Izmir Project | Izmir, Turkey

Gecekondu are informal squatter settlements that occupy the majority of urban peripheries in Turkey. In Izmir, 50% of the population lives in gecekondu. As in many conservative communities, women do not have formal public spaces in gecekondu. Men gather in cafés that dot the main street. Women gather in domestic spaces. The only visible spaces in which they gather outside are informal work spaces attached to infrastructure. It is here that women have a chance to claim their own public space so they may engage in civic discussion on how they want to build their city. The project proposed a network of small public work spaces for women along the steep stairs. The stairs led to a new soccer field located between the old informal settlement and the new government housing in order to bring these communities together. The wastewater from homes was treated by the constructed wetland in the valley, and would be used to irrigate the soccer field and the vegetable gardens.