PROJECT ATLANTIS

PROJECT ATLANTIS

SCHOLARS COUNCIL, SCIENTISTS WHO BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THE ATLAS, NEGOTIATE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND AUTHORITIES. THEY WANTED TO STOP THIS ENDLESS VANDALISM OF HUMANITY. THEY DECIDED TO ESTABLISH A SCIENCE CENTER THAT WOULD STIMULATE HUMANITY, RENEW HUMAN-NATURE RELATION, AND TREAT WOUNDED TISSUE: ATLANTIS.
HOWEVER, THESE INTERVENTIONS OF THE SCHOLARS WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO SAVE HUMANITY FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS IT WILL ENCOUNTER. PROJECT ATLANTIS SPREADS UNDERGROUND. WHEN HUMANITY REACHES ZERO POINT, IT IS PREPARED TO TAKE OVER AND START ”REGENERATION”.

EPISODE 1 WHO IS ATLAS?

ATLAS WAS CONVICTED TO HOLD UP THE CELESTIAL HEAVENS FOR ETERNITY BECAUSE OF THE HIS OWN ARROGANCE.
ATLAS IS THE FIRST OF THE 7 VERTEBRAE CARRYING THE SKULL.
ATLAS, WHICH REGARDED AS THE END OF THE WORLD ARE THE MOUNTAINS, LOCATED IN NORTHWEST AFRICA, WHICH PROTECT THE PEOPLE FROM OBSCURITY.
ATLAS IS A COLLECTION OF MAPS PUT TOGETHER TO GIVE MASS INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORLD.
ATLAS IS THE INDUSTRIALS, THE GREAT CAPITALISTS WHO CARRY THE WORLD AND TURN THEIR ENGINES.
HOW COMMON IN DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS IS THE POINT; ATLAS IS A FIGURE THEY PROTECTS HUMANITY FROM DISASTER, OBSCURITY, CHAOS OR UNKNOWN MONSTERS.
SHALL WE DO A SMALL TOUR IN THAT SECURED WORLD? DESERTIFICATION… MELTING GLACIERS… INEQUALITY…
THIS IS OBVIOUS ONE BUT THE SCIENTIFIC FACTS SAY MORE. LET'S CHECK TOGETHER..!
IN THIS CENTURY, THE WORLD WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE LARGEST POPULATION EXPLOSION IN HUMAN HISTORY. IMAGINE THAT TWO BILLION PEOPLE WILL BE ADDED TO THE WORLD POPULATION IN THE NEXT 40 YEARS -TWO BILLION PEOPLE WHO NEED FOOD, WATER AND SHELTER, AND WHOSE NEEDS HAVE BECOME MORE URGENT DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND ADD TO THAT MILLIONS PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO MOVE BECAUSE OF THE RISING WATER LEVEL. RESEARCHES SHOW THAT 1.79 MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS LAND OF THE WORLD MAY LOSE. THE MAJORITY OF THESE LAND LOSSES WILL TAKE PLACE IN AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT PLACES SUCH AS THE NILE BASIN.
WITH THE WARMED EARTH GLOBE, CHANGING PRESSURE VALUES, DECREASING PRECIPITATION, UNCONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION OF WATER RESOURCES, OUR COUNTRY IS FACED WITH THE RISK OF DESERTIFICATION.
FUTURISTIC SCENARIOS CAN SEE AS YOU SCIENCE FICTION. BUT THE DATA IS REAL. AND THE TOMORROW IS SOON.
NOW LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY! THE WORLD IS IN A BIG THRESHOLD. WE ARE IN BETWEEN THE NORMAL AND DISASTER. LIKE THE DESERTIFICATION OF SAHARA FORESTS 4 THOUSAND YEARS AGO. WITH THE INDUSTRIALIZATION AND POPULATION GROWTH IT WILL NOT TAKE THAT MUCH TIME.
IT’S VALUE WILL INCREASE AS WATER DECREASES. THERE WILL BE WARS FOR WATER SAKE. CONSIDERING THE OIL WARS AND DESTRUCTION OF 90'S, WHAT CONFLICTS WILL THE ABSENCE OF VITAL FLUID CASE?
WITHOUT WATER, AGRICULTURE WILL BE AFFECTED; WITHOUT AGRICULTURE, POPULATION WILL BE AFFECTED; WITHOUT POPULATION, PRODUCTION WILL BE AFFECTED; WITHOUT PRODUCTION, THE SYSTEM WILL BE AFFECTED.
WILL THE MONEY CONTINUE TO BE GOLD INDEXED, WHILE WATER IS SO VALUABLE? OF COURSE, IT WILL ACCUMULATE IN THE HANDS OF THE CAPITALS. NEWYORK WATER EXCHANGE...
IS IT SO DISTOPHIC?
DON’T BE THAT SURE!
WAR FOR WATER, AUTHORITY CONTROL WATER, PRIMITIVE TRIBES FIGHTING FOR WATER... THESE TRIBES ARE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BANKING, WORKING IN OFFICES 100 YEARS AGO.
AND HUMANITY REALIZE THAT ATLAS IS NEITHER A TITAN, A PIECE OF BONE OR A PIECE OF PAPER… ATLAS IS NATURE. WHO CARRIED NOT ONLY THE CELESTIAL HEAVENS, BUT ALSO THE PEOPLE ON IT AND THEIR IRRESPONSIBLE INTERVENTIONS…
REMEMBER THIS…
DISASTER SCENARIOS ALWAYS START WITH AN IGNORED SCIENTIST.

