We wish to work in projects where we can use our energies properly and so become more efficient. We approach each and every project that comes to us with the same discipline no matter it is simple or complex. And the rest comes itself..
First of all, we’d like to get to know you a little.. Could you please tell us about your education and how you entered your professional life?
I graduated from Kabataş Boys’ High School in 1986 and the same year I started studying in the Faculty of Architecture in Yıldız Technical University. And from there I graduted in 1991 and started working with the architect Saim Çil at MTM Architecture for 5 years. Following my military duty, I worked in Ada Architecture for 5 more years and -with one of my colleagues, Esen Akyar- we began working freelance but at the same time supporting each other between 1999 and 2000. Through the end of 2001, the supportive way of working lead us to establish a parrtnership in Iglo Architecture. And by the end of 2003, this time we decided to combine our lives and now we have a family of our own with 2 daughters.
What were the reasons for you to choose architecture? Had you ever thought of doing something else before or after ?
Actually I had never made a decision as to I’ll be an architect. In fact we used to have close family friends who were
all mechanical engineers and I used to aspire them. Throughout my high school years, I always wanted to become a
mechanical engineer. And since I didn’t really know about the occupation, I thought I would design cars, boats etc.
The members of that family were all Kabataş Boys’ High School gradutaes and I was a student there. Therefore I was
following them closely. In the meantime, I was also the caricaturist of the school and my drawings were good. Knowing all these, they were saying, “you can be an engineer since you are willing to be; but you shall in fact be an architect because you’re talented.”Consequently, they were quite insistive for me to write architecture in my prefernce list before the university exams. Unable to resist their will any more, I wrote one architecturebut actually I was expecting to get to the department of mecahnical engineering either at Bosphorus or Istanbul Technical University; I learned that I won the department of architecture at Yıldız Technical University. What I felt was a big shock, disappointment and anger towards the ones who caused this and so I decided not to register to the school and wait for one year and enter the exams again. Again the same family convinced me to go to school at least for 1-2 weeks and try and if I don’t like I would quite. Therefpre I registered. Finally, just at the end of the first week, I
realized that this job is what would suit me the most and from that day on until now, I’m deeply grateful to that family. Therefore my adventure of architecture is really a story of bouncing off the goal.
When was Iglo Architecture first founded? Could you please tell us the structure of the company, your team and the phases you’ve been through up to now?
We are a firm founded by the end of 2001.In the beginning, we used to more focus on residences, offices, factories
and decoration projects; but now we work more on industrial constructions and office buildings in the last years. And right now, we are busy with industrial campuses, logistics and management buildings and residence projects.
Regarding the quality and quantity of the projects in our portfolio, we are still a smaller office than expected. We wanted to be a multi-functional, flexible and striking team. Basically, we are a group with a constant brain power which can grow bigger if necessary and can go smaller under crisis circumstances and be flexible.
In the first years when we founded Iglo, we began with detached house projects in Bodrum. In 2002, we designed a
factorybuilding in Gebze for a French automıtive company. In the same years, we were receiving designing requests
from fast food business. As we began to receive more customers for our projects in Bodrum, we decided to move to Istanbul to reach our bigger targets although struggling in a big city like Istanbul would be harder and more tiring. Following this decision, decoration, fast food and cafe projects started to support our office more.
Beginning with 2004, liveliness started in the industrial area of Turkey as we began to get rid off the effects of the
financial crisis. So we could attract the attention of both doemstic and foreign investors regarding our factory buildings and started to receive demands. In 2007, we won the Logipark project in a competition and we had the opportunity to actualize the first and biggest logistic park project of Turkey on 270.000 m2land. Following that, it got easier for us to receive demands for 100.000 m2and above projects.
You’re undersigning projects such as industrial factory buildings, residences, trade buildings with different typologies. Could you tell us your designing philosophy?
As the name of our office, Iglo is an art of finding solut,ons out of dilemmas both philosophically and physiclly. As
Iglo Architecture; we try to determine the priorities that need solutions when beginning a project. When all the data
is identified properly, we blend the solutions in terms of function, aesthetics and life in order to recah the result. The
specifications of each and every structure shall be examined carefully such as its location, user profile, necessities of the programme, climate, direction, culture etc and appropriate answers should be obtained via appropriate questions. The approaches, “There is aleays a better” and “The solution is within the problem” are what define us the best.
