SPACE June 2025 (No. 691)
The Pool (2022) / ©Oral Göktaş
The Warehouse (2022) / ©Oral Göktaş
Florya Forest, originally opened in the 1940s, had been partially occupied by district mayors of Istanbul for private residences. Following the 2019 mayoral election, a major transformation was initiated to reclaim the area as a public campus. The private villas were repurposed into communal workspaces for the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA), while two abandoned warehouses were converted into multi-purpose public halls. The warehouses’ façades and roofs were removed, retaining their steel frames, and a new annex was added to house essential services. The surrounding landscape now serves as an open-air foyer, seamlessly connecting indoor and outdoor spaces for events. A key focus was also placed on reusing the former private swimming pool. Instead of demolishing it, the pool and its folding cover were transformed into a public hall, preserving the original tiles, colours, and structural elements to maintain its place in the collective memory. The main pool was fitted with plywood amphitheater seating, the kids’ pool became a winter garden, and the mechanical rooms were reworked as backstage areas. This adaptive reuse project prioritises minimal intervention and budget, allowing IPA to host a variety of public events year-round, from workshops to large symposia, fostering civic engagement in a revitalised public space. written by Sevince Bayrak, Oral Göktaş
The Pool / Image courtesy of IPA
The Warehouse / ©Oral Göktaş
