The Piyale Industrial Athletic Center, located on the footprints of the demolished Piyale Factory at Bayraklı – İzmir, aims to rethink the concept of juxtaposing the old and the new. Prompting a reinterpretation, the proposal makes use of the unifying powers of both the lost industrial heritage’s still living memory in the neighborhood and sports, possessing as put by T. R. Young an almost “religious impulse” that brings people together. Adding also urban agriculture to the site, having rich agricultural associations, the project opposes the current trend of erecting high-rise buildings in the area that disregards its rich heritage and the needs of the neighborhood’s residents. Instead, embracing a human-centered approach, the project proposes a design where sports and nature coexist in an autopoiesis system, with the principles of flexibility and adaptability, utilizing movement, variability, and uncertainty inherent in sports and nature, to respond to changing weather conditions and people’s needs within time.
Author: Can Yardımcı
Studio: ARCH 402 Spring 2024
Instructor(s): Meral Özdengiz Başak