EPISODE 2 ATLANTIS IN PROGRESS...

SCIENTISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD CAME TOGETHER AND FORMED THE "SCHOLARS COUNCIL". THEY ARE PEOPLE WHO KNOW AND BELIEVE THE POWER OF THE ATLAS.

SCHOLARS COUNCIL NEGOTIATE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND AUTHORITIES. THEY WANTED TO STOP THIS ENDLESS VANDALISM OF HUMANITY. THEY DECIDED TO ESTABLISH A SCIENCE CENTER THAT WOULD STIMULATE HUMANITY, RENEW HUMAN-NATURE RELATION, AND TREAT WOUNDED TISSUE:
ATLANTIS.

HERE WE COME ACROSS A CONCEPT: "REGENERATION". RENEWAL AND REVITALIZATION OF DAMAGED AND INJURED TISSUE. THIS MAY ALSO BE A PHYSICAL REGENERATION; DAMAGE TO NATURE AT THE COST OF OUR LIVES OR RENEWAL OF OUR HARMFUL CONSCIOUSNESS.
WATER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF NATURAL BALANCE. ANY CHANGE IN WATER; LACK, MULTIPLICITY AND CONTAMINATION CAN CHANGE THE ENTIRE BALANCE. WATER ALSO HAS A HEALING POWER SOCIALLY. SO WE HAVE TO ADD ANOTHER KEYWORD "SOCIAL REGENERATION".
THIS PLACE WE CREATED WILL BE A HOPE FOR REGENERATION OF THE NATURE THAT HAS BEEN DAMAGED AND ABOUT TO GIVE UP, AS AN AREA WHERE THE BROKE NATURE-HUMAN RELATION WILL BE RENEWED.
THE AREA WE HAVE CHOSEN FOR THIS IS THE DAM, WHICH IS ONE OF THE AREAS WHERE WE SEE THE DAMAGE CAUSED VERY CLEARLY.

BALÇOVA DAM...

BALCOVA DAM IS LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF WOODLAND CLOSE TO THE BUSTLING CITY CENTER. MOREOVER, THIS DAM IS LOCATED NEXT TO THE THERAPY FOREST, WHICH IS ACTIVELY USED BY THE CITY POPULATION. IT CAN HOST A PLACE WHERE SOCIAL AND BIOLOGICAL REGENERATION TAKES PLACE.

DUE TO LANDSLIDES AROUND IT, IT IS AN AREA THAT IN NOT ACCESSIBLE TO HUMAN ACCESS.

BALÇOVA DAM IS VERY CLOSE TO THE CITY AS A LOCATION. EVEN IN THE FORESTED AREA THREATENED BY THE CITY. BALÇOVA PROVINCE WHERE THE DAM IS LOCATED IN TURKEY ALSO EXPOSED TO THE EFFECTS OF RAPID URBANIZATION.

