, commerce, dwelling, and the environmental restoration of the city.
At the heart of the Historic Peninsula is an area of merchant hans, located in an axis between Suleymaniye Mosque and the Blue Mosque. The hans have been a major cultural influence and part of Istanbul’s history. The massive buildings with courtyards have been centers for the work and life of merchants as well as resting places for travelers. The hans are designed as open space courtyards, surrounded by rectangular arcaded buildings in modular design layouts. The courtyards are large open spaces within the dense surrounding urban fabric of the city. Historically, merchants, workers, and travelers would use the second floors for accommodation and the ground floor for safe keeping of their merchandize. Often there are small mosques in the courtyards.
The typical han has two or three stories surrounding the large courtyard. It is constructed of heavy stone with arched arcades facing the courtyard and domes on the roof. There is a large gate into the han from the adjacent streets. The outer walls of the han are massive solid walls. Surrounding city streets and buildings are often built up against the han walls. The area around the hans is very dense and full of commercial life with many small shops and bazaars in narrow pedestrian streets and passages.
The class focused on the large Buyuk Valide Han and its surrounding hans. This area is centrally located between the Grand Bazaar, Suleymaniye Mosque, and the Spice Bazaar. The overall intent of the studio was to achieve an integration of the hans with the urban life of the city and to restore the hans as historical and contemporary architectural expressions of the city.
The studio project phases included research and documentation of urban design, with focus on the methodology of analysis for cities and urban design proposals of “urban modification” – and included related architectural design projects for the new formation of the city’s commercial centers and the water’s edge. This studio will contribute to the understanding of a significant “world city” in an important geopolitical region, and of urban design in cities globally.
The class traveled to Istanbul in early September for a survey of the city and its culture and significant architecture. In addition to site visits and documentation of the studio project sites, students participated in seminars on Istanbul urban design with Istanbul students and professors. A trip by ship to Bursa, Turkey, the historical Ottoman city in Asia, was included in the travel itinerary.
Team Urban Analysis
Students
Anette Balestrand, Michelle Bellucci, Kelsey Bridge, Anna Evangelista, Erin Hartmann,
Thomas Lassy, Tyler Lombardi, Paul Maneen, Jeffrey Novak, Ciro Podany and Andrew Serfling
Urban Analysis
Spatial and Plan Analysis
Topography and Urban Massing - City Sections
City Axons
Urban Spatial Impressions
Architecture Representations
Digital City Renderings
Student Urban Design Projects
Anette Balestran
Michelle Bellucci
Kelsey Bridge
Anna Evangelista
Erin Hartmann
Thomas Lassy
Tyler Lombardi
Paul Maneen
Jeffrey Novak
Ciro Podany
Andrew Serfling
Istanbul Revealed and Transformed
Digital Representation and Architectural Interventions in the Historical City
The physical and structural transformations of cities are layered in a series of architectural interventions through history, revealing the importance of culture and the geography of the city in shaping the urban environment and in creating a contextual architecture. An architectural intervention evolves within the recognition of all inter-relationships of the environment and territory.
These posters are a presentation of Istanbul from the Istanbul Studio and its focus on “Urban Intervention and Modification in the Historical City”. Selected digital representations of the city and architectural design interventions are portrayed in architectural modifications applicable to the urban design of the city. The Istanbul Studio has focused on explorations into the analysis and documentation of the physical, historical, cultural, and architectural characteristics of urban places in Istanbul. These explorations are presented as a methodology for design embracing the memory and culture of urban places in Istanbul. Of special significance is the understanding of layering evident in the architecture of the city – from the sea to the topography of the hills, from the streets to the inner spaces, from the ground to the sky, as well as the architectural transformations of building modules, massing, and open space. Drawings are used as a methodology of analysis -- figure ground drawings, massing and spatial documentation, drawings of the architecture of blocks and streets, and the presentation of architectural monuments of cultural importance. Drawings and models of documentation, analysis, and design projects are included in the Istanbul Studio.
The intentions of the studio are to understand aspects of urban design theory evident in the architecture and urban places of Istanbul in the global context, and to visualize the city in its present form and evolution. The ultimate goal is to develop a methodology that will relate architecture to its urban context, while allowing for contextual modification, and to develop the understanding and use of urban concepts and urban symbols -- including the themes of historical city evolution, urban form and space, and architectural design.
All Images and Text © Weldon Pries 2017
