At last, we aimed for KAHEM to regain some of the respect that it has lost, to receive attention as a 65 year old
building, write its own story and become freer as a result of the sharing of the story. From a bad photocopy and
location plans in aluminum frames hung unevenly on the wall, we reached the Arkitekt magazine issue where the
competition was announced (1938/02, pp.43-56).
We started working with students to determine the relations between the winning project in 1938, the building as it
was built in 1942 and the way it’s used now, in 2007. Even though our project deserved a real measured drawing-
restitution-restoration process, for now, we have only been able to do a survey. Our aim was to look at the current
structure, determine what had been added on and clear the building of extraneous elements. We checked the
present structure against the drawings from 1938. The most obvious change had happened in the designed as the
administrative branch section which is being used as the Kadıköy courthouse. However the remaining space has
been rearranged in a way that fullfills all the requirements for storage, classrooms and workshop areas. As of now,
there is not a centimeter square which has not being utilized.
Despite its calmness, the building solves its problem with the sloping ground by taking on a stubborn, aggressive
attitude, placing itself on the ground with bands carrying two different programs and a centerline where the bands are
tied up (which makes 3 bands).
The 1st band establishes a connection to the road on the sloping ground, using two user-heavy programs – the gym
and the conference hall – and wide-span structural solutions. The reading room which is away from the heavy
pedestrian traffic and bustle of Bahariye avenue, the long and narrow foyer area servicing the conference hall, the
gym and conference hall corridors and foyers are all on this band.