World Architecture Awards 10+5+X Submissions

The project site is situated on a peninsula in one of Turkey's developing tourism regions, surrounded by the Aegean Sea and the Kavaklarboğazı stream. In contrast to the prevalent villa complexes in the area, this design seeks to explore spatial potentials through a fresh perspective, creating a unique architectural language. The design emphasizes a texture of units that harmoniously integrates with the natural topography, serving as a natural extension of the land while fostering shared communal spaces.
This architectural design not only addresses the immediate needs of its occupants but also sets a new standard for sustainable tourism in Turkey’s Aegean region. By incorporating vernacular settlement strategies like fragmentation which is prioritizing human scale, the project achieves a refined contemporary interpretation that resonates with the area’s cultural heritage. A poetic promenade leads visitors toward the settlement, offering a breathtaking view of the lake, reminiscent of a bridge suspended over the water, framed by flamingos and lush forest surroundings.
The masterplan thoughtfully embraces the steep, topographically unique site, ensuring it harmonizes with the landscape while maintaining undisturbed vistas of the lake and forest, despite the challenges posed by the land's inclination. The architectural expressions within the project showcase solid identities developed through years of experience, utilizing local materials such as natural stones and plasters to enhance the plasticity derived from the articulation of masses.
The project consists of three distinct living units, providing a combination of short-term and long-term accommodations. The hotel unit (Block A), positioned at the highest elevation of the site, aims to serve as a landmark, offering sweeping views of the surrounding landscape. This structure is designed to maximize vistas while ensuring that its social amenities are closely linked to an inner courtyard, enhancing the experience for guests. The hotel features a spa and gym that open to the inner courtyard, creating a relaxing atmosphere. An arched passage connects this garden to other units, maintaining the relationship between communal areas.
Directly below the hotel, the "village" (Block B) offers a modern interpretation of traditional living units. Open circulations connect these units, creating an engaging design that incorporates terraces and modular spaces, encouraging interaction with nature. Strategically placed commercial streets and squares aim to serve local residents while also providing gathering points for guests.
The C blocks consist of relatively taller units, designed to avoid a monolithic appearance through terracing. The project features arched passages, open circulations, and social courtyards that reference the overall design, creating a cohesive architectural narrative. Additionally, village cafes and squares serve as meeting points, supported by a pool, activity areas, shops, and restaurants, enriching the social spaces throughout the project.
Overall, the design reflects a typical Aegean settlement, featuring urban piazzas, narrow shaded streets, and vibrant restaurants that celebrate local values. Cultural hubs foster community interaction, while amenities such as local shops, a health center, leisure facilities, pools, spas, and play zones for children enrich the social fabric of the environment. Ultimately, this proposal not only enhances the experience of living and visiting but also cultivates a vibrant community, setting a benchmark for future developments in the region.

Site Area: 56479,63 m²
Gross Floor Area (GFA): 50813,21 m²
Net Floor Area (NFA): 50831,67 m²
Number of Floors: 6
Orçun Ersan, Esra Toygar, Didar Çayır, Neslihan Asena Can, Fatma Begüm Tuncel, Özgün Berk Çınar, Aybüke Öztürk Gözükara, Aleyna Kalkan, Esra Akın

Nestled in a tranquil recreational area by a picturesque lake, the Rehabilitation Center represents an innovative and sustainable approach to adult health recovery. Designed to integrate modern rehabilitation methods, including hippotherapy, the centre provides comfort and functionality while blending seamlessly into the surrounding natural landscape. This commitment to eco-conscious design minimizes the ecological footprint and adheres to the principles of green architecture, promoting sustainability in every aspect.
The green roof is a standout feature in the centre. Covered with lush grass and shrubs, the roof provides additional relaxation spaces, lowers temperatures in warmer months, and fosters regional biodiversity. Numerous private rest zones offer visitors peaceful retreats with stunning views of the lake and nearby mountains, reinforcing the connection between architecture and nature, creating a unique serene environment.
The building’s facades are constructed from innovative, eco-friendly materials that uphold the highest sustainability and energy efficiency standards. The columns supporting the expansive glass panels are made from regenerated concrete, emphasizing durability and sustainability. This innovative approach makes the building resilient and eco-friendly.
Incorporating photovoltaic glass on the facade is a significant design innovation, enabling the building to generate solar energy and reducing reliance on external power sources. This innovative integration aligns with sustainable architectural practices, while the glass’s light absorption properties ensure a cool and comfortable interior environment, lowering energy needs.
Inside, triple-glazed windows with advanced thermal insulation enhance ventilation and natural light while improving energy efficiency. The centre’s interiors use natural materials—wood, stone, and eco-friendly paints—creating a warm and inviting atmosphere essential for recovery and healing.
Addressing the growing need for adult rehabilitation facilities, this project combines modern technologies and therapeutic natural methods, ultimately providing a holistic approach to health recovery in harmony with nature. The Rehabilitation Center by the Lake stands as a model for sustainable architecture, illustrating the potential for design to nurture healing, wellness, and well-being.

