In today's world, there is a convergence between artists and people who work with computers, resulting in the emergence of "New Media Arts." The increasing availability of data in many scientific fields due to computer technology has also allowed art to encounter science once again. Ways of producing artificial intelligence, synthetic life forms and forms at the molecular level with nanotechnology have started to be sought. As a tool for always pursuing the new and reducing it to life in society, art and artists will be important figures in these areas as pioneers of society.
In this context, a project was designed to bring together people who utilize science and technology to create new methods and seek new ways of production under one roof and create spaces where they can learn from each other, just like the interaction between art and science. Specific branches were not defined in the program, and it was thought that individuals who study in the space should progress according to their imagination.
The public and private parts of the area were determined by data coming from the environment. A public entrance was positioned on KurbaÄalıdere Street, which extends from Kadıkƶy Municipality to the Bull Statue in the West, and the area where construction is dense was allocated for public functions. Private functions were placed around the gasometer and compressor buildings to the north of the area.
Starting from the history of the campus and having met the energy needs of Istanbul's Anatolian side for about a century, it was decided that the existing and new functions should generate their own energy within the campus. It was deemed appropriate to use photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the new structures' working and production areas.
Based on the saying, "The new takes shape and emerges within the old; the future within the past," a settlement plan was created that positioned itself like a parasite among the existing structures in the area and penetrated the area. Minimal masses were designed that tried to establish a clear communication with the forms of the existing structures in the area.
Within the framework of democracy, equality, and flexibility, an integrated set of indoor and outdoor spaces was created that would allow observation and participation in any kind of activity carried out inside. The facades and frames were detailed to allow the indoor spaces to be opened to the outside and for the outdoor spaces to become a part of the working areas when the weather was good.
A conference hall and media center open to everyone were located around the existing structures in the southwest of the area. To ensure continuity between the spaces, the mass containing the media center and classrooms was connected to the other mass via a bridge. The gasometer structure was converted into a workshop and connected to the newly added laboratory masses.
The Machine Dreams Hall, where one enters the building, was created as a space with a white wall that can display works such as cinema or animation outside and where data processed within the campus are transformed into a visual work of art via a computer program, inspired by Refik Anadol's exhibition of the same name. It was thought that the use of pastel colors would create a contrast with the red and earth colors that are abundant in the area.