THE BIG CHANGE IS BETWEEN 1963-1995. THIS IS ALSO COINCIDES WITH THE PERIOD WHEN THE DAM WAS BUILT. THE CHANGING CONTINUES ACCORDING TO 2005 DATA. THE STRUCTURED LAND, WHICH WAS 8% IN 1963 WITHIN THE BORDERS OF BALÇOVA, HAS INCREASED 4 TIMES IN 28 YEARS. AGAINST THIS, MAKI, FIRGANA LANDS DROP FROM 40% TO HALF. BY 2005, CONSTRUCTION IS 39% WITH 5 TIMES. THEAREA OF MAQUIS AND FARMLAND IS HALVED.

WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SAKARYA STREETS THAT SEPARATES THE BALÇOVA FOREST AND THE URBAN TEXTURE, WE OBSERVE HOW THE CITY AND FOREST ARE SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER. A GREEN AREA THAT IS SO CLOSE TO THE CITY IS SEPARATED BY A DOUBLE-LANE ROAD AND NATURE IS SEVERED FROM HUMAN BEINGS.

EPISODE 3 LAST CHANGE FOR THE WORLD

ATLANTIS BECAME THE CENTER OF HUMANITIES AND NATURAL SCIENCES. SOFTWARE DESIGNERS, MATHEMATICIANS, PHYSICISTS, BIOLOGISTS, ETC...

CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, SIMULATIVE EXPERIENCES, ETC…

THE GOVERNMENTS MAKE PROMISES FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ADMINISTRATIONS.

GLOBAL BRANDS SAID THEY ARE RESEARCHING FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION INSIGHTS.

PEOPLE PROTEST FOR PLASTIC WASTE, UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES, FACTORY WASTE, ENDANGERED ANIMALS.

DID IT WORK, DID THE WORLD BECOME A BETTER PLACE?

BUT AUTHORITIES CONTINUE TO DESTROY PEOPLE WITH THEIR “MEGA PROJECTS” AND PEOPLE WITH THEIR UNCONSCIOUS MOVEMENTS.

AIR POLLUTION, POLLUTED WATER RESOURCES, ENDANGERED ANİMALS...

THE NATURAL BALANCE DEPENDS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIVING AND INANIMATE. EACH SPECIES HAS A INDISPENSABLE PLACE IN BALANCE. WE CAN'T CLAIM THAT THIS BALANCE WAS SHAKEN BY HUMAN EXISTENCE 300 THOUSAND YEARS AGO. WE WEREN'T THE DOMİNANT SPECIES, BUT WE AFFECTED THE SYSTEM, LIKE UNDEFINED OBJECTS LEAKING IN TIME. THESE INTERVENTIONS ARE FREQUENT AND SHOCKING ENOUGH TO PREVENT THE BALANCE FROM STABILIZING AGAIN TODAY.

DESPITE THE CALL OF ATLAS, THE HUMANITY CONTINUED ITS SUBVERSIVE LIFESTYLE. WE NO LONGER HAVE A CHANCE FOR THE WORLD WE KNOW. SCHOLARS TOOK A DECISION. ATLANTIS SPREAD OUT UNDERGROUND. WE ARE PREPARING FOR THE NEW WORLD WITH OUR LIVE, INANIMATE AND KNOWLEDGE RESERVES.

A WORLD WE WILL CONDUCT BY US....

EPISODE 4 EARLY DESIGN IDEAS

HUMAN INTERVENTION, THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS EXPRESSED IN SMOOTH GEOMETRIC SHAPES. ONE USES SQUARE SHAPES WHEN BUILDING SOMETHING; SUCH AS A PRIMITIVE HUB OR MEGARON. BUT THERE ARE SMOOTH TRANSITIONS IN NATURE. THE FOLDS OF THE MOUNTAINS, THE UNIQUE SHAPES OF THE TREES, THE FLUID MOVEMENT OF THE WATER, THE BODIES OF THE ANIMALS. AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM, A SKYSCRAPER, CONCRETE BLOCKS, DAM MAIN WALLS, FORTIFICATION WALLS... BUT WHEN WE LOOK THROUGH THE PERCEPTION OF A RABBIT, IS IT A NEW MOUNTAIN OR AN UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT THAT SUDDENLY APPEARS AS IF IT CAME DOWN FROM THE SKY?

