Ulus 100th Year Commerce Center.
Series of research, events and organization over the course of years.
The story and my involvement with the 100th-year commerce center is a long one. My first engagement with the building dates back to 2012. Back then, as a young master's student, I conducted a short research project on the building, documenting it and adding the modernist shopping center and office building to DOCOMO network's Turkish collection.
In 2020, I became involved in a collective effort to save the building. The Greater Municipality of Ankara had plans to demolish the building and replace it with a park and underground parking. A working group was formed by representatives of Docomomo_tr, ICOMOS Turkey, KORDER, Architects' Association 1927, TMMOB Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch, and the Turkish Chamber of Independent Architects, along with a group of expert academics in the field, to challenge the municipality's decision.
The efforts of the working group bore fruit in 2022 when the municipality agreed to hold an ideas design competition regarding the issue. The competition received more than 60 proposals for the site, and 8 of them were awarded prizes.
Just as the working group had high hopes of saving the building, we were surprised by a sudden public poll conducted by the municipality, asking for the general public's opinion on the building and the urban square. To our astonishment, the majority of the general public voted in favor of demolishing the building.
Despite objections from the working group, which included professional NGOs and academics working in the field, the decision to demolish the building was implemented in 2023. This lengthy and impactful story taught me about the dangers of populist politics and how populism can override well-grounded, professional decision-making. It serves as a compelling case that demonstrates how reducing participation to a mere voting process undermines technical expertise and leads to poor decision-making.
The building in context.
Some quick photoshop work, in an effort to convince the municipality for a competition.
The poster for the competition.
Prize Winning Project by Nur Dilan ÖZDEMİR et. al.
Prize Winning Project by Murat SÖNMEZ et. al.
Prize Winning Project by Ali SİNAN et. al.
Examples from prize winning adaptive reuse proposals.
Screenshots of the public survey conducted by the municipality, in which the general public was asked for their opinion on whether the building should be demolished or not. The survey included visuals from the competition process.
How we failed: Photos of the demolition process. Courtesy of Cem Dedekargınoğlu.