Bademli 137 is a rural settlement situated in Ayvacık, Çanakkale. It is below Bademli, a small village west of Assos, well known for its ancient ruins, old stone building stock and its humble marina. Here, our task was to design a “complex” that would contain a main residential building, a recording studio, multiple bungalows, a camping area and an amphitheater. While positioning these different elements, the biggest challenge was the site’s topography and the existing vegetation.

First, we defined three zones which are relatively plain and less planted. Then, we conceived of a main axis which would connect the entrance of the site to these zones. The third zone, because of its location underneath the hillside, was connected to the main axis with the help of a series of stairs. The first zone, which is both higher and closer to the entrance, is reserved for the main residential building, allowing it to oversee the site and providing easy access. The axis becomes larger in front of the building, providing space for various events, a space we called “agora”, while also working as an open-air parking. The second zone contains the amphitheater, which serves both as the ending of the main axis and as a vista point with a magnificent view of Lesvos Island. The two zones are connected with the help of the recording studio, which also includes a semi-open bar oriented towards the amphitheater. Finally, the third zone is conceived as the camping area, organized around a gathering space with a hearth at the center.

Bademli 137 is a rural settlement which attempts to combine rural/vernacular materials and construction technologies with up to date interventions. Wood and stone merges with steel and concrete, structural systems get hybridized, while current mechanical and electrical solutions support traditional ones… These various combinations helped us both to create an architectural language that belongs to the geography and culture of the region and to find sustainable design solutions that would reduce the settlement’s impact on the environment.

In fact, at Bademli 137, the idea to combine/to hybridize is not limited with material selections or construction systems. Here, uses and even people are fused. Although the main residential building is reserved for the owners of the property and their friends, bungalows, camping area and the recording studio can all be rented. This idea of mixing becomes concretized especially during various events such as concerts, workshops and festivals (both agora and the amphitheater can provide the required space), when the whole settlement works as a meeting place for various people, either residents or visitors. A place, mixing with, and in the nature…