Foreword

This competition tasked participants with envisioning a visitor observation platform to be constructed atop Nemrut, a volcano located in eastern Turkey. Positioned at an altitude of 2,800 metres at the southern edge of the dormant volcano, the intent of this new landmark is to provide unobstructed views overlooking the extraordinary caldera and its internal lakes, as well as the immense Lake Van to the east.

A caldera is a large depression formed when the ground surface collapses into the emptied magma chamber following a volcanic eruption, becoming a crater. With a total area of 4,800 hectares, and a diameter varying from 7 to 8.5 km, the Nemrut caldera is among the largest in the world. A pair of lakes within the crater - Lakes Ilı and Nemrut - support a microclimate with flora and fauna unique to the region, in part because the water bodies are fed by hot springs and never fully freeze during the winter months.

Participants were asked to deliver proposals for a 20 sqm iconic viewing station designed in consideration of this unique natural environment. The competition was not limited to a strict budget, but participants were recommended to conceive designs on the scale of US $100k. Given the site and limited access, submissions with cost-effective, environmentally-responsible and energy-efficient construction methods were viewed favorably. Access from a nearby ski lift station to the site should also have been considered in the design.

A number of factors were discussed by the jury while reviewing the submissions: If a platform were to be constructed, firstly can it offer something which the volcano’s current peak does not - shelter, new perspectives, or accessibility? Can it perform as a landmark that might encourage more visitors to make the journey to the natural marvel of the Nemrut caldera? Can it question given assumptions as to how a viewing station should function? Bee Breeders would like to thank each participant for their part in assembling a rich trove of new design ideas.

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Nemrut 
Volcano 
Eyes

1st Prize Winner +
BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Upservatory

The architecture vision competitions allow the possibility to take the design process to a level where experimentation and speculation become problem solving strategies in a creative and unconventional way. This is the perfect venue for telling a story through architecture.

Read full interview
Authors Fernando Irizarry, Marcos Ortiz, Gabriel Rivera,
Country Puerto Rico
+178 points Buildner University Rankings

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Nemrut Caldera Observation Route

It is a refreshing exercise and an escape from our everyday works. Generally, we get to design things that we do not regularly have a chance to design – sometimes for places and users we do not get to think about. It is a rewarding opportunity to face a challenge and develop new design perspectives as a result.

Read full interview
Country Turkey

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

A Walk Beyond The Edge

This kind of competition is a good field for matching with other points of view. It can be fascinating to observe how a place can be conceived by other architects and designers. It gives you an opportunity to try different approaches and experiment which is definitely something you don’t see every day.

Read full interview
Authors Giuseppe Pastonesi, Desislava Georgieva, Marchela Varbanova, Nina Gerosa
Country Italy

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Obsidian & Steel

Competition prompts give us the constraints and platform to pursue creative design projects outside of the office. They also motivate us to follow through on these pursuits through a financial investment and fixed schedule.

Read full interview
Authors Sam Naylor, Elaine Stokes,
Country United States

Honorable Mentions

Show Honorables Mentions (6 of 6) Hide Honorables Mentions projects
Project name

The Train

Authors Fang Xu, Yuxuan Jiang, Zhi Wen Sun
Country Canada
Project name

Reverie of the Edge

Authors June Yong, Chun Fei Wong,
Country Malaysia
Project name

A door to Nemrut

Authors Venessa Mok, Guido Mitidieri,
Country Finland
Project name

Re-Discovering Nemrut

Authors Joseph Mwaisaka,
Country Kenya
Project name

Ledge

Authors Marilu de Bies, Simon Wijrdeman,
Country Netherlands
+72 points Buildner University Rankings
Project name

Flying Over The Landscape

Authors Holger Patricio Cuadrado Torres, Edwin Patricio Moreno Estrada, Jimmy Paul Sinchire Capa, José Armando Paucar Ríos
Country Ecuador

