The Turkish Pavilion - Expo Shanghai 2010 | Alp Architects Design Ateliers

Shanghai / China / 2010

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The Turkish Pavilion reflects the theme of Shanghai EXPO 2010 not only with its impressive exterior architectural design but also with its interior design. Throughout the history Anatolia hosted many civilizations, became a transit route of civilization for thousand of years and still today it has the reflection of east and west. The new findings depicts that the most developed, beautiful and ancient examples of the history of civilization is in Anatolia. In this respect, Shanghai EXPO 2010’s main theme “Better Cities, Better Lives” in a way defines Anatolia. The theme of the Turkish Pavilion was inspired by one of the first settlement center of history Catalhoyuk that dates back to B.C.7.500.

Catalhoyuk design to Turkish Pavilion
The alluring red motif that forms the exterior of the building has a very special meaning. The motif that embraces the Turkish Pavilion is inspired by the wall paintings considered as the world’s oldest map and the first landscape painting which is found in the first human settlement site Catalhoyuk. In this painting Catalhoyuk’s view in 7.500 BC was drawn together with Mount Hasan on the background. The Turkey pavilion is authentically covered with the red color and the shapes of the buildings in the painting. With the painting that is applied to the existing EXPO structure with modern architecture 3-D images of the hunting scenes, extinct cattle and deer are located on the outer side of the Pavilion. The starting point of usage of the red color is that, it is the tone on the walls of Catalhoyuk.

“Better City, Better Life” in the Neolithic period: Catalhoyuk
Catalhoyuk which is 4500 years older than the Egyptian pyramids is unique not only with architectural structure of its buildings but also for the level of life, artifacts, and trading was made with seashells and flint stones. The equality in social status in Catalhoyuk shows that it is reached to the equal values between woman and man today. In the excavations of Catalhoyuk it is found out that obsidian stone is used. This is why black glazed surface was used at the Turkish Pavilion that symbolizes the obsidian stone. This surface reflects the “welfare” and “better life” in Catalhoyuk.

“Anatolia, the Cradle of Civilizations”
Through a thematic scenario, the visitors of the Turkish Pavilion will witness the works of art from the civilizations of Neolithic period, urban developments to date.
The section entitled “Past” will present the shelters of the primitive life to the more developed huts, the furniture that is used, construction equipments and the changes in techniques along with the first agriculture and hand tools. There will also be “firsts” in this section. In first mirror in history, first flask, the first dam built by human and Catalhoyuk’s model which is the first city map of the Neolithic period.

New findings points out Anatolia
Throughout the history Anatolia hosted many civilizations. The excavations that are still underway show that Anatolia’s hospitality to civilizations dates back to earlier years. The findings as a result of the excavations carried out in Anatolia by German Archaeology Institute shows the route of civilization from Anatolia to Europe. The map enrouted from the Mesopotamia region to Europe is displayed at the Turkish Pavilion. The findings at Southeast Anatolia excavations show that in the Neolithic period people arrived first to central Anatolia and later to Istanbul from the Urfa region. In the excavations conducted at Gobeklitepe that belongs to the Neolithic period located 15 kilometers northeast of Sanliurfa “the remnants, which would completely ruin the known information about the transition to prehistoric life and civilization” were found. The Gobeklitepe and Lion Road Replicas reflect this period.
The historical journey of the civilization was confirmed in the latest Yenikapi excavation findings. After its thousand years of presence in Anatolia, neolitical lifestyle first reached to Istanbul and later reached to Balkans and Greece. It took a thousand years for civilization to reach to Europe. It is known that the neolitical lifestyle that arrived to central Europe in B.C. 5,500 reached to northern Europe only in B.C. 4,500. While the route that is based on historical findings points out that the source of Europe civilization is Anatolia, it also depicts that the history of Istanbul lies back to 1,500 years ago, just before Neolithic period began in the Balkans. For this reason the findings at the Yenikapi excavations also takes place at the Turkish Pavilion. The section entitled “Past” that welcomes the visitors at the entrance of the Turkish Pavilion, the “Asclepius Statue,” the god of medicine found at the excavations in Izmir, the model of the Hippodrome, the Ephesus Library found at the ancient city of Ephesus were used to tell the visitors about the civilizations in Anatolia. The “First Human Statue (Urfaman)” found at Urfa excavations and “Mother Goddess” Statue are displayed as the examples from the civilizations of Anatolia.

