Ba Tasarım ve Mimarlık'ın "Living Ruins 2024 Competition" için tasarladığı proje önerisi.
The space is the only witness to the passage of time. It encompasses all the changes it has undergone and presents traces of these changes to us. The primary aim of our project is to create an experiential memory space by opening this witness to the public. Additionally, a significant portion of the area remains untouched, allowing the slow disappearance of the village and ensuring the completion of its natural cycle.
The visitor route provides a flexible, personal journey of discovery. Visitors can also follow a suggested route to experience the village’s historical timeline. Starting at the visitor center, they receive keys to explore traces of pre-exchange village life. Using these keys, they enter houses, eat, wander through rooms, and engage with the era’s lifestyle, encountering unique traces in each house.
Continuing along the route, visitors reach the old village square where, after shopping, they participate in activities at the Taksiyarhis Church and the Boys’ School. At night, visitors see the lights in the houses on the opposite hill and feel the impression that life still continues in the village.
The route becomes more challenging, but as visitors ascend, they reach a point from where they can overlook the entire village. At sunset, they can enjoy views of both the village and Soğuksu Bay.
As the route continues, the sounds of life fade, and objects like a coat or jacket evoke frozen moments of a past life, reflecting the passage of time. The “Reflections of Time” installation, with ruins and mirrors in Kayaköy, connects past and present, symbolizing nature’s rebirth and human transience. Suitcases along the way poignantly recall the forced departures and lives left behind during the exchange period.
Upon completing the route and returning to the visitor center, visitors form an emotional connection with the past, and when they hang the keys to the houses they visited, they feel the completion of this bond by leaving their own trace. The experience and activities they participate in not only lead them to reflect on Kayaköy but also on themes of migration and coexistence.
Exhibits in the visitor center share the stories of the original inhabitants of the houses, their migration routes, and the reflections of these processes in the present. Informational panels in Greek and Karamanlıca deepen the historical authenticity of the space, while memory maps featuring migration stories from different generations revive individual and collective memories.
The project allows visitors to form personal connections by bridging the past and the present.
The revitalization of Kayaköy aims to create local and international awareness by hosting creative workshops, educational programs, and multidisciplinary events beyond being a cultural heritage site. The market areas foster interaction between the local community and visitors. The work of associations ensures that visitors and locals play an active role in the conservation of the area.
The “Witness” project reshapes Kayaköy, not just as a place to visit but as a living memory space that connects the past and present. By integrating Kayaköy’s cultural heritage and natural landscape, the project aims to create international awareness, provide visitors with a sensory experience, and make the local community part of this timeless story. Each step creates an atmosphere where visitors can connect the past with the present and write their own stories. The visitor becomes part of the space’s memory, just as the roots beneath the stones breathe life into the village’s ruined texture. This project preserves memory and transmits it to the future.