Harking back 11,500 years, the Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known temple on the planet. Discovered in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, the stone temple has quickly created a hum of enthusiasm for researchers piecing together the purpose of its design, and more specifically, the planning process involved prior to its construction.

As with all architecture, especially an example dating back to the Stone Age, purpose always comes to mind. What was it used for? Why is it shaped the way it is? In this case, researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority used architectural analysis to learn that the builders of these round stone structures used a lot of geometry in their design calculations.

The Göbekli Tepe complex was discovered in 1994 by German archaeologist Dr. Klaus Schmidt. Since then, scientists have considered many theories regarding the planning process involved in erecting such a complex. While many researchers agree the entire thing was built over time, Gil Haklay of the Israel Antiquities Authority, a PhD candidate at Tel Aviv University, and Professor Avi Gopher of TAU’s Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations used a computer algorithm to come to the conclusion that at least three of the structures were designed as a single project. Their findings were published in Cambridge Archaeological Journal in May 2020.

“Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological wonder,” Professor Gopher explains. “Built by Neolithic communities 11,500 to 11,000 years ago, it features enormous, round stone structures and monumental stone pillars up to 5.5 meters high. Since there is no evidence of farming or animal domestication at the time, the site is believed to have been built by hunter-gatherers. However, its architectural complexity is highly unusual for them.”

“The layout of the complex is characterized by spatial and symbolic hierarchies that reflect changes in the spiritual world and in the social structure,” Haklay adds. “In our research, we used an analytic tool — an algorithm based on standard deviation mapping — to identify an underlying geometric pattern that regulated the design.”

“This research introduces important information regarding the early development of architectural planning in the Levant and in the world,” Professor Gopher adds. “It opens the door to new interpretations of this site in general, and of the nature of its megalithic anthropomorphic pillars specifically.”

This information pushes back the timeline on the belief that the use of geometry and formulation of pre-designed floor plans came about 500 to 1,000 years later, around 10,500 years ago. This original connection between the farming communities and type of architectural planning, which came mostly as a result of a nomadic hunter/gatherer lifestyle, was based on the use of rectangular design elements not previously seen.

“The most important and basic methods of architectural planning were devised in the Levant in the Late Epipaleolithic period as part of the Natufian culture and through the early Neolithic period. Our new research indicates that the methods of architectural planning, abstract design rules, and organizational patterns were already being used during this formative period in human history,” Haklay says.

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Among these exceptions is the GREENOX Residence by Mental Design Works. Set among Istanbul’s tangle of concrete, Turkey’s “first vertical forest” proves that the ultimate results of an ambitious architectural project can be just as beautiful and exciting as the initial illustrations. An astonishing 900 trees cover the entire facade of the 16-story high rise, peeking out of staggered balconies that create a dynamic zig-zagging pattern as you gaze up at them from the sidewalk. The developers describe the GREENOX project as “lungs” for Istanbul, perpetually oxygenating the city and increasing its biodiversity.

With a name fittingly derived from the words “green” and “oxygen,” it’s not so surprising that this 170-unit residential tower is every bit as green on the inside as it is on the surface. The building incorporates high-efficiency boilers for space heating and hot water, low-flow faucets, solar panels, built-in graywater treatment, and rainwater collection systems — not to mention a material palette that helps it save 35 percent more energy, 42 percent more water, and 41 percent more embodied energy than a similarly sized conventional apartment building.

All of these features helped GREENOX earn the World Bank Group’s EDGE certification, which recognizes “Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies.” EDGE actively participates in the funding and planning of sustainable architectural projects, helping them find systems and solutions that work best for different climates and bringing international cachet to the table without sacrificing local context. Thus far, EDGE projects have saved a collective 246,627 MWh of energy and 6,611,561 cubic meters of water per year.

“The unique visual appeal of GREENOX draws customers interested in living a sustainable lifestyle,” EDGE explains. “GREENOX became a reality when two major real estate developers, Aycan Real Estate and Feres Gayrimenkul, combined to form Aycan-Feres Joint Venture. GREENOX is the first project the new partnership has completed together.”

“The unique residential building is located in the heart of the European side of Istanbul in close proximity to business, shopping, and entertainment. GREENOX contains 170 units consisting of one and two-bedroom apartments. Residents have access to outdoor spaces, a rooftop swimming pool, and entertainment facilities. With many terraces to enjoy the outdoors, residents will be able to enjoy the natural appeal of GREENOX.”

