Water Heritage Museum / Barış Bilgi
Üngüt Neigboorhood And Water Heritage Museum
The project arises from a layered understanding of Üngüt’s evolving landscape, shaped through analyses of both its natural and built environment. The traces of the old village settlement, the flow of existing user movements, and the topography carved by water basins informed the identification of gathering points and spaces tied to the neighborhood’s collective memory.
Positioned between the historical village core and the container settlement formed after the earthquake, the proposed neighborhood becomes a connective tissue—one that respects the independent rhythm of life while offering new opportunities for encounter. The reinterpretation of traditional village houses through a contemporary language anchors the architectural strategy. Parallel to the slope, four-storey mixed-use blocks integrate workshops and housing, with transparent facades that reveal the act of making, allowing craft to flow into the public eye. Interstitial spaces between these volumes are designed as small squares and soft thresholds, encouraging spontaneous social interactions and community engagement.
At the heart of the project lies the Water Heritage Museum, situated where the neighborhood’s name and memory are rooted—by the historic fountain and reed bed. Conceived as a living organism, the museum embodies the fluidity and stillness of water—its form shaped by both natural forces and structural logic. Internally, the experience deepens: spaces dedicated to creative arts, local craft, steam rituals, and reflection unfold with a quiet continuity. Water becomes more than a theme—it becomes an atmosphere, influencing temperature, light, sound, and movement.
Rather than a static object, the museum and its surrounding fabric serve as vessels of memory—reflecting past practices, supporting present needs, and adapting to future flows. The project is thus not only a physical intervention but a spatial narrative, where water and neighborhood are reimagined as interconnected, emotional, and evolving elements of place.
