How might earthquake readiness inform architectural landmarks?

We are living in a volatile and complex world. Climate change, energy crises, economic downturns, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasing natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods push us architects to reconsider our design priorities. In order to address the urgent need to create equitable, resilient, and nature-centered cities, we need to change how we practice architecture and set new standards for the construction industry.

SOUR joined forces with Bartels & Vedders on the proposal for Izmir Sustainability Center: SAL - designed as Türkiye’s first floating public building. Through its floating structure, SAL is an answer to the need for constructing earthquake resilient buildings. In addition to avoiding earthquake loads and ground improvements on a site with a high risk of liquefaction, SAL significantly reduces embodied carbon footprint and responds to rising sea levels. By tapping into Izmir’s traditional shipbuilding know-how, SAL aims to answer future problems related to natural disasters, energy transition, port relocation, and climate change.

SAL is designed as a journey between modern and traditional, local and global, calm and bold. It provides viable yet elegant solutions to energy and water usage, material and resource wastage, supply chain inefficiencies, and embodied carbon footprint. It is a self sufficient structure that can sail to different ports, becoming a traveling landmark within the city’s public infrastructure. SAL is Türkiye’s first carbon-negative public structure that serves as an educational and recreational venue, serving Izmir’s socio-cultural, environmental, and climate database.

Building on a site that is at high risk of and requires extensive ground improvements, how might we create a substructure that is naturally isolated from earthquake loads, floods, and rising sea levels?

How might we rethink the ground conditions to minimize the impacts of earthquakes? Is it
possible to have a building with no foundation?

How might we tap into the shipbuilding industry that Izmir is traditionally good at, to solve
future problems of energy transition, port relocation, and climate change at once?

How might we take the first step towards a future floating city for Izmir?

Project: SAL
Typology: Public Building, Administration Building, Sustainability Center, Park
Location: Turan, İzmir, Türkiye
Date: 2023
Area: 5885 m2
Client: İzmir Metropolitan Municipality
PROJECT CREDITS
Architect: SOUR
Design: İnanç Eray - Architect, Designer
Floating Structure Engineer: Jelle Vedders - Bartels & Vedders
Design Team:
Pinar Güvenç Design Strategy, Inclusive Design Expert
Merve Güven Architect
Merve Akbay Architect
Pınar Gürsoy Architect
Nicholas Doghlass Architect, Illustrator
Derin Şahin Industrial Product Designer, Illustrator
Marianne de Zeeuw Art Historian, Design Researcher
Gamze Gürgenç Art Historian, Design Researcher
İrem Göçmenoğlu Communication Designer
Joyce Lai Design Researcher
Kadija Fadil Bayero Architecture Student, Intern
Hitakshi Agrawal Architecture Student, Intern
Şevki Yapıcı Architect, Intern

Structural Design:
Super Structure - Mustafa Adnan Ogut - Emir Mühendislik
Floatıng Structures - Jelle Vedders - Bartels & Vedders
Ship Building Design - Samet Karaçoban - Karaçoban Engineering
Soil and Ground - Fatih Kulaç - Zetaş AŞ
Structural Timber - Prof. Dr. Demet Sürücü - Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi

Mechanical & Plumbing Design:
Orhan Murat Gunson - GMD Moskay
Serhan Mumcu - GMD Moskay

Electrical Design:
Ozlem Dilda Yaman - Erke Tasarım
Kemal Ovacık - Ovacık Mühendislik

Fire Consultancy:
Zeynep Odabaş - Zeytin Danışmanlık

Sustainability Consultancy:
ESG - Jack Rose - Buro Happold
Carbon Footprint - Dr. Natasha Watson - Buro Happold
Design Technology & Innovation - Wolf Mangelsdorf -
Building Performance Simulations - Mehmet Okumus - Mas Dynamics
Sustainability Framework - Cemil Yaman - Erke Tasarım
Regenerative Design Framework - Prof. Dr. Aysu Kuru - University of Sydney

Urban Design & Planning Consultancy:
Prof. Dr. Züleyha Sara Belge - Mersin Üniversitesi

Cost Consultancy:
Ahmet Güngör
Lighting Design
Korhan Sisman - Planlux
Didem Çarçak Erden - Planlux

Visualizations:
David Rossman - Felix Render
Makett Model Maker:
Sebahattin Uzgor - ModelArt

For more information visit:
https://www.sour.studio/projects/sal

To see all winning entries, visit:
https://surdurulebilirlikmerkezi.izmir.bel.tr/