Transformation Studio - Music Machine
2016
Developed at Istanbul Bilgi University, the project explored the transformation of Atatürk Oto Sanayi Sitesi II. Kısım in Maslak. Rather than replacing the existing industrial fabric, the studio focused on reuse, densification and new architectural typologies that could extend the life of the site while preserving its character.
My proposal began with the site’s in-between condition; between urban and rural, planned and self-organised, industry and rapidly expanding commercial development. This reading led to the idea of mechanisation, imagining the existing buildings as parts of a connected and evolving network rather than isolated structures.
The project developed from site observation and fictional collage into an urban strategy, structural proposal and material atmosphere.
First Approach — Mechanization
When I first visited the site, what struck me most was the clear boundary between the commercial and residential areas on one side and the industrial zone on the other. The site also sits between the urban and the rural, occupying an in-between condition that gives the industrial area a hybrid character; partly organised and planned, yet partly shaped by its own internal rules.
I began by developing a narrative around the site’s contemporary socio-economic position. As the surrounding land became increasingly shaped by capital and large-scale commercial development, the industrial area gradually became marginalised. I started to think of it as an “other space”; a place that exists within the city, yet follows a different spatial and social logic.
The existing industrial complex was originally conceived as an organised, modernist development in the 1980s. Over time, however, Maslak transformed into one of Istanbul’s major business districts, dominated by high-rise office towers and large commercial developments. As this transformation intensified, the contrast between the industrial site and its surroundings became increasingly visible.
In response, I imagined a future scenario in which the existing buildings evolve into a larger interconnected system. Rather than disappearing under the pressure of the surrounding towers, the industrial structures become more intense, more productive and more interconnected; almost like parts of a single machine. I called this scenario “Machines Against the Towers.”
As the site becomes denser and more connected, the sharp contrast between the industrial area and the city around it begins to soften. What was once a marginalised territory gradually becomes a new centre of attraction; a network capable of accommodating different forms of production, interaction and collective life.
The project therefore proposes not the replacement of the industrial landscape, but its intensification. Through this transformation, a place defined by both exclusion and inclusion evolves into a new social and spatial network within the city.
Why Music?
The proposal began with a simple question: why introduce music into an industrial area?The connection lies in production. Both the automotive industry and music are shaped by making, assembling, testing and, importantly, producing sound. This shared condition became the starting point for bringing two different communities together: the existing workers of the industrial site and a new population of musicians, performers and visitors.
The project transforms the area into a music-focused urban hub, combining concert halls, recording studios, music bazaars, flexible performance spaces and an open-air concert venue. Rather than replacing the existing industrial identity, the programme builds on it, allowing music and production to coexist and creating a new centre of attraction within the city.
The architectural character follows the same logic: post-industrial, rough, anarchic and hybrid; an environment that retains the rawness of the existing site while opening it to new forms of cultural production and collective use.
University Bilgi University Istanbul
Course Master Design Studio
Visiting Professors Medine Altiok, Mathias Müller, Daniel Niggli
Dates 2016