THERE IS A MESSAGE FROM ATLAS TO BE CONVEYED TO HUMANITY HERE. THE QUESTION IS "HOW IS THIS MESSAGE TRANSMITTED?
IN 1967, THEORIST MARSHALL MCLUHAN PUBLISHED THE BOOK "THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE". ACCORDING TO HIM, THE REAL CONTENT OF THE MEDIUM IS ITSELF.
THE MEDIUM, THE MEDIA IS MORE EFFECTIVE ON THE PEOPLE THAN THE TRANSMITTED MESSAGE. THE MEDIUM DOES NOT ONLY TAKE THE ROLE OF THE CARRIER OF THE MESSAGE. MAYBE IT CHANGES THE WAY PEOPLE THINK AND PERCEIVE MORE THAN THE MESSAGE. IT SHAPES OUR PERCEPTION AND PERHAPS PUTS OUR PERCEPTION INTO OTHER FORMS. THE MESSAGES GIVEN IN BOOKS, RADIO, TELEVISION AND CINEMA ALL HAVE DIFFERENT EFFECTS.
THANK YOU, MCLUHAN. AND NOW THINK THE MESSAGE THAT A BUILDING WILL REPRESENT. MEDIUM WILL BE THE MESSAGE OF ATLAS, THE ATLANTIS ITSELF.

WITH ITS PERFECT GEOMETRY AND SHARP SHAPE, IT IS A FOREIGN GEOMETRY
IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE AREA. A STRUCTURE THAT IMPRESSES WITH ITS SCALE AS YOU GET CLOSER. IT IS A REPRESENTATION OF HUMAN INTERVENTION.
WHEN WE GET INSIDE, WE ENCOUNTER MORE INDENTED SURFACES AND EXPERİENCES. WE EXPERIENCE IN AN UPSIDE-DOWN TOPOGRAPHY.

FOR SOCIAL REGENERATION; SOCIAL AREAS, DISCUSSION AREAS, SIMULATION ROOM, ETC…

FOR PHYSICAL REGENERATION; EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON DIFFERENT SCENARIOS, COLLECTION OF CONSERVATIVE DATA SUCH AS GENBANK, SEED CENTER, ETC...

EPISODE 5 A OVERALL VIEW TO ATLANTIS

ATLANTIS STARTED ITS ABOVEGROUND AND UNDERGROUND ACTIVITIES. THE MONOLITHIC MASS PLACED ON THE DAM WALL WELCOMED THE VISITORS. THE FIRST FLOOR CONSISTS OF PUBLIC SPACES TO ENABLE THE SOCIAL GENERATION; ENTRANCE TO THE GREEN LAB, OBSERVATION RAMP OF THE GENEBANK, MEETING AREAS, EXHIBITIONS, SIMULATION ROOMS, DISCUSSION AREAS, WORKSHOPS, ETC.

AS WE ENTER THROUGH THE ENTRANCE DOOR, A LARGE SQUARE AND A MONUMENTAL GENEBANK GREETS US. THIS MONUMENT, WHERE THE GENE MAP OF EACH LIVING SPECIES THAT ENSURES NATURAL BALANCE IS PRESERVED, AIMMS TO GIVE VISITORS A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE.

THE GREEN LAB SERVES AS A EXPERIMENTAL SITE FOR BIOLOGIST AS WELL AS OFFERING PLANT DIVERSITY TO VISITORS. IT USES AS A LABORATORY FOR SPECIES DEVELOPED BY BIOLOGS THAT WILL ADAPT TO LIFE IN HARSH CONDITIONS.

AS YOU GO UPSTAIRS, PUBLICITY DECREASES AND PRIVITY INCREASE; ADMINISTRATION, GENETICS, CHEMISTRY, BIO, SOFTWARE LABS, ETC.

WHILE CARRYING CORES PROVIDE CIRCULATION WITHIN THE MASS, THEY ALSO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE UNDERGROUND. WATER STORED FOR REGENERATION AND LABORATORIES WHERE SCIENTISTS CONTINUE THEIR SECRET RESEARCH ARE LOCATED HERE.

AREA : 20.000 m²
LOCATION: BALCOVA DAM , IZMIR , TURKEY
SITE IS LOCATED IN BALCOVA DAM. I CHOSE THE UNUSED DAM SITE, WHICH DESTROYS NATURE WITH ITS PRESENCE, AS A CENTER TO INITIATE SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL REGENERATION.