Seddulbahir Fortress

The Seddülbahir Fortress is located at the southern entrance to the Dardanelles on the European shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Initially built in the mid-17th century by Hatice Turhan Sultan, the mother of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV, Seddülbahir, or “the Wall of the Sea,” protected the strategic waterway that connected the Aegean Sea to Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire’s capital. Despite severe coastal erosion and numerous earthquakes, the fortress, and its adjacent village survived into the early 20th century relatively intact. Both were severely bombarded by the Allied Forces in WWI, during the Gallipoli campaign. While many of the masonry towers and walls, and most of its interior structures were severely damaged, the fortress continued to be used as a Turkish military outpost until 1997 when the documentation, restoration, and re-use process of Seddülbahir began.

A multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, architectural historians, archivists, oral historians, restoration specialists, museologists, and landscape designers conducted extensive archival, archeological, conservation, restoration, and geodesic research, in collaboration with universities and different government ministries, working for 25 years to open Seddülbahir Fortress to the public on March 18, 2023.

Today the Gallipoli peninsula is a national park and a peaceful landscape of manicured cemeteries and pristine commemorative monuments to honor the WWI dead from many countries. There is little left on the peninsula that recalls the violent destruction of the battles fought there. A guiding concept in the restoration process at the Seddülbahir Fortress was to preserve the memory of the destruction of WWI and create a space to reflect on peace. Several elements of the fortress, such as the West and South Towers, are preserved as ruins and serve as “lieux de mémoire” of the toll that war has on buildings and their landscapes.

The Main Gate of Seddülbahir Fortress, and other demolished sections of the fortress, such as the Domed Building, with their silhouettes of light timber suggest– but do not declare– what these sections of the fortress may have looked like originally. The slatted wood frame of the Main Gate allows sunlight and air, essential elements of life, to permeate the entrance to the fortress. This gate and the Domed Building emphasize the importance of reversibility in any restorative intervention. Contemporary wood elements in the fortress are used sparingly, echoing the construction techniques used by the Ottomans.

A new museum building replaced abandoned concrete barracks from the 1960s and exhibits archaeological finds from the site, including an Ottoman era road which divides the museum building itself. Here the new masonry blocks resonate with the original masonry of the Ottoman walls lowering the visual impact of this new structure.

Today the Seddülbahir Fortress is a vibrant place. The architecture invites all to reflect upon the history of past destruction and war, and to cherish peace. With its unique entrance complex,
museum, an artists’ workshop, and redesigned village square, all serving visitors and the local community, the fortress looks to a future in which war is now a distant, but important memory.

award pictogram

Awards

Arkitera Turkey Architecture Annual Selection, 2021 with Bab-ı Kebir Revitalization
International DOMUS Award Restoration and Preservation Short List, 2023
Arkitera Turkey Architecture Annual Selection, 2023
National Architecture Exhibition and Awards (Building/Preservation), 2024
Architizer A+ Awards (Cultural/Museum) Finalist, 2024
World Architecture Festival (Completed Buildings/Culture) Shortlist 2024

Info

Location: Eceabat, Çanakkale, Türkiye

Client: Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site (ÇATAB/Çanakkale Savaşları Gelibolu Tarihi Alan Başkanlığı)

Survey, Restitution, Restoration Projects Author: Arzu Özsavaşçı (AOMTD)

Re-Use Project Author: Y. Burak Dolu (KOOP Architects)

Surveying, Restitution, Restoration, Archaeology, Measurement, Archive Projects Team: Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Rahmi Nurhan Çelik, Gülsün, Feridun Çılı, Haluk Sesigür, Arzu Özsavaşcı, Deniz Özkan, Umut Almaç, Selin Gener, İrem Nardereli, Nurdan Kuban, Günnur Çalışkan, Murat Alaboz, Günder Varinlioğlu, Arzu Öztürk, Carolyn Aslan, Bensen Ünlüoğlu, Gülay Karcı, Günşıl Kılıç, Kemal Sümer, Senem Uyanık, Tevfik Özlüdemir, Caner Güney, Banu Yüksel, Göksel Akkoca, Yelda Ademoğlu, Mehmet Erim, Bora Sayın, Serdar Erol, Bihter Özöner, Dursun Z. Şeker, Davut Erkan, Hasan Karataş, Yeşim Anadol, Işıl Cerem Cenker, Ahmet Ersen, Marisa Laurenzi Tabasso

