Tree House Park Design Competition

GAD Vakfı'nın Ege Yapı ve Casper Bilgisayar işbirliğiyle düzenlediği uluslararası yarışma, dünyanın dört bir yanından genç mimarları, ormanlarda ve ağaçların arasında yaşama odaklayan tasarımlara yönelik yeni bir doğal çevre hayal etmeye çağırıyor.

“Ağaç Ev Parkı” yarışması, ekolojik tasarımın odak noktası olarak ağaçların ve ağaçların yer aldığı doğal dünya ile uyumlu mimari tasarım anlayışını geliştirmeyi amaçlıyor.

Yarışma, 21. yüzyıl için mimarlığın ekolojik olanaklarını keşfetmeye çalışan tüm 30 yaş altı genç mimarlara açık. Yarışma, İstanbul’un Anadolu yakasında düşük yoğunluklu bir yerleşim bölgesi olan Çekmeköy kent ilçesindeki ormanlık bir alanda yapılıyor. “Ağaç Ev Parkı” yarışması, bu yapılı ve doğal çevrenin içinde doğal bir yaklaşımla tasarımlar amaçlıyor, ağaç evler ve onlarla bütünleşen ağaçların içine gömülü kentsel yaşamı öngören projeler için çağrıda bulunuyor. Komşu yerleşim alanlarına sosyal aktivite alternatifleri ve rekreatif tasarım fikirleri, önerileri bekliyor. Bu yarışma, şehirler içinde var olan doğada, ağaç evler üzerinden mimari fikirler üretilmesini bekliyor ve şehir genelinde korunan başka yeşil alanlarda da uygulamaya uygun olabilecek farklı etkinlikler ve çözümler arıyor.

AĞAÇ EVİ PARK KONSEPTİ

Yarışmanın ana teması, bir parkın içine yerleştirilmiş bir dizi ağaç evi barındıracak bir “Ağaç Ev Parkı” fikrine dayanıyor. Ormanlık alanı, keşif ve keşfi teşvik etmek için yürüyüş yolu ve fiziksel aktivite bölgeleri ve açık hava park aktiviteleri ile bir park olarak düzenlenecektir. Ağaç evler ve ana park faaliyetlerine bağlı yürüyüş yolları olması öngörülmektedir. Yarışmanın tasarım stratejisi, ormanlık alanın doğal malzemelerini ve karakterini doğa koruma alanı olarak geliştirmek olacaktır. Yarışma, bir ekosistemin desteklendiği ve inşaatın en aza indirildiği bir yaklaşım gerektiriyor.

WHAT

The Tree House Park Competition calls on young architects to envision tree houses in daily urban life as a new typology bringing man and nature closer together. The Istanbul based GAD Foundation, the organiser of the competition, offers a total of $15000 in awards and $7500 to the winning design and the opportunity to build the proposal.

WHEN

Launched January 2021 with initial registration of “Statement of Intent” and portfolio due in March 2021. Design will be required to be submitted by March 2021. Award winners will be announced in April 2021.

HOW

The competition will be organised in two phases and is open to all young architects 30 years of age and under who seek to explore the ecological possibilities of architecture for the 21st century. Competition registration is free. The 1st phase will require entrants to submit a “Statement of Intent” of 500 words and a portfolio of relevant work due in February 2021. The 2nd phase will start in March 2021 with the publication of the 10 finalists chosen from first phase. The Jury will select a winning scenario to be awarded the $7.500 main prize and invitation to build. The Advisory Board consisting of members outside of the architecture profession will be asked to award two other projects honorable mentions of $5000 for 2nd prize and $2500 for 3rd prize each for innovative design ideas that add to the improvement of urban life. All finalists will be awarded a Casper VIA L30 Tablet Computer.

WHERE

The competition is set in a 19.250m2 site in Istanbul, Turkey, in a forested area in the district of Cekmekoy, a low density residential zone on the Asian side of the city. It is home to 265,000 of Istanbul’s 15.5 million residents and has witnessed rapid urban growth in the 2000s and 2010s. Cekmekoy is today a mix of low and high-density housing but also contains natural areas with wildlife and indigenous forest.

WHO

Organized by GAD Foundation in partnership with Ege Yapi and Casper Computer. The partners are stakeholders in sites neighbouring the competition site and are invested into improving the surrounding areas for the benefit of the public at large with the cooperation of local government and agencies.

WHY

To promote a new natural urban environment based on living in forests and amongst trees with the tree house dwelling as the focus. The “Tree House Park” competition seeks to extend design insight into architecture embedded and in harmony with the natural world with trees and tree habitation as the focus of ecological design. This competition proposes generation of architectural ideas also for outdoor activities for a forested area that could also be suitable for implementation in protected green areas throughout the city of Istanbul as an example of the conservation of nature within cities at a global scale.

JURY

Consultant

Inanc Kabadayi – CEO of EGE YAPI
Nejat Saldanli – BOARD MEMBER of CASPER

Main Jury

Winka Dubbeldam – Architect and Professor
Gokhan Avcioglu – Architect
Chris Precht – Architect
David Basulto – Founder and Editor in Chief of ArchDaily
Andreas Wenning – Architect

COMPETITION BRIEF
TREE HOUSE PARK – ENVISIONING NATURE FOR ACTIVITY

The tree house in the modern period is an architecture typology distinct from the use of structures in trees built by prehistoric and indigenous peoples. In the premodern period these structures above the ground primarily offered protection from wild animals, enemies, and the flooding of nature that was hostile to human existence. The architecture of tree structures camouflaged among the leaves by indigenous people was an outgrowth of indigenous structures raised above the ground on stilts and struts. As such this architecture has an architectural language derived from vernacular construction and the availability and application of timber resources in forested zones primarily in tropic and subtropic climates. But over the last hundred years, modern tree houses have transformed to provide a spatial and sensual experience of nature as a building type with it’s own architectural style. An architectonic development of the tree house has resulted in numerous options for building in trees. Stay rods, fasteners, bolts, belts and cables are now used with timber to build modern tree houses. As such part of the task in this competition is to take a position on on the design of structures in trees and forests. Competitors should in the design adress the task of engaging a living foundation, the unstable parameters of nature, and user/habitant.

The main theme of the competition is based on the idea of a “Tree House Park” that will host a number of tree houses and activities set inside a forested area. The forest area will be organized as a park with outdoor activities such as a walking path and zones for physical activity to stimulate exploration and discovery. The tree houses and primary park activities are envisioned to be in and on a network of walking paths and spaces. The design strategy of the competition will be to retain the natural materials and character of the forested area as a nature reserve. The competition calls for a non invasive approach to the design of the park where a ecosystems are supported and new construction minimized.

PRIZES

1st Prize

$ 8,000
CASPER VIA L30 Tablet
All the awarded proposals will be transmitted to architectural magazines and websites + international exhibitions

2nd Prize
$4,000
CASPER VIA L30 Tablet
All the awarded proposals will be transmitted to architectural magazines and websites + international exhibitions

3rd Prize
$2,000
CASPER VIA L30 Tablet
All the awarded proposals will be transmitted to architectural magazines and websites + international exhibitions

7 Finalists
CASPER VIA L30 Tablet
All the awarded proposals will be transmitted to architectural magazines and websites + international exhibitions