Pako Street Animal Social Life Campus / Mert Uslu Architecture

The practices conducted in Turkey in regard to stray animals are focused primarily on providing much-needed care to abandoned, injured, ill, disabled, or destitute animals with the intention of releasing these animals back to their natural surroundings at the end of their treatment. With the spatial arrangement of the open and closed spaces focusing on the interaction between humans and dogs while at the same time reinforcing the theme of adoption, the facility sits on a 110.000 m2 site located in the Gökdere district of the town of Bornova in Izmir. Being the first of its kind, this facility was not only designed as a temporary care center but also a center for rehabilitation that is predicated on the interaction between humans and dogs, providing a space that promotes the idea of reciprocal rehabilitation and can be seen as an alternative space for families to spend quality time and reinforces human-dog interaction.

The plot, of regular shape, is located in a residential neighborhood. The implantation strategy consisted of positioning the built mass to cover the entire front of the lot, from the eastern to the western boundary, freeing a large central patio as an organizing nucleus of social life. The house establishes controlled interior relationships towards the street while opening widely towards the backyard, taking advantage of the northern orientation, and promoting a gradual transition between the urban and domestic realms.

Located directly in the city of Mainz, this sustainable timber structure replaces an existing semi-detached house, which could not be reused due to its minimal ceiling heights, damaged structure, and harmful substances.