Home > Magazine > Issues > #36 Nov/Dec 2010 > Opera house, Izmir

Opera house, Izmir

Opera house

IZMIR (TR) - Teget Architecture win a two-phase competition with their clever artificial topography.

In March 2010, Izmir Municipality, the governing body of Turkey's third largest city, launched a nationwide, two-phase architectural competition for the Izmir City Opera House. The site is located in the recently developed north-western part of the city, where many new high-rise residential blocks are being built. The motivation for building such a cultural facility was obviously the desire to create an attraction node for people living outside the city centre.

The narrow triangular lot is separated from the coastline by a wide green zone and a busy road. Architects were required to develop ways of connecting the site to the sea and to suggest new functions for the green zone, but they were not allowed to build outside the defined triangular area. This restriction was much criticized by competitors, because it prevented them from using the coastline. Nevertheless, the competition attracted 177 submissions. Only twelve teams made it through to the second phase, which was subsequently won by Teget Architecture office, headed by Mehmet Kütükçüoğlu and Ertuğ Uçar.

Their design was chosen because of its artificial topography, which cleverly resolves pedestrian and car traffic on the plaza in front of the building. The jury praised the simple geometrical form, which maximizes land use without sacrificing the grand and prestigious atmosphere. The building is required to create an attraction zone in this part of the city, so the architects created numerous public spaces which can be used at different times of the day. The courtyard in the middle of the volume enables the surrounding offices to receive daylight and fresh air, and at the same time the whole void is used as a secondary open-air theatre and production stage for rehearsals. The roof also acts as a secondary public space where visitors can enjoy the sea view during the day. At night the wall of the fly tower can be used as a projection screen, and there will be a small café-restaurant on one corner of the roof. The lobby is a permeable and transparent space, which can be accessed from all sides of the building, where it acts as a 24/7 free, air-conditioned and protected environment for visitors. The lobby extends towards the sea by way of the plaza in front of the building, which will hopefully become a well-used public space. The weakest part of this project is the sun-drenched public spaces which obviously require more shading and protection from the sun, since Izmir is one of the hottest and most humid cities in Turkey – temperatures rarely drop below 30°C on summer days.

Although Turkey does not have a good track record for implementing competition results, the architects and the residents of Izmir still have high hopes that this project will actually be realized.