The tracks of the civilizations are in Turkey Pavilion too
Anatolia, which hosted many civilizations in the history, also hosted many powerful empires that changed the flow of the world in the past. The process, which started with Roman Empire, continued with Byzantium, Seljuk, Ottoman and lastly the Republic of Turkey. The remnant works and crafts of these powerful states, which were founded in Anatolia, also exist in Shanghai EXPO Turkey 2010 Turkey pavilion. The time scale and historical fountains, aqueducts are in this section. Valence Aqueduct and Ahmet the 3rd Fountain are some of these.
While preparing the Turkey Pavilion, it is emphasized that Turkey does not consist of only some trendy tourism locations. The historical regions and natural beauties of Turkey, Cappadocia Fairy Chimneys, Cappadocia Underground Tunnels, and Pamukkale, which is a unique in the world as the natural formation, are in this section of the exhibition. The last exposition of the “Past” section is implemented with the “Before-After the Republic” movie, in which the changes that were lived through by the foundation of the Republic of Turkey exist.

“Istanbul; Two continents, One City”
In the “Present” section of the EXPO 2010 Turkey Pavilion, Istanbul took place with the title of “Istanbul: Two Continents, One City”. The movie “360 Degrees Istanbul”, which was made for a city for the first time, was shot by a Turkish director and American crew by using very special technology in several locations of Istanbul. In the endless-circular area to be prepared special for the Pavilion, the visitors will sometimes visit Istiklal Street, sometimes watch the coast of Bosporus and sometimes will enjoy Istanbul with bird’s-eye-view from a helicopter.
In the “Future” section, the desire and effort in Turkey’s cities for “better city, better life” towards the future were emphasized. In this section, “Urban Transformation Projects” in the metropolitans of Turkey, the road works towards future in Istanbul, coastal landscaping and many other projects take place.

Information sharing with Bluetooth
Special brochures for each section were prepared during the working period of Turkey Pavilion. But for an organization that is extended to 6 months, the delivery of the printed brochures was a problem in terms of both the storage and the continuity of printing phase. The administrators of Turkey Pavilion, who put the technology in action with a creative idea, developed a system that is integrated with Bluetooth feature of cell phones by benefiting a widespread application. With this system, the related special exposition will automatically be loaded to the cell phones of the visitors when they approach each object. With this application, the visitors will get the explanatory information about the section they visit, without any effort. Besides, all the developments related with the Turkey Pavilion can be followed regularly and updated on http://www.turkishpavilion2010.com website in English and Turkish.

“Business Center” will make the entrepreneurs meet
A special “Business Center” is formed on the exit way of the Turkey Pavilion. In the 160 square-meter Business Center, the Turkish investors and businessmen will have chance to share their projects with foreign investors. The entire necessary substructure is presented in the Business Center for the businessmen from China, which is now the second biggest economy in the world, and Turkish businessmen from the 17th largest economy to come together and perform cooperation and share ideas.
In the 200 square meter restaurant to be prepared on mezzanine, the unique tastes of the “Turkish Cuisine” will be offered to the visitors. The flavors in the restaurant, which especially aims at the Chinese visitors, will perform a hard competition with its rival, the Chinese Cuisine.
Along with the cultural-artistic activities to be performed in Turkey Pavilion in EXPO, the visitors can join the workshops for art of marbling and calligraphy, if they wish. Famous “Maras Ice Cream”, which is a symbol of Turkey, will also be in Turkey Pavilion with its taste and its enjoyable show.
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    The Turkish Pavilion reflects the theme of Shanghai EXPO 2010 not only with its impressive exterior architectural design but also with its interior design. Throughout the history Anatolia hosted many civilizations, became a transit route of civilization for thousand of years and still today it has the reflection of east and west. The new findings depicts that the most developed, beautiful and ancient examples of the history of civilization is in Anatolia. In this respect, Shanghai EXPO 2010’s...

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