Europe 40 Under 40 Awards Tell a friend

Istanbul, Turkey



Architects: Nesile Yalçın, Gizem Akın, Elif Karaköse, Begüm Ural

Client: Sezin School

Project team: Akım Engineering, Esan Engineering, Parça Project, Doruk Engineering, Tayfur Somer Construction

Landscape Architects: Nesile Yalçın

Design team: Ece Çiftçi, Deniz Dönmez, Can Görgün

Photographer: Yerçekim Photography (Orhan Kolukısa)

Project description: Sezin Kindergarten and Primary School are designed to infuse flexible pedagogical spaces with a spatially hybrid program that fosters playing, meeting, working, and learning into a school with a 60-year legacy as well as its own culture. The project entailed light-handed, yet effective interventions conducted over a duration of 2 summer breaks.

The design research immersion with over 200 hours of fieldwork framed the early discussions, encapsulating interviews with teachers and students, cultural probes, workshops, and passive on-site observations.

The project is shaped around major insights; Current schools prioritized the needs of extrovert students, with abundant open play spaces. Spaces for a moment of refuge and introspection are essential for inclusive learning environments. 

A mental model that flips a knowledge-centered experience towards a learner-centered one is crucial to support different learning journeys. The need for a “stage” for student presentations became evident, alongside individual desk spaces to provide “personal territory.” Students' curiosity and engagement with their surroundings should be encouraged independently from formative principles.