KOPJES

Project Report

Humanity began to experience its evolutionary process thousands of years ago, and in this process, it formed a part of the ecosystem along with other fauna species for many years. But in this process, with the evolution of man, his relationship with nature also changed. When human beings who lived with nature, developed and started to establish civilizations, they formed their own permanent living spaces. With the striking effect of growth and development, it spread unevenly in nature. This anthropocentric development created invisible boundaries between man's living space and himself and nature. The idea of design was developed on the basis of enabling humans to re-establish a relationship with nature by blurring and melting the boundaries created by establishing permanent control over nature when it came together with nature.

The project area, Serengeti, is also known as Maasailand. Maasai people have lived in harmony with nature for many years on these lands. We thought about how today's people can re-establish a 'balanced' relationship with nature in the Serengeti National Park. We examined the balanced relationship of the living Maasai people with nature. Maasai community still construct non-permanent structures using the local materials of the Serengeti.Shortly, their relations with nature are not dominated by human beings.

We chose local building materials that are integrated into the movement and cycle of nature and can return to nature when the building completes its life, instead of permanent construction that is insoluble in nature where human and nature are dominant, and we used only wood in the whole structure.

In our design, we made a proposal to re-establish the relationship with nature.We designed a walking platform that does not dominate the terrain, which is elevated on some points and allows the animals of the region to pass through platform to center areo of walking path. We tried to break the boundaries that mankind has drawn and protected for centuries. The walking platform, created as safe interfaces, offers a panoramic view of the Serengeti with a 360 degree rotation and Ngorongoro view from the observation terrace.

We placed the walking platform we designed according to the slope, lowered and lifted it from place to place, so that clear boundaries were formed for the animals on the ground and we could not prevent their movements. As animals move on the ground, people will be able to navigate through the secure interfaces created by the platform.

In our observation tower proposal, we set out from the idea of Kopjes. Kopjes are granitic rock formations or gneisses of volcanic origin. Millions of years ago, lava and ashes from volcanic eruptions in the area accumulated sediments here. They caused the formation of these outcrops for thousands of years. Copjes have long been the observation tower of lions in the Serengeti area. We created the plan of the tower with a gridal system. A 12 * 12 meter square was divided into 9 4 * 4 squares. The center square was separated for circulation and 3 different Kopjes modules were created from the remaining squares. we raised it by turning it around.

We used the parametric design method to produce the Kopjes modules in natural form. 3 different modules were formed by placing the parametrically formed wooden sections on top of each other. Thanks to these intervals, ventilation and cooling in the tower is carried out passively. In the dry periods of the Serengeti, the importance of water increases, so the sustainability of water is important in this region.

Humanity began to experience its evolutionary process thousands of years ago, and in this process, it formed a part of the ecosystem along with other fauna species for many years. But in this process, with the evolution of man, his relationship with nature also changed. When human beings, who lived with nature, developed and started to establish civilizations, they formed their own permanent living spaces. With the striking effect of growth and development, it spread unevenly in nature. This anthropocentric development created invisible boundaries between man's living space and himself and nature. The idea of design was developed on the basis of enabling humans to re-establish a relationship with nature by blurring and melting the boundaries created by establishing permanent control over nature when it came together with nature.

The project area, Serengeti, is also known as Maasailand. Tabaai have lived in harmony with nature for many years on these lands. We thought about how today's people can 're' re '' re-establish a 'balanced' relationship with nature in the Serengeti national park. We examined the balanced relationship of the living maasai tribe with nature. The Maasais still construct non-permanent structures using the local building materials of the Serengeti. In short, their relations with nature are not dominated by human beings.

We chose local building materials that are integrated into the movement and cycle of Nature, come and go, and can return to nature when the building completes its life, instead of permanent construction that is insoluble in nature where human and nature are dominant, and we used only wood in the whole structure.

In the design, we made a proposal to re-establish the relationship with nature.We designed a walking platform that does not dominate the soil 100 percent, which is elevated in places and allows the animals of the region to pass between regions. We tried to break the boundaries that mankind has drawn and protected for centuries. The walking platform, created as safe interfaces, offers a panoramic view of the Serengeti with a 360 degree rotation and Ngorongoro view from the observation terrace.

We placed the walking platform we designed according to the slope, lowered and lifted it from place to place, so that clear boundaries were formed for the animals on the ground and we could not prevent their movements. As animals move on the ground, people will be able to navigate through the secure interfaces created by the platform.

In our observation tower proposal, we set out from the idea of Kopjes. Kopjes are granitic rock formations or gneisses of volcanic origin. Millions of years ago, lava and ashes from volcanic eruptions in the area accumulated sediments here. They caused the formation of these outcrops for thousands of years. Copjes have long been the observation tower of lions in the Serengeti area. We created the plan of the tower with a gridal system. A 12 * 12 meter square was divided into 9 4 * 4 squares. The center square was separated for circulation and 3 different Kopjes modules were created from the remaining squares. we raised it by turning it around.

We used the parametric design method to produce the Kopjes modules in natural form. 3 different modules were formed by placing the parametrically formed wooden sections on top of each other. Thanks to these intervals, ventilation and cooling in the tower is carried out passively. In the dry periods of the Serengeti, the importance of water increases, so the sustainability of water is important in this region.