• Total building height: 7,200 mm
• Ground floor height: 5,200 mm
• First floor height: 2,900 mm
• Structural system: Reinforced concrete with regenerated concrete columns
• Facade materials: Photovoltaic glass, eco-friendly panels
• Roof type: Green roof with vegetation
• Windows: Triple-glazed with thermal insulation
• Energy efficiency: Solar energy generation via photovoltaic glass
Oksana Maksakova

The project is located in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. The land area is 1020 square meters. The total area of ​​the house is 429 square meters. The ground 1 floor villa living room is double height floors high. On the left side there are 3 rooms and a family room. The house has 6 rooms in total. While designing the house, an architectural identity was defined with reinforced concrete floors at different levels. In order to prevent the houses on the other side of the road on the right from watching the balcony on the 1st floor, the 1st floor terrace was closed with a blank wall in this direction. 3 different floors and the console wall on the right side are surfaces that slide over each other and define each other. On the left side of the house, a mass was designed with a sloping roof that would create a contrast with these flat floors, and different movements between the right and left of the house were provided to strengthen each other's existence by creating a contrast. At the front of the house there is a sitting area which is an extension of the living room. This semi-open sitting area of ​​30 square meters is a part of the garden. The swimming pool, which is 4 meters by 14 meters, was designed on the boundary wall side of the garden. The architecture of the house is unique to this villa due to the client's desire for privacy on the first floor balcony. The floating floor pieces allowed us to achieve an original design, distinguishing the architecture of the house from other existing house stock.

G 1 floors
Plot area: 1020 sqm
Total construction area:429 sqm
Selim Senin
Bilgehan Kucukkuzucu

In today’s secular world, the definition of a worship space transcends religious boundaries. Drawing inspiration from Iran’s historical worship spaces, the design revisits the foundational elements of Mithraic sanctuaries, fire temples, and Persian mosques. The comparison reveals shared spatial genes across these typologies, with variations in their relationships and hierarchies.
During the Islamic era, the spatial organization of mosques closely mirrored that of Mithraic sanctuaries, as if reinterpreted for a new cultural context. However, some spatial potentials, such as the dynamic relationship between interior and exterior in the Dome Hall, were lost in translation. Conversely, elements like the portico were introduced, enriching mosque architecture.
This project seeks to reinterpret these overlooked qualities and integrate them into a contemporary context. The result is a prayer hall that reflects the spiritual and social aspirations of its users while paying homage to the architectural lineage of Iranian worship spaces.
The Ideation Process
The interplay between the material world of the industrial town and the spiritual essence of the prayer hall, alongside the spatial constraints of placing a conventional prayer space amidst commercial blocks, informs the centralized underground design. This approach envisions a "spatial container" embedded within the industrial town, acting as a bridge between material and spiritual realms. Submerging the structure underground mitigates noise pollution and enhances climatic comfort, creating a serene space amidst the region's harsh environment without disrupting the flow of commercial activities above.
Recognizing the absence of a collective space for rest and interaction, the prayer hall is designed as a multipurpose environment. Beyond facilitating religious rituals, it offers a tranquil space for reflection and social connection. By relocating the portico from its conventional position within the mosque to the exterior, the design fosters an inviting environment that enhances spiritual and social experiences. This innovation improves the space’s functionality for extended stays and meaningful interactions.

The Dome Hall
In pre-Islamic places of worship, the dome chamber was a semi-enclosed space that allowed natural elements such as light, wind, and rain to enter, enriching the users' spiritual experience. This concept has often been overlooked in modern translations of worship spaces.
The design seeks to revive this quality by incorporating layered spatial envelopes that connect the inner and outer environments. This approach balances the spiritual openness of traditional sanctuaries with the introspective nature of contemporary mosque architecture, retaining the dome’s enclosed essence while embracing external elements.

The Minaret
Given the limited area of the industrial town, a towering minaret is unnecessary. Instead, the minaret is reimagined as a symbolic element integrated into the prayer hall’s structure. It channels daylight towards the Qiblah during the day and emits interior light outward at night, establishing a dialogue between the inner spiritual sanctum and the external environment.

Spatial Organization: The Relationship Between Parts and Whole
Throughout history, spatial organization has reflected prevailing ideologies and worldviews. For this project, instead of segmenting spaces, each area is nested within another. This creates an architecture of layered spaces rather than isolated enclosures, offering a multitude of possibilities for spatial interactions.

Lead Architect: Meysam Feizi
Design Team: Iman Panahi, Behrooz Nakhaei, Masoud Faraji

Izmir has been a cosmopolitan, important coastal and port city of Western Anatolia with its port and commercial identity that developed depending on its background area from the past to the present, and with its cultural identities it has lived on. In the 17th century, the city was dominated by the Ottomans. The city turned into an eastern Mediterranean port city in the 17th century and became a commercial center. The mouth of the estuary was completely closed, this area turned into a swamp formed by seafood and soon filled with warehouse type inns.
İzmir Konak Square, lesser known as Atatürk Square, is an area that has undergone a lot of changes in its history of more than 200 years.
Konak Square has been a square, far from being a fixable place in its active history, with its 'structure' according to the political identities of different periods. This transformation has become more evident with the growth of the spatial scale over time. Until recently, Konak Square has been an open space that does not offer an ideal public life and has low spatial use due to the nature of the structures and uses that define it. It can be attributed to the fact that it outweighs it, that it cannot go beyond a mere landscaping and that the scale of the area has been lost.
The project has been designed to reference the historical past of Izmir. While the assembly hall, which is the symbol of democracy, was handled gradually and designed in the order of the ancient amphitheater, the triple columns that will carry this structure refer to the columnar architecture of the Agora. The three-column, in which the assembly is carried, represents the people who shape democracy with the elections they have made, and explains that the assembly can survive with this popular election. Thanks to the gradual elevation of the assembly structure to occupy the least space on the square, the remaining area opens towards the mosque and monument with steps and continues the public space in the project area. Instead of a building that covers the whole area, the building is positioned in a way that touches the ground the least and increases the use of people.
The semi-open public space designed on the basement floor can be accessed from two points, and the exhibition area and cafe area below can be accessed.

Plot: 3332 sqm
Composite Structure
Selim Senin
Bilgehan Kucukkuzucu
Alev Doru
Mehmet Bikec
Dicle Yildirim
Beyza Kinsiz