Part of a global trend toward sustainable architecture, the GREENOX Residence is also one of many new buildings being constructed in the city of Istanbul to prepare for an “inevitable” major earthquake. As older buildings are demolished and new, seismically safer buildings are erected in their place, projects like GREENOX could serve as models for a new wave of visually-captivating, resource-efficient architecture.

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Eager buyers from places like Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia snatched up 350 of the 587 villas while they were in early stages of construction. But not only are these hundreds of identical faux chateaus packed onto a relatively compact plot of land like spiky sardines, but they’re also all sitting empty and abandoned in the midst of Turkey’s economic downturn.

The effect is almost that of a mirage, especially from a distance. A ribbon of the villas twists through the valley nearly as far as the eye can see. Set alone within a grassy yard, each individual villa might look like the mansion it is, albeit one with a Disney-like feel modeled after historic European architecture. Instead, they’re crammed so close together that some of them have views of nothing but each other. Architectural aesthetics aside, they’re already starting to feel a little bleak on their muddy building site, which itself is surrounded by debris.

The $200 million development broke ground in 2014, but in the midst of construction, Turkey’s economy contracted. The developer, Sarot Group, ran out of money to complete the project when buyers failed to follow through on their $400,000 – $500,000 purchases. Sales were canceled and investors pulled out. Sarot sought bankruptcy protection for its $27 million debt, but the court ordered the group to stop all construction immediately. Nonetheless, Sarot Group Chairman Mehmet Emin Yerdelen says just 100 of the villas need to be sold to pay off the company’s debt, remaining optimistic that the crisis could be over within five months for a full inauguration of the project by the end of 2019.

In the meantime, the stalled project remains an eerie spectacle, particularly with the roads unfinished and many of the houses missing their doors and windows. For all of their elaborate decorative flourishes, the villas lose most of their potential for an interesting final result thanks to the builder’s strange stipulation that they all remain identical — which means zero modifications are allowed to the exteriors once the owners move in.

“The fees of the parcels paid by those who do not comply with the architectural drawings and specified periods shall be refunded to them and received back by the investor firm,” notes the Burj al Babas website, though buyers putting their own creative spin on the houses seem like the least of the developers’ problems right now.

Even if the Burj al Babas development does recover by the end of the year, there’s still the question of just how much luxury can really be enjoyed when you’re right on top of your mirror-image neighbor. Do you want to feel like royalty badly enough to live in this abandoned village of shrunken Disney castles?

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Observation points take on all sorts of forms: mirrored cabins that blend into their landscapes, treetop towers with incredible vistas, and floating platforms for the contemplation of watery scenes are just a few of them. But rarely do they lurk above the caldera of a volcano while mimicking the form of flowing lava like the stunning Nemrut Caldera Observation Route by architect Keremcan Kirilmaz and product designer Erdem Batirbek of Turkey. Created for the Bee Breeders Nemrut Volcano Eyes Architecture Competition, the concept taps into the site’s history as an ever-changing mountain shaped by unseen forces.
Addressing the competition brief to create a dynamic visitor observation platform on top of the dormant Nemrut Volcano in eastern Turkey, the winding overlook provides unobstructed views of the landscape as intended, but the symbolism within its form goes much deeper than that, both physically and metaphorically. It creates a bridge made of vivid red corten steel and perforated stairs between a ski station on the site and the lookout point itself.

“Now dormant and peaceful, Nemrut Volcano was once a giant boiling engine of destruction,” say the designers. “After many millennia of quakes, eruptions, tectonic crashes, and tears, this ancient inferno calmed down and became a colossal monument of nature, movement, and time, that now contains a small serene piece of eden inside. This means that Nemrut’s journey is not complete yet; its story is still being written, while it is being constantly sculpted by movements from within and below.”

“Nemrut Caldera Observation Route was designed as an embodiment of Nemrut Caldera’s continuous movement and ongoing journey. It is not a single platform with a single viewpoint, but it is an observation path that offers a journey with a variety of viewpoints. The visitor is not limited to a constant point on a single platform, [but] is an active observer who moves freely and is able to have unrestricted panoramic points of view.”

The Nemrut Caldera Observation Route won second prize in the competition. The jurors praised the design for its sinuous form in keeping with Nemrut’s history, noting that the detailed renderings were particularly effective in outlining the design and how it could potentially be constructed. The proposal’s one downfall, as far as they’re concerned, is the feasibility of physically supporting the platform.

But winning the top prize was beside the point, say Kirilmaz and Batirbek in a post-competition interview with Bee Breeders. The chance to design something out of the ordinary was a “refreshing exercise,” and a rewarding opportunity to face a challenge and develop creative new perspectives that directly addressed it.

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