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MERT EYiLER, MiMAR ATÖLYESi (MEMA)
The works of Mert Eyiler, founder of MEMA, are living
environments, shaped according to the physical and perceptual
needs of their users. This user-oriented approach is
strengthened by the architect’s close relationship with his
clients. Most of his projects draw on collaborators from other
disciplines, such as art and sociology. His Lunchbox project
(with fievin Y I ld I z for the Live the Box competition held in
2008) is a former Westinghouse factory site in Newark, New
Jersey, that is to be transformed into a housing settlement
constructed out of shipping containers. Taking into
consideration the demographics of the city’s population, and
by leaving as much space for public areas as for houses,
Lunchbox proposes an urban scene in which living and
commercial activities overlap. The shipping containers are
positioned for maximum daylight and interaction with the city,
and the garden is also composed of containers since the soil at
the site has been contaminated by the former industry. 4
Lunchbox, Newark, New Jersey, US, 2008
Text © 2010 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Images: p 86(t) © GAD, photos Ali Bekman and Özlem Avc I oglu; p
86(b) © GAD, photo Özlem Avc I oglu; p 87 © TECE Architects; p 88 © Trafo Architects, photos Yavuz
Draman and Ipek Yürekli; p 89 © Trafo Architects, photos Cemal Emden and Ipek Yürekli; pp 90-1 © Teğet
Architecture; p 92 © DB Architects; p 93 © Yazgan Design Architecture Co Ltd, photos Kerem Yazgan; p 94
© Bogaçhan Dündaralp and Pelin Tan; p 95 © Mert Eyiler and Sevin Y I ld I z
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