Natural Geometry Park
Bandirma Park is a public space of a regional scale. It’s an innovative venue integrated into a unique natural environment. The area locates in the province of Balikesir, Turkey.
The city of Bandirma is developing as a regional center. Today it has several large scale projects at the implementation stage: technoparks, scientific and production centers. The project site was offered as a point of attraction and development of scientific research aimed at increasing the quality of a city landscape and creating the center of a public life.
The area has been used as a military base for 40 years, but in the beginning of 2000s, the base was abandoned. Now there are the remains of military buildings considered to be objects of country’s cultural heritage and protected by the government.
As a result of territory analysis, we have determined main directions which enabled a park integration into the city landscape and environment. It became possible by including the objects and volumes into the environment neutrally, without disturbing the area and natural landscape’s integrity.
Due to the peculiarities of the terrain model, a some volumes are located under the ground. It lets the new objects not dominate over the environment, but organically complement it. Roofs of the buildings are green sites used as walking areas and viewing points.
The core point of attraction is a university building located on the crossroad of main highways linking the area with the city. Due to the flexible space solution, the building is a continuation of a central pivot that stretches from the west to the east.
Being a brilliance of the western part of the park, a light volume of a five-star hotel gradually transforms into a congress hall representing itself a spacious underground gallery. It is supported by the roadway that goes into the ground and turns into a tunnel connecting all parts of the park under the ground.
The rhythm of a historical part of the park is provided by the rhythm of new constructions which have become a part of the university and now create an additional pivot submitted to the central one.
A planning solution of the university forms a window from the west to the east. It leads visitors to the viewing points set on the roofs of a four-star hotel and malls. The volumes are built in the landscape and can be observed only when you approach to the area from the city.
Broad promenade stairs organically built in the landscape let visitors go down to the buildings and finish their way on the central pivot.
Various scenarios of visiting the park virtually separate the area into few levels of privacy and remoteness from the key points of attraction. It allows visitors to choose how to spend time at the park on their own.
The area has a net of pedestrian and bicycle paths. It’s full of sport and play sites, walking areas, relaxing zones and viewing points. The park has an intuitively clear scheme of pedestrian paths which allow each visitor to get to any part of the park.