Competition Project: KOOP Architects, Müze Sergi İşleri

Re-use Architectural Project Team: Y. Burak Dolu, Alexandra Koumpouli, Arzu Özsavaşçı, Alper Karasu, Barancan Dağıstan, Birsen Parlar Erkan, Dilara Öztürk, Elif Tuğba Gürkan, Enes Pilavcı, Ezgi Bekarslan, Gamze Yeşildağ, Hazal Alıcıgüzel, Işıl Karabulut, Koray Bayraktutan, Nurseray Sarıçayır, Saleh Malek, Seçkin Maden, Selin Şentürk

Scientific Advisory Board: Gülsün Tanyeli, Lucienne Thys-Şenocak, Rahmi Nurhan Çelik, Feridun Çılı, Haluk Sesigür, Arzu Özsavaşcı

Project Date: 1997-2023

Construction Date: 2015-2023

Indoor Area (m²): 5.000

Land Area (m²): 42.000

Type: Adaptive Re-Use, Cultural, Competition, Mixed Use, Museum & Exhibition

Program: Museum

Scope : Conceptual Design, Re-Use Project Spatial Coordination, Technical Design and Site Consultancy

Interior and Exhibition Design: KOOP Architects, Koruma Akademisi, Rabia Şengün, Aykun Haddeler, Nihan Demiral, Sezen Cezan, Tuğba Ağcabay, Betül Tuğçe İzgi, Kübra Keskin, Hakan Öğütçü, Yasin Tosun, Y. Burak Dolu, Elif Tuğba Gürkan, Gamze Yeşildağ, Koray Bayraktutan

Structural Project: Arke Engineering, Murat Alaboz

Mechanical Project: KDP Engineering, Mahmut Kaya, MNM Can Engineering, Melih Sayı

Electrical Project: KDP Engineering, Selçuk Özdoğan, Nira Mimarlık Engineering, Handan Gürler Akçay

Lighting Design: Lightapp, Ali Ülgen, Zeycan Abay

Landscape Design: caps.office, Mehmet Cemil Aktaş, Pınar Kesim Aktaş, Şeyma Kahraman, Gülşen Ayla Olgun

Infrastructure Project: Süheyla Kuru

Model: Küçük Atölye, Barış Taş

Main Contractor: ABMA İnşaat Restorasyon

Sub-Contractor: ASMAZ Wood Frame Structures, Şanlıbayrak Steel, Met Construction, Fibula Architects, Karınca Reklam, Temay Peyzaj, ERD Denizcilik, Sıraç Elektrik, EF İklimlenirme, Atempo

Site Manager: Rabia Şengün, Merve Çankaya, Özge Mutlu, Vezir Hezer

Master Builder: Vezir Hezer

Construction Site Technical Team: Maksut Refik Dönmezler, Erdal Civelek, Rabia Şengün, Merve Çankaya, Enes Demirel, Özge Mutlu, Ebru Koçak, Burhan Kutucu, Ömer Can Kara, Bekir Can İzmir, Seda Yalçınkaya, Gizemnur Bağ, Serkan Eloğlu, Ergin Or, Zuhal Güler, Ahmet Ağar, Nazım Soylu, Zeki Şahbaz, Erol Bulut, Fadim Koçak, Hakan Demirarslan, Mehmet Fatih Okan, Esra Tunçer, Abdülmenaf Yakiş, Erol Usman, Erdal Aslan, Hakan Öğütçü, Yasin Tosun, M.Emin Alpaydın

Photograph: Egemen Karakaya, KOOP Architects, ABMA Restoration