Since 2005, the Istanbul Association of Freelance Architects (IstanbulSMD) has been organizing the S.O.S. Istanbul Idea Project Competition among architecture students to generate ideas for the problematic areas of Istanbul. This year's topic has been determined as Üsküdar Square.
OBJECTIVE AND THEME OF THE COMPETITION
IstanbulSMD believes in presenting strong, understandable, contemporary "alternative projects" to society for the benefit of the city and its residents. It considers producing and discussing these alternatives as an important responsibility for architects who bear the responsibility of being civilized and enlightened. With the belief that this constructive task primarily belongs to the youth, IstanbulSMD has decided to open a "Idea Project Competition" for architecture students who are still undergoing their education, inviting them to engage in discussion, idea generation, and active participation in these processes.
The competition area covers Üsküdar Square and its immediate surroundings.
Üsküdar Square and its vicinity, with its original historical identity shaped until the late 18th century, experienced its first disruptions following road expansions in 1933 and square arrangements in 1959. Subsequently, with the opening of the Üsküdar-Harem coastal road in 1985 and the addition of vehicle traffic and intersections to the fragmented square texture, the region became detached from its historical urban fabric character and became undefined.
The increasingly congested and complex square life, which has been accumulating more traffic load over time through land, sea, and rail transportation systems, became entirely anonymous after the addition of Marmaray exits. The transformation of the historical square into a mandatory transfer center is one of the significant losses in terms of urban memory, as seen in other similar squares.
In the current period, efforts to solve these problems have begun again with the intention of redesigning the square. Within this plan, interventions such as coastal interventions in front of historical buildings, large concrete voids over underground parking lots, and the introduction of new commercial functions related to these are envisaged.
In the rapidly initiated implementation process based on the projection defined by local governments for the area, to create a holistic perspective and bring the subject to the city's agenda, 'Üsküdar Square' was deemed important as the subject of the 2017 S.O.S. idea competition. In this context, it is expected that architecture students, young urban residents, will freely generate and discuss new ideas regarding the competition area.
Some of the important topics expected to be discussed in the designs related to Üsküdar Square and its surroundings include:
AWARDS