For over ten thousand years, cities have maintained an industrial infrastructure to transform local materials into basic necessities, such as clothing, food, and shelter. Even in the present day, with advances in science, construction, and commercial technology, a need still exists for structures dedicated to industrial-scale production, storage and distribution. However, in this more advanced, environmentally-conscious age, a challenge has emerged to create industrial complexes which are ecologically sensitive, responsible and sustainable.
Against this environmental backdrop, Istanbul-based GAD Architecture have unveiled Media City, a multimedia-based industrial complex to serve Istanbul’s future airport, projected to be the world’s largest upon completion. Recognized with a Future Project Award by the Architectural Review, Media City will incorporate industrial buildings in an urban setting inspired by QR codes, where artistic and cultural values co-exist with a celebration of environmental and technological progress.
The vision behind Media City sees a heavily human-focused, mixed-use approach to industrial areas. In addition to warehouses, factories, and printers, Media City will include management offices, shops, stages and halls for live performances, interactive museums and libraries, schools and workshops, and residential amenities. Central to the masterplan’s concept is to place the user in a vibrant, engaging habitat, witnessing the design, production, and application of virtual reality and multimedia products.
In the development of Media City, GAD developed a planning method of creating self-sufficient smart cities which could lend itself to a variety of landscapes around the world. Having researched the massing properties of industrial-rooted towns such as Rome, Paris and New York, GAD drew parallels with the massing of QR codes, where small, tightly packed shapes are contrasted by massive isolated forms at the perimeter.
Applying these properties, a modular approach was created for Media City, allowing the placement of buildings, parks, and streets. After proportioning the masses into building functions and usage, GAD allocated greenery, infrastructure and smart strategies such as self-driven electric cars, buses, and commuter rails, whilst in tandem, developing an architecturally unique approach to different areas across the city.
Over the last few centuries, thanks to countless advancements in technology and media, there have been tremendous and dramatic changes to how people interact and behave…cities of the future should embrace and incorporate technology into the design in a responsible and intelligent fashion. Media City, and the method used to design it, strive to be an example of how to be creative, green, global, and innovative for not only today’s climate, but tomorrow’s as well - GAD Architecture.
Architects
Location
Istanbul, İstanbul, TurkeyDesign Team
Nesime Onel, Eti Kastoryano, Mustafa Kemal Kayis, Goksen Gungur, Seda Tugutlu, OguzEmre Bal, Esra EsenBuilding Type
Public, Urban Planning, Office, Experimental, RetailConstruction Area
75000m2Status
Planning StageAwards
2017 AR Future Projects Awards, Jeu D'Esprit PrizeArea
2800000.0 m2Project Year
2030Photographs
Architects
News via: GAD Architecture.
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