Shortlisted projects

Show Shortlisted projects Hide Shortlisted projects

Transcendence

Jad Abdelnour

Tarek Haddad

Lebanon

Shift

Henry Grosman

United States

Vasileios Sempsis

United Kingdom

Khushboo Gupta khandelwal

India

Fractured Divide

Thomas Haller

Emily Gross

United States

BABEL II

Benjamin Kellogg

United States

EQUIPOISE - NEMRUT VOLCANO EYE

Pooventhiran P sangar

Hui meng Tuang

Navinraj P sangar

Widad Bamadhaj

Malaysia

The Nest

Riccardo Erata

Andrea Manzini

Italy

Murat Yavuz

Jason Kachanovsky

Hilario Torres

United States

Panopticon

Simone Paganelli

Giordano Pirozzi

Italy

The Path

Ewelina Bugajewicz

Bialystok University of Technology

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Nemrut Volcano Eye

Xinyuan Feng

The University of Sydney

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Australia

ENCLOSURE

Jan Mach

Czech Republic

Perched

Lesia Petrovska

Robert john Lewis

Semih Igci

Turkey

Cross Axes

Cirilo Leal cabrera

Jenny Del pino díaz

Spain

NEMRUT VOLCANO EYES EXPANSION

Albert Ohanian

Gaetan Pakdaman

Belgium

LOOKOUT 01

David Huntly-grant

Norway

KEEP THE NATURE PURE

Amir hossein Hajizadeh

Iran

A Walk Beyond The Edge

Giuseppe Pastonesi

Desislava Georgieva

Marchela Varbanova

Nina Gerosa

Italy

i: unfolding the mythos of Nemrut

Olivia Fung

Julian Wylegly

Canada

Caldera Gaze

Iakovos Sierifis

Charikleia Chouli

Panos Athanasiou

Ioannis periclis Papapetrou

National Technical University of Athens

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Greece

Nemrut Viewing Platform

Jesse Goguen

Royd Zhang

Erik Weaver

United States

Nimrod's Kingdom

William Handyside

Joseph Istance

United Kingdom

TEPHRA

Brian Torres

Michelle Perez

Christian Gonzalez

Universidad de Puerto Rico Rio Piedras

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Puerto Rico

Nimrod's Belvedere

Gizem Kadioglu

Izim can Kurtaran

Turkey

T1:8 S155

Noémi éva Sebestyén

Kázmér Domokos

Szilárd Suba- faluvégi

Moholy- Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Hungary

Stone-Tent

Ali Zolfaghari

Sina Sadeghi

Sina Gozashteh

Mahyar Jalali

Iran

Nemrut Volcano Observatory

Haoran Xu

China

TRIANGULAR-PRISM OBSERVATION

Seungsoo Lee

South Korea

Chaoqiong Guo

Yiwen Shi

Ying Yan

Boya Li

China

RATIO

Péter Vági

László Jaskó

Hungary

360 NEMRUT VOLCANO EYES

Fernando israel Leal leyte

Nicolas eduardo Voegelin chavira

Rene Vargas lopez

Cesar Wong bustamante

VOLEVA arquitectos

Mexico

Flickering Landscape

Ana Paunovic

Andelka Markovic

Ana Popovic

Serbia

Upservatory

Fernando Irizarry

Marcos Ortiz

Gabriel Rivera

University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus

+178 points Buildner University Rankings!
Puerto Rico

Flying Over The Landscape

Holger Patricio Cuadrado Torres

Edwin Patricio Moreno Estrada

Jimmy Paul Sinchire Capa

José Armando Paucar Ríos

Ecuador

BOM PROJECT

Begüm Yaldız

Merve Alagöz

Turkey

Nemrut Observation Path

James Tanner

Edyta Milczarek

United Kingdom

Ledge

Marilu de Bies

Simon Wijrdeman

Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
Netherlands

Re-Discovering Nemrut

Joseph Mwaisaka

Kenya

A door to Nemrut

Venessa Mok

Guido Mitidieri

Finland

UPtheEDGE

Davide Bertin

Michele Prendini

Università IUAV di Venezia

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Italy

Reverie of the Edge

June Yong

Chun Fei Wong

Malaysia

Interpretative Route of Nemrut Volcano

João Ribeiