Turkey suffered a devastating earthquake in its southeast region of Antakya in 2023. Not because they weren’t prepared but because of the failures and corruption inside the Turkish building authority where contractors cut corners without oversight.
Antakya, built on the site of the ancient city of Antioch, was one of the cities hit hardest by the earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023. Much of the modern city crumbled.
But Antakya needs to be rebuild and the the UK-based starchitect firm Foster + Partners announces it is working closely with several local NGOs and Turkish civil agencies (including the Turkish Design Council, the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) to rebuild Ankara sustainably and hopefully securely this time.
We hope they are consulting the ultimate architecture reference book Habitat by Sandra Pesik.
Buro Happold, MIC-HUB, and Turkish practices DB Architects and KEYM Urban Renewal Centre collaborated on the Antakya proposal. The plan will reportedly be implemented in a 30-square-kilometer (11.6-square-mile) planning area.
They are using farming language such as the “regeneration plan” which includes eight separate ‘design principles and among them are to:
Build on safe land,
Improve circulation,
Improve open spaces,
Create new districts,
Layer neighborhoods,
Enhance connectivity at a city and neighborhood scale, and, finally,
Build back.
No timelines for its start or completion have been provided at this time.
The full details of Foster + Partners’ plan for an urban recovery of the earthquake-damaged Turkish city of Antakya and Hatay province have been made publicly available for the first time since the project was announced last October.
Bruno Moser, Senior Partner, Head of Urban Design, Foster + Partners said: “We have been inspired by the resilience of the people of Antakya, and share their passion for their unique, historic city. Our strategy does not offer a ‘one size that fits all’ vision.
“It balances the historic spirit of the place with improvements and enhancements that will support a sustainable future for Antakya. We have developed the vision underpinned by the fact that reconstruction following a natural disaster is not merely about buildings but about rebuilding communities, feelings of safety and belonging, and rebuilding trust.”
An estimated 53,000 people died from the 2023 earthquake.
And with an estimated 80 percent of the city destroyed, there is an urgent need to reimagine and rebuild for future generations. The new Foster + Partners masterplan, the firm says, “aims to retain the cherished spirit of the town and pre-earthquake characteristics in terms of scale, relationships, and configurations, reinforcing the local character and climate.”
A significant part of the process has been understanding and embedding Hatay’s rich history into the vision. Other recent and historic disasters were used as case studies, with comparable rebuild attempts used to distil best practice that will support a sustainable future for Antakya.
The masterplan seeks to respect the urban character of the area and build anew in a way which makes the residents feel like they can be at home in the revitalised city. The design principles stipulate the need to retain the character of the historic streets of Antakya, overlaying on the existing road network and retaining the building scale and façade rhythm, according to Foster + Partners.
Antakya was colonised by the Turkish Empire but it was first known as Antioch on the Orontes – an Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. It was one of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, serving as the capital of the Seleucid Empire and later as regional capital to both the Roman and Byzantine Empire. If you travel around Turkey today you will find thousands of archeological sites throughout the country surrounded by farms and villages.