What are the identifying crtierias of your understanding of design? How can you define your architecturing style?
As I explained, being solution-oriented when thinking on a project or creating a space is the criteria summarizing the
designing approach of Iglo Architecture. In the beginning, every project is a question. What is important is reaching
the architecturally aesthetic and healthy way of solving this question.
Energy efficiency, sustainability and correct resource utilization in structures are primarly what we find crucial.
Everyone in every scale has some things which can be done for our earth. And in this aspect, there is so much archtectures have to do about this.
Amongst your actual projects; Balıkesir Organic Food factıry is aiming to be a totally sustainable industrial structure being the first in Turkey. Can you tell us about the sustainability criterias of
this structure?
The Baıkesir Organic Food factory on a terrain of 135.000 m that we’ve designed, is in fact more than an ordinary factory building, but rather forming a totally sustainable cycle and supporting the regional development for the first time in Turkey. When finished, it will form a significant source of employment in Balıkesir and it is designed with a system ensuring that all process wastes and energy will be used dissipationlessly. For instance, the whey liquid obtained as a result of cheese production will be used as a protein increasing admixture material. The structure will prove its difference as never polluting the environment, almost not producing any wastes, totally clean and without a similar example in the world. The building is to be managed with Industry 4.0 principles and hygene and nutritional safety are the most crucial designing criterias. In this campus, only the related people are able to access the zones they are responsible for and the vehicles permitted to enter the factory area after they are disinfected with a special system. The building designed according to DGNB –German Green Budilding principles- is the one and only building in the world as such.
In many contests, you are qualified with awards. And most recently, in IF Design Awards 2017, you were awarded in “Office/Industrial Buildings” category with the ICI Factoryand Management Center Building. Can you tell us the designing phases of this project? In your opinion, what were the differentiating details of this project?
We are working hard to make each of them better than the previous one, no matter a small or a big project. And
when people see this hardwork and value it, we understand we are not pissing into the wind. This is a highly
motivating situation for us.
The ICI Factory and Management Building is located in Tuzla, inside the Chemists Organized Industrial Zone and
overlooking the highway. Old carpets are recycled with new designs and the productions are done focusing on
foreing markets. We aimed to make the ICI Factory and Management Building where worldwide carpet designers can be invited to and R&D service can be given. Therefore design and detail criterias were quite high in this project.
We wanted to isolate sound and vision from the office, management and guest areas. The inclined terrain was adapted to the design by making it multi-floored and except for the showroom on the top floor, vehicles can park by all the floors. The management floor located in the roof garden can overlook the panoramic bay view. After we began the project, a change in the regulations occured and according to this, we had the right to add one more floor. However, in order not to ruin the lines of the design, we preferred to add an ecliptic floor with a contrasting approach. As for the remaining areas, we created green gardens and obtained an advantage as a result of this unexpected case. By revising the stairs and elevator towres, we managed the link between the new floor with the other floors. Maximum utilization of natural light, recycling of rain and grey waters, maanagement of wastes, energy efficiency, working comfort via nature and creating a happy building were the designing criterias we were aiming to reach.
Which are the projects you’ve finalized up to now are the ones exciting, impressing and/or reflecting you the most?
The first factory building we did for the French comany which had to be completed in only 4.5 months, after that the first and largest logistics park of Turkey and the first cement factory were all high-tension and exciting projects for us. We are all busy with new and exciting jobs such as the R&D building which we had designed out of container
blocks, the first green-certified building, the houses with ponds and the first largest industrial campus of Europe. And for the time being, we are newly creating the project of a new green nutritional establishment which will do agricultural and zoological organic production and it is exciting us a lot. And in fact, all our motivation and source of energy are these excitements.
Finally, can we learn your targets for the future?
Our targets from now on is continuing to be in qualified projects which are crucial for Turkey. We wish to work in
projects where we can use our energies properly and so become more efficient. We approach each and every project that comes to us with the same discipline no matter it is simple or complex. And the rest comes itself..
