International Award for ‘Green Library’

A project in which Turkish and Japanese students from Izmir University of Economics (IUE) came together to redesign the Izmir Museum of Painting and Sculpture building in Alsancak as a ‘green’ library, brought an international award. The article titled ‘Reconnecting with Nature: Biophilic Interior Design Strategies in Izmir-Turkey’, which was prepared under the leadership of Project Coordinator Prof. Dr. Deniz Hasırcı, Faculty Member at IUE Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, and which described the work on the project, was deemed worthy of the best paper award at the Global Conference on Contemporary Issues in Education held in Antalya.

A total team of 32 students from Izmir University of Economics and Japan's Chiba University carried out designs that repurposed the building, located within the Izmir Culture and Arts Factory and previously used as the Museum of Painting and Sculpture, in a study conducted approximately two months ago.

PALM TREES AND BOUGAINVILLEAS

The Turkish and Japanese students, working in 5 groups, attracted attention with their light-filled and aesthetic designs that emphasized the theme of sustainability and featured motifs of palm trees and bougainvillea flowers. The projects, which stood out with their innovative and ecological features, were exhibited at the Global Conference on Contemporary Issues in Education and presented to the appreciation of the participants. The article, prepared under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Deniz Hasırcı, together with Asst. Prof. Dr. İdil Bakır Küçükkaya and Research Assistants Yasemin Albayrak Kutlay and Elif Gündoğdu, and which detailed the project outputs, achieved great success by being selected as the ‘best paper’ at the conference.

“OUR APPROACHES COINCIDED”

Providing details about the project, Prof. Dr. Deniz Hasırcı stated, “This year, with the participation of Prof. Dr. Kaname Yanagisawa, Head of the Department of Architecture at Chiba University, and his Japanese students, we worked on a library project designed in a biophilic (climate and nature-sensitive design) way at the Museum of Painting and Sculpture. Although the exteriors of buildings may not change much, the interiors are constantly changing. For this reason, we want our students to make correct and nature-friendly decisions and use ecological materials. In this context, we give our students biophilic projects every year. Japan's nature-friendly design approach also coincides with ours.”

“WE EXPLAINED THE STRATEGY IN THE ARTICLE”

Prof. Dr. Hasırcı continued as follows, “At the conference, we presented our article in which we explained the outputs of our project, what we should pay attention to in nature-friendly design education, and our educational strategies that guide students to make the right decisions in design processes when they enter the market in the future. We shared the message that the decisions made in an interior architecture process can have a great impact on the ecological and socio-cultural environment, and that this approach should also be reflected in our other daily life decisions. As a result, we were awarded by the jury, which consisted of the best names in their fields. I am very happy to bring this award to our University. The nature-friendly interior architectural design approaches in the project that won first place also share the same goals as our University's ecological and sustainability missions. This makes the award even more valuable for us.”