Two Examples on Urban Renewal in Eskişehir

Abstract

This study explores architectural and interior design features of the residential housing projects built in the Eskişehir Tepebaşı region along the 1st and 2nd Ismet Inonu Avenues, and focuses on the rapid transition that these projects carried out within that area. Construction was not permitted in this area until 2007, due to its historical importance as the city’s former industrial area. With an emphasis on residential housing projects, construction commenced in 2009, and since then, the area has evolved into a popular residential and commercial center. Along with this popularity, the demand for these residential projects, as real estate, has also increased. The typology of these buildings features an atrium with either four or eight stories, hotel-style design and various advanced technologies of the day. The projects were conceived as highly exclusive residential houses offering residents special utilities such as professional facility management, access control systems, social areas, fitness, recreational facilities, parking lots and security services. The first residence project, Eldem Residence, was built in 2009. It was followed in 2011 by Aytepe Residences and the Akademia Suites projects, which were in turn followed by Başak, Two Towers and Atrium Park. The intensive urban renewal of the former industrial area has continued rapidly since then.