Living Ruins 2
Project
Competition, Open Air Museum
Location
Mardin, Turkey
Year
2026
Tasarımcılar
İnci Shoainia, Emil Shoainia
Proje İsmi
STRATA OF TIME
Degree
Honorable Mention
This project was developed within the scope of the Living Ruins II competition, which aims not to reconstruct the abandoned but memory-preserving fabric of Dereiçi, but to make it legible.
The competition requests a system that treats the village as an open-air museum, where past and present use can coexist. In this context, “Strata of Time” positions architecture not as a productive tool, but as an interface that makes existing traces visible. The project focuses less on creating space and more on designing the experience of time within space; it engages the user in a process of awareness that progresses between the past and the present.
SPINE / CIRCULATION
The project's core concept is shaped by the Primary Spine, defined as a continuous walking system that follows the village topography. This spine is initially defined by a threshold structure, preparing the user for the experience, and then continues as a route connecting different temporal layers. Movement becomes not merely a spatial circulation, but a transitional experience extending from the past to the present.
PROGRAM / THRESHOLDS
The workshops and visitor spaces, located along the spine, are conceived as scattered thresholds rather than forming a central structure. The aim of these units is not production, but raising awareness. Through the relationships established with the existing ruins, the user directly contacts the memory of the stone; the spaces become stopping points that deepen the experience without interrupting the narrative.
ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE / RETREAT
The architectural language of the project is deliberately withdrawn. New additions are established through elements that are perceived as platforms gently touching the ground, semi-transparent structures, and a continuation of the existing stone texture. The aim is not to impose a new architectural language, but to allow what already exists to speak. This approach transforms the existing silence into a readable experience, rather than reproducing the built environment.
