SUBTERRANEAN MUSEUM

The underground cities in Cappadocia are among the most unique instances of Turkey’s ancient architecture. The brief challenged us to create a gallery/museum within the Kayseri region with a nod towards the ancient underground tunnel system in turkey. These mysterious spaces allowed many people to live their lives in complete secrecy. The main concept behind our proposal is to accumulate the seemingly contradicting notions of cohabitation and the desire for concealment, as perceived in the historic underground topologies. These conditions informed the decision to bury the structure into the landscape with minimal exposure above the ground. 

The structure of the museum is carved into the site. Two quadrilateral openings on the landscape terrain begin an inclined transition from above the ground to the museum space below. The larger opening on the west side, functions as the main entry and is the most visible part of the structure above ground, detectible from the adjacent highway. Each opening leads into one of the two main zones of the program. The zones including gallery spaces and cafe/lounge are interlinked beneath the ground. The subsequent interior spaces feature distending ramps that bridge the different levels. The interconnected mechanism is inherited from the traditional topology of Cappadocia. The connected voids in between ramps echo the shapes of excavated caves in underground cities that inspired the narrative behind the museum.

A three-dimensional triangular grid is applied on the site to accommodate secondary openings into the spaces for natural light and ventilation. These openings frame different views of the sky that change throughout the day. By inviting natural light and topographical landscape below ground, a hidden yet dynamic space is created that encourages the visitors’ interaction.