Muscat Turkish Embassy Building
2014 – 2016
The New Turkish Embassy in Muscat, facing the Gulf of Oman is located in the Embassy District. The solid-void disposition of the embassy stands in contrast to neighbouring embassies where buildings as figures or objects that ‘sit on the ground’ rendering the open spaces as leftovers. In the Turkish Embassy the open spaces are designed as figures carved in the ground of building masses and frame the open courtyards.
Location
Muscat, OmanConstruction Area
5.000 m²Client
Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The building has been inspired from the proportional and spatial characteristics of historical buildings like Topkapı Palace, Suleymaniye Complex or Elhamra Palace. Horizontally articulating spatial relationships, which could be encapsulated as mat building, open, semi-open or closed passages between spaces, modular dispersions of these historical buildings has been referred in this project. Spatial architypes such as open courtyards, porticos, hypostyle, iwans has been inspired from indigenous features of Anatolian and Mediterranean culture. This geographical locality has also responds the buildings’ its own context by the use of local materials (natural stone and wood) and climatic adaptation.
The program units organized around individual courtyards are horizontally connected to each other via a central portico. The pedestrian circulation within the complex is a processional promenade. As one proceeds along, encounters various courtyards, gardens, terraces, and semi – enclosed spaces that unfold their spatial qualities gradually.
