Celaleddin Çelik
Situated on the sloping topography of Pendik Nation’s Garden, the project brings together a mosque, library, restaurant, and café, forming a fluid and poetic ensemble within a woodland setting. The spatial organization is anchored by the mosque’s orientation toward the qibla, while the angles between the buildings create a dynamic sense of movement. As users move through the site, they encounter continuously shifting perspectives and spatial surprises.
The fragmented volumes settle naturally into the terrain and are connected through terraces and level differences. This arrangement creates a walkable experience that unfolds as a gentle journey, where courtyards, gardens, and passageways flow into one another. The buildings maintain a strong relationship with the outdoor environment, allowing interior and exterior spaces to interlock and form a continuous whole.
The architectural language combines the weight and permanence of stone walls with the contemporary lightness of steel and timber structures. Broad eaved pitched roofs, vaulted configurations, and prismatic masses introduce both traditional references and modern interpretations. The mosque in particular stands out with its exposed steel roof structure rising from within massive stone walls. The meeting of stone and steel produces an atmosphere that is at once light and dignified.
User experience is one of the primary components of the design. As visitors move through courtyards, stairways, and ramps, they encounter new vistas and human-scaled spaces that invite exploration. The long and narrow volume of the library offers a serene reading environment in its rear garden, while the restaurant and cafés provide warm and welcoming settings for everyday gathering.
The project’s defining feature is the open space framework created by the relationship between the building masses. This spatial composition aligns itself with the topography and preserves the human scale, achieving a cohesive synthesis where contemporary design and local architectural references coexist seamlessly.
