Two Encounters on Architecture in the Mediterranean
SHARE Architects Malta
In early days of May, Emre participated in the SHARE Architects event in Malta as a keynote speaker. He started his lecture by a brief introduction on particulars of being Mediterranean while sharing insights from his personal experience. His narrative included excerpts on his first encounter with the place, multi layered streets of Valletta, and a common instinctive behavior that accounts for the spatial richness of a multitude Mediterranean settlements. His description of the unique Mediterranean architecture manifests itself through the intuitive and organic interaction between object and place. He emphasized his position through examples from his own practice such as the
Bergama Cultural Center, Nef Gölköy, Çeşme 7800; Green Coast Village in Albania; and other projects in Urla and Göcek. Varying in scale and content, the projects highlight EAA’s approach to the Mediterranean geography.
Bread & Heart Festival
The second edition of the Bread & Heart Festival took place in Tirana during the first week of June, once again bringing together prominent architects from different corners of the world.
Emre contributed to two panel discussions and shared his views on architecture’s environmental responsibility and responsiveness to ‘the sense of place’ within the context of Mediterranean geography. Through EAA’s ongoing architectural activities in Albania, Emre exemplified the defining impacts of topography, endemic landscape, and local identity on the design process. He noted that any practice of architecture cannot be limited only to the conception of a design but should reflect a sensitivity towards the existing landscape.
For EAA, he continued, architect’s mission does not end with completion of drawings and digital files. The same sense of responsibility and diligence continues throughout construction, with each stage of the process closely monitored. A shared sense of responsibility is expected from all contributing actors.
In his second talk at the festival, Emre addressed the way water is often reduced to scenery or treated merely as a visual asset that adds value to waterfront developments. Beyond enabling a scenic factor or an added value as beautiful coastlines, blue seas, marinas, and large swimming pools, his position aims to critically highlight ‘water’ as a finite, fragile, and increasingly scarce resource.
Through a vast number of EAA projects from the Aegean coast to Albania and from Italy to Portugal, he discussed how buildings should seek to coexist with their surroundings rather than dominating them. By addressing the unique fragility of each coastal geography due to its ecological balance, load capacity, and growth limits, he advocated for a considerate action through design. Emre underlined that architecture in pursuit of a meaningful relationship with place will be capable of bridging the gap between the human desire to build and the available resources enabling life.
