Shortlist
Global Architecture Development
Gökhan Avcıoğlu [Founder] | impression
to be a finalist…
The main goal is to create a city with a wide range of activities, accessible and green for all.
The master plan includes mid-height mixed-use buildings with architectural criteria that support a pedestrian-oriented environment. It also reduces the negative impact of tall buildings on the urban fabric and the cityscape by implementing creative solutions with ecological and sustainable advantages, such as double skin façade designs.
The plan proposes to network small centers into a network of residential areas, tourist destinations, agricultural hubs and productive clusters. This network includes hubs, satellite centers and suburban areas and aims to ease the traffic burden on established urban areas.
The master plan includes a riverside zone, green spaces and a university district, enhancing the city’s landscape and offering a variety of recreational options. With a strong emphasis on outdoor public spaces, social interaction and community engagement is encouraged throughout the plan.
This master plan aims to enhance not only the economic development but also the social and cultural wealth of New Tashkent City. In line with the principles of sustainability, the plan aims to provide future generations with a healthy, safe and dynamic living space.
An important emphasis is that this master plan is not only focused on the physical environment, but also aims to strengthen social ties and improve people's quality of life. It is therefore important that it includes supportive measures for public spaces as well as social services and cultural activities.
The implementation of this master plan will reinforce New Tashkent City’s commitment to becoming a sustainable, dynamic and diverse city.
motivation…
The selection of the New Tashkent City Master Plan as a finalist at the 2023 World Architecture Festival was a great honor and motivation for us and our team. This prestigious award is seen as the result of a long period of work and collaboration and encourages us to go even further in our future projects.
First of all, being a finalist has brought international recognition of our work. This provided an opportunity to gain visibility on a wider platform, not only for New Tashkent City, but also for our future projects, increasing their chances of cooperation and getting work.
The award process offered a chance to carefully evaluate and refine our design strategies and planning approach. The jury evaluations helped us identify the strengths of our project and address weak points more effectively. This experience has taught us important lessons about how to approach and develop our future projects from a more strategic perspective.
Our team is even more motivated by this success. This award has strengthened our belief in our shared vision and increased our determination to find more creative and innovative solutions for our future projects.
All in all, being a finalist was an experience beyond just winning an award. This process has increased our determination to develop and promote our project and shape our future projects. The feedback we received and this success has strengthened our resolve to make our future projects beyond the New Tashkent City Master Plan more sustainable, innovative and high social impact.
Global Architecture Development
Gökhan Avcıoğlu [Founder] | jury opinions
experiences…
For us at GAD, WAF is not only a platform where we operate as an architectural practice and as the GAD Foundation, but also an important bridge to the architecture and construction community around the world. Over the last decade, we have interacted in many ways, following the role that WAF and EMAP play in the global architectural scene. It has become an arena where we not only promote our own projects but also bring designs from Turkey to the world.
Our past shortlisted projects include Eskisehir Spa Hotel, AHK Kundu and Media City. We also had the opportunity to introduce our projects to a wider audience by setting up a booth with Koleksiyon.
WAF offers us the opportunity not only to exhibit our projects on the global arena but also to come together with leading names in the sector. In this way, we had important interviews with important architects such as Sergei Tchoban and Paul Finch.
In 2016, we participated in the WAF organization in Berlin with the “Waffle Structure” project, which was produced as a result of an experimental student workshop and was at the center of the exhibition. The “Waffle Structure” project, which was the focus of the exhibition “New City Forms by Domesticity”, presented a future-centered urban settlement model shaped by biomimicry parameters and received great acclaim.
At the same time, awards such as WAFX, which we won in the Smart Cities category at Berlin WAF 2017 with Media City, were an indication that our efforts were appreciated in the global arena.
In 2020, due to the pandemic, we presented our important projects such as the Kepez Cappadocia project on the online platform as WAF Virtual. Finally, we are competing in the Future Master Plan category with the “New Tashkent City” Project at WAF 2023 in Singapore this year.
I am also a jury member in the “Completed Building Shopping” category.
This is a reflection of the steps GAD is taking to increase our impact both locally and globally.
important points…
In parallel with global developments, I believe there is a growing interest in ecology and sustainability. Various architectural offices and projects around the world have adopted sustainability as a top priority in the construction industry. The jury members will focus on evaluating how sustainable a project is.
This year's program theme is “Catalyst”. We will see how architecture and design can be a catalyst for beneficial change, how we can enable, accelerate or inspire interaction in our entire built environment for the benefit of both individuals and institutions.
tips…
As a jury, I analyzed the projects in the built and not-yet-built categories on the WAF website for my evaluation.
By analyzing the projects on the competition website, I sought to gain a closer understanding of the creative processes, design approaches and innovative solutions behind each of them. In this process, an important focus for me was to see how the projects interacted not only from a regional but also from a global perspective.
The projects I reviewed were shortlisted based on criteria such as outstanding concepts, use of materials, environmental sustainability and user experience.
In general, the fact that the WAF organization is a global platform and projects from different geographies come together has been a very informative experience for me in terms of showing the richness of diversity and creativity in the world of architecture.
recommendations…
As a jury member at WAF this year, I have a suggestion for all finalists: When evaluating their projects, I recommend that they focus on explaining in detail how the project contributes to the built environment. In particular, it is important to understand how your project adds value to the city, its inhabitants and the natural ecosystems of the region.
Finalists should emphasize how their projects initiate and accelerate change in the built environment. Each project should not only be a physical entity, but also have a positive impact on the community and environment in which it is located.
In order to attract the jury’s attention, project owners need to clearly demonstrate how they are a catalyst not only in architectural terms, but also in social, cultural and environmental dimensions.
jury role & effects…
Since 2013, WAF, which I have been attending regularly and serving as a jury member, has been instrumental in introducing me to many important ideas and figures in the world of architecture.
Seeing the Le Corbusier model exhibition of Singapore’s RT+Q Architects at last year’s WAF in Lisbon was a great source of inspiration for me. Following our meetings with Rene Tan, one of the leading names in Singapore architecture, we brought this exhibition to Istanbul to be exhibited at Taşkışla Campus in collaboration with Istanbul Technical University Department of Architecture. During this time, we had the chance to study Le Corbusier’s works and influences in detail.
two different perspectives…
For me, there is no significant difference between jury membership and project presentation, because both are about sharing the energy and creativity of WAF. We are all here, presenting our projects, our thoughts and approaches. What is really enjoyable is the real, intimate WAF dialog that sometimes happens during the presentation, between the jury members or at the Gala Dinner, in informal moments, outside of working hours. We have the chance to interact with each other, exchange ideas and have in-depth conversations about issues not only related to architecture but also to humanity.
