PROFILE
Uygur Architects, founded in 1986 by Semra Uygur and Özcan Uygur in Ankara, design urban and architectural projects for 35 years. Alongside with remarkable works on cultural and educational buildings, Uygur Architects also have notable experiences in large-scale prominent private and public office buildings.
Interpretation of the requirements and the function is an important phase of the design process for Uygur Architects. In most of the cases requirements and programs are developed and modified together in discussion with the clients as well. According to the Uygur Architects’ main approach, spatial design is not only for the users but also for the society around. This is “Intermutual Architecture” as they call.
Besides offering a utilitarian shelter, space is composed and constructed to interact and communicate with humans while potentiating introspection, imagination and daydreaming.
As a principle, Authenticity is accentuated as a spatial quality for all projects within the relation to the Examination and interpretation of geography and urban fabric, and extensive study of the correlation between the environmental features and the designed space is adopted as the predominant design phase. The forms are produced and composed with the concentration of basic geometrical components and tectonic originality of materials while interior spaces are being affective with various perspectives. Instead of dictating fixed utilization, flexible usage patterns and possible future changes are considered for all interior configurations.
Uygur Architects regard that spaces can enrich human affairs. Besides developing a unique coherent concept for each of their projects, the main principle is to create qualified spaces by means of elaborate components of a construction with all required details.
Considerable effort for critical design phase could be mentioned as a distinctive quality of Uygur Architects. Detail design is a very fundamental phase according to the design philosophy.
Elaborate material knowledge and communication with manufacturer have a fundamental role in the process of unique detail design. Consequently, from urban design to the smallest detail scale, all the documents and drawings related to production are completely prepared in the own structure of Uygur Architects.
Uygur Architects take cognizance of working with people from various generations and/or fields. They express their architectural understanding with a brief statement:
“In a process that starts from the spatial organization enabling social relations and leads to the discovery of materials that evoke senses, each project is considered as a unique composition in their environmental features.”
Architectural Competitions have significant value for Uygur Architects, and as an office philosophy they join competitions as much as possible.
Competitions generates platforms for architects to “compete with the self” .
Uygur architects joined more than 80 competitions which has different scales and utilities. Almost 40 awards gained from these competitions and they occupy a fundamental position in Uygur Architects’ recognition. The first prize winner projects, such as Atatürk Cultural Center Presidential Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall (1992), Turkish Grand National Assembly Parliamentarian Office Building (1996) and TED Ankara College Foundation Schools Yumrubel Campus (1997) can be regarded as their most significant awards. Besides the projects realized via competitions; CER Modern Arts Center (2000), Turkish Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2011) and the 44 School Buildings’ projects built within ISMEP program of which four were selected to be in Arkitera 2014 Selections (2010-2015), are some of their other notable projects. Uygur Architects was awarded by The Chamber of Architects National Awards 2004 with TED Ankara College Yumrubel Campus in Building Category , by Türkiye Serbest Mimarlar Derneği (Turkish Association of Architects in Private Practice) with CER Modern Arts Center in 2010, by The Chamber of Architects National Awards 2018 with Diyarbakır Yenişehir Municipality in Building Category. Uygur Architects now have more than 80 realized projects.
