DISASTER EDUCATION AND PREVENTION CENTER

Bending Reality – Istanbul  Disaster Education and Prevention Center

Urban context

We designed the Istanbul Disaster and Education Center as a standalone, oblong building with conference and educational spaces complemented by an outside experimental public garden to be placed in the suggested location, south west part of Istanbul. The edifice is defined by the sequential broken surfaces of 18 segments housing various rooms. The fragmented and yet coherent building is inspired by tectonic shapes, where unique experimental spaces are formed by the broken wall and roof surfaces. Wide openings on the both sides of the structure open the facades in various directions, which connects the inside with the urban context of its surroundings and breathes life into the surrounding park space. Openness towards the surrounding areas make the extension of the inside activities of a specific units to the outside easy. The inside areas are completed by their outside counterparts, for example an astronomic park, a temporary shelter construction where visitors are trained, construction of a water dam, open air exhibition spaces and outside cafes foreseen.

Design concept

The design consists of 18 spatial units housing various simulation-experience and learning rooms. Each unit is designed in a way that provides enclosed, introverted spaces of the intensive experiences and studies on one side and the widely open, light, extroverted spaces that open to the outside park.

The vague border between outside and inside building block offers a wide range of juxtapositions of the simulated virtual realities with the ?real? park spaces outside.

Each unit has a purpose specific design. The height and surface of each substructure is different, which also changes its relation to the outside spaces and allows for use of specific technological facilities  The overall effect is that each structure is an individual expression and this transformed sequence of transformed hosting various simulation and study rooms result in an intriguing composition of the entire edifice..

Introverted and extroverted spaces

Most simulation areas profit from disconnection from the outside world, providing the visitors with good concentration, focus and perception of explored phenomena. Each of these, enclosed areas is provided with respective space open to the outside and providing visual contact with the exterior park. Light and spacious halls meant for reflection and relaxation complete intensive experience of each simulation section. In order to guarantee the comfort and security of the visitors, a clear evacuation route from the building is provided in each substructure.

Interactive performance – edutainment

The individual units are designed as sculpturesque structures, with bending pictures of real life phenomena and reflective, pictorial surfaces sensitive to light. It is an exhibition space that reacts to movements, sounds, and action. It draws the visitors in and forms a perfect background for the intended activities in order to allow the experience of each natural phenomenon and learning how to cope with them. The play of light and visual and sound transmissions make the visitor becoming a part of this multifaceted performance. This makes the experience unique for each visitor.

Flexibility

The design gives huge flexibility in the way the center can function. It can be explored as building with one main entrance gathering people in the central hall from where they can further explore various parts of the object. During peak season, or due to special events, some of the units may successfully function independently from each other. The modules such as planetarium, exhibition or conference hall ? may easily have separate access routes and can be visited independently from the rest of the building.