MANISA METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY COMPLEX

The city of Manisa is located in the Aegean region of Turkey, on the skirts of Mount Sipylus. The Mount Sipylus is very important for the city where all throughout the city it can easily be observed. It is a national park which is a home for many endemic plants. The stream that springs in Mount Sipylus flows throughout the city of Manisa where it is still possible to perceive its bed which is open at some parts of the city, and landscaped at the rest, however , with the green belt and the pedestrian and bicycle roads alongside it, it is always possible to trace the existence of water throughout the city.

The plot of the Manisa Greater Municipality Complex that will occupy the location of the old bus terminal which has been moved to the outskirts of the city, lies right next to the river bed. On one side of the plot lies the 10 000 square meter renowned bazaar area which is to kept with its current function. The heavily used Manisa İzmir Highway borders the plot which is a source of noise and a visual pollution.

The programme of the Manisa Municipality Complex has been created with the input of EAA as a request from the municipality. The complex constitutes various sizes of conference centres, a library, a city museum, bazaar space and commercial spaces. In Manisa, the ground floors of the buildings are used for commerce in general, which brings active life to the streets. The commercial spaces are located on the ground floors on the periphary enabling interaction. Main elements of the Complex are the bazaar space, which is in use for many decades and an important part of Manisa; the dense green area ‘koru’, created with tall trees providing people to have leisure time; the raised garden which presents different vistas of the city that can be accessed from the offices of the municipality as well as the public and the protocol piazza; that will enable rich variety of activities. Also, the city museum, ‘kent vitrini’ will accomodate different exhibitions as well as housing the highly special endemic plants of Manisa. Starting from Mount Sipylus and continuing alongside the river bed, ending with the ‘koru’ created on the plot of the Complex with intense shadowed green areas, the aim is to create public space for the people. The buildings are designed as if they are elements of the landscape.

The main motivation of the design of the complex is to break away from the enclosed and introverted public bulding typology which is dominantly common in Turkey and turn the municipailty buildings into an inviting area for the residents in need of such space.