Hamamyolu Urban Deck

Project Description

Hamamyolu Urban Deck is designed for the regeneration of the Hamamyolu Street interpreting its socio-cultural, historical and visual identity, to reintegrate it into the city. It was aimed to use its potential as a town center to transform it into a vibrant urban element and become an important part of daily life, thus benefitting tradesman through an economic revival and increasing the social sharing amongst the residents and users of the district.

The project is a body of layers that generate multiple links with the city in a unique way. The most important link is a “macroscale link” with the city which reconnects the northern and southern parts of the city with a continuous pedestrian street.

Odunpazarı district is known for its glass production workshops, where the local tradition of glass manufacture is still alive and active. One of the inspiration and cultural link for Hamamyolu Project comes from this local glass production. A unique type of urban axis is implemented into the project as a 1.2 km long pedestrian path, with 2 cm wide linear led light beam that passes through the center, and with hand-made glasses embedded to white cement. 22.000 pieces of local handmade glass in total were embedded into the ground. This unique combination of materials also helps to enhance the local economy by creating a new type of usage for glass. In addition, the linear led light beam emphasizes the continuity of the urban axis by making it visible. The urban axis is shaped with respect to existing trees. Various types of cafés connecting to the ground with steps which also work as multipurpose amphitheater, are created and differentiated with their concept.

One of the most prominent and enjoyed features of the project is to become a fun environment, containing numbers of different playgrounds such as trampolines, stone pools, etc. Other than the playgrounds, the whole urban deck itself becomes a playground for everyone with its three-dimensional use and “play” is mixed with the natural flow of everyday life.

The use of water elements is valued due to its historical context. There are three types of pools that are designed with different states of water in different forms and dimensions: bowl pigeon pool, stone pools and steam pool. The location of the steam pool is chosen to emphasize the area of historical Turkish baths “Hamam” in which the site name comes from.

“A free multipurpose art museum”, which is open to two sides, is designed in the middle of the bridge-passageway, establishing a “cultural link” to the city. Wooden sculptures, glass and ceramic works that are produced in Odunpazarı Ateliers are being exhibited in this museum. The juxtaposition of art-play-production-exhibition-greenery-relaxation-activities and different age groups reveal itself in the bridge museum as well as in the whole area.

“Hamamyolu Urban Deck” brought the old center back to the city with a fresh manner, by including these links and elements in the flow of life naturally, and creating a background for urban life with the spaces that can be experienced by rediscovering every day.