Kuruçeşme Houses

revitalizing a deserted housing zone

Kuruçeşme Houses, 2021

Enjoying mesmerizing views of the Bosphorus, the site houses damaged structures cascading in front of each other on the steep slope. Originally built as squatters (gecekondu), the cascading houses have been abandoned and become damaged and derelict after a long period of non-occupancy. A small scale apartment building overlooking the view from above the cascade still served as low-income housing, but sustained structural deformations and damage. The proposal keeps the boundaries of the existing structures, but reorganizes them architecturally and structurally to provide a range of housing units between 37m² and 120m².

The lower and upper parts of the site are separated by a steep slope, necessarily dividing vehicular approach to two different routes. The two parts are also practically separated by a walkpath that was autonomously formed as a pedestrian route by the neighboring plots. The design proposal preserves all elements on site with respect to their undertaken roles including the pathway, maintaining both the apartment and house-with-garden typologies.