Biophilia

The project is situated on the cliff of an industrial heritage site in Zonguldak. Inspired by the industrial typologies of coal mines, the proposal explores an intermediary concept that brings nature and industry together. Biophilia is a critique on the common interpretation of industrialization as getting away from the nature.

From the very moment of visiting the site, nature and industry intrigued me strongly. Nature was the context and the invader. Industry was the history and the presence of the site. From coal mining tunnel visits, to going through old photographs were the beginning of the proposal to discover and understand the past roots. \nBiophilia, Earth Sciences Institute proposes housing, research and commercial units with the implementation of re-interpreted steel mining structures that repeat itself. It results as an extension of the natural environment, thus it achieves a spectacle by the architecture that both represents and embodies urban memory. The modulation reaches a new framework of flexibility and challenges spatial qualities in a search for an inventive architecture. Structural elements that are attached on harsh and steep topography of the site, form spaces which are connected with the old mining tunnels for further scientific explorations of the institute. The space between the building and the cliff creates intimate relation with the earth while providing circulation throughout the building complex. The proposal engages with the reality of the context and encourages people to circulate from top to bottom as if one goes into a coal mine with a historic mining elevator. It commemorates the past with its existence.\nRelation between human and nature has a global definition. However, the proposal identifies this relationship through cultural aspects of the local context. As a result of this, the proposal recognizes and enhances the interdependency between different elements while challenging the strict definitions that have threatened the grounding conditions of the site’s built environment. This contrast and connection aim to juxtapose historic and future relationships of the context and the outcomes of these on the city as a whole.