African Design Magazine April 2015 | Page 44

WITH The Nef Primary School building is a 40-classroom school constructed as an expanded replacement for a 19-classroom state school in Ortabayir/ Kagithane in Turkey. T he school is within the intense and lowquality housing patterns of Ortabayır, adjacent to the renowned financial centre of Büyükdere Avenue on Istanbul’s European side, an area that has frequently been the subject of discussions of “urban regeneration” during the 2000s. The school is located next to a district mosque, and besides its education purpose, aims to constitute a social centre for the neighbourhood. Completed despite significant financial constraints, the building was designed with a consciousness of its functional and social role. Within the intense urban fabric, the three rectangular blocks that make up the school have been recessed towards the edges of the plot, creating an open sports courtyard in the middle. The fourth and empty side of the plot is a semi-transparent boundary and green zone that prevents enclosure of the school behind high walls. Read more here PROJECT: Nef Primary School, Istanbul, Turkey ARCHITECTS: Cinici Architects DESIGN TEAM: Can Cinici, Ozlem Ates, Baris Eren, Mert Gokturk, Cem Katkat, Ali Koc, Selim Koytak, Tunc Saracoglu, Cemre Teomete SIZE: 7 284m2 PHOTOGRAPHER: Cemal Emden i 44 africandesignmagazine.com