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Sketches to re-function an existing barn into an atelier and a small living unit by keeping the existing stone walls.

Gürleyik, 2022

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 [2]

Instead of demolishing it, we proposed to keep the pool and its folding cover and transform it into a public hall by installing necessary amenities. The main principle of our design was to keep the image of the existing pool as much as possible. The idea was to refunction the building with minimum intervention considering time and budget. Moreover, to keep the image of the pool as part of the collective memory was important since the narrative of reclaiming public spaces back in Istanbul is followed by the new city administration. So the original covering structure, pool tiles and wall coverings, even the colors, were kept as they were.

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 [1]

Florya City Forest, which was opened in the early 40s, had been partially occupied by the previous mayors of the districts of Istanbul for private residential use. When the new mayor of Istanbul was elected in 2019, he promised to transform the whole area into a public campus, by removing the private residences of bureaucrats and refunctioning the existing buildings with public programs. The private villas became the communal working spaces for the public institutes of the municipality, named İstanbul Planning Agency . But when it comes to the swimming pool which was formerly constructed as a private recreational area for the residential units, the best choice seemed to demolish it, since it would not be efficient and sustainable to use it as a public pool.

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