TEĞET-designed Basketball Development Center, which has a program and space setup where basketball expands from the field to the streets and squares; Contrary to the introverted fictions seen in the mega-iconic sports structures located on the periphery of the city, it provides a new ground where awareness and participation in sports will increase with an anonymous architectural approach developed around the context and program.
Basketball Development Center (BGM) is located at the corner where the historical Istanbul Walls meet the Marmara Sea in front of the Yedikule Fortress, between the Balıklı Greek Hospital Campus and the city walls. BGM, a basketball campus that draws a strong reference from its context; It adheres to the east-west grid formed by Balıklı Greek Hospital, which is organized around courtyards, squares and an organic transportation network. The focus of BGM is the main hall. The spaces around this focus are arranged on an inner street that curves with the various functions they undertake. The tight plan pattern creates a settlement that slowly reveals itself, discovered over time. Seven separate masses, with eaves heights of four to twenty-one meters, lie across the historical walls with a monolithic plaster shell.
The masses moving back and forth with the streets, squares and green areas between them, and the low and high roofs covering them, break the weight of the long street silhouette. On the other hand, the series of modestly rising roofs opposite the walls provide the necessary volumes for technical equipment. While the interior and exterior facades gain a balanced expression, the sheltered inner street and the portico, which is a second ground layer, create a transition between the masses with staggered upper levels; both formally and functionally. This expression on the façade and plan is the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to sports structure today; It is the result of an anonymous architectural approach that develops around context and program, unlike the fiction seen in mega-iconic buildings on the periphery of cities, which are weakly connected to their environment, introverted and dictate their own rules to the place where they are located.
In addition to the multifunctional main hall, which hosts a wide range of events from international tournaments to world-famous organizations with a capacity of ten thousand people, there are three infrastructure halls, each with a capacity of five hundred spectators, where young basketball players will train. In another building, the National Teams are under the same roof as the Turkish Basketball Federation; Sports, technical and administrative personnel carry out their preparation work here. The building, which was designed according to the pre- and post-match needs of the athletes, also has a field with a capacity of 1,000 spectators where both tournament matches and training are held. Professionals from home and abroad will be accommodated on campus; There is a camp center where seminars, conferences, meetings and workshops will be held throughout the year.
BGM is not only a sports structure, but also a basketball village. A campus where sports infiltrate daily life with its endless scenarios and alternatives suitable for all ages. Sports programs are balanced with commercial and cultural programs in a way that strengthens the bond the building establishes with the city. The mentioned sports areas are supported by a series of social and cultural programs such as a basketball museum, library, event courtyard and food and beverage area. This mixed structure paves the way for users to diversify and their usage routines to become more frequent. With a program and space setup in which basketball expands from the field to the streets and squares, BGM provides a new ground where the awareness and participation of users of all ages and backgrounds will increase.
