A consortium of 13 architects has been selected by the Türkiye Design Council to help plan the reconstruction of the southern province of Hatay after the earthquake that hit the Turkey–Syria region in February.
The work will be masterplanned by UK practice Foster + Partners, with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Turkish firms DB Architects and KEYM also involved.
The plan will be revealed next year, but the focus will be the rebuilding of Antakya – the city previously known as Antioch – 80% of which was destroyed during the quake.
The design will reconfigure the central districts and administrative buildings and add infrastructure. It will also restore the ancient cities of Seleukeia Pieria and Antiokheia and the sites of the Uzun Bazaar, among other historical monuments.
The renovation will favour pedestrians, and will be planned around water, forestry, olive cultivation and livestock.
Cem Yılmaz, the funding partner of the KEYM, said: “Through our partnership, we embarked on a journey to transform Hatay into a beacon of hope.
“In this journey, I can say that our national and international collaborations will teach both our country and the world to work and live together, addressing one of the most significant urban problems of our time – disconnected public spaces.”
Bünyamin Derman, the founding partner of DB Architecture, added: “Hatay’s archaeological and religious mosaic features require special urban planning, which needs to be combined with the creation of self-sufficient, resilient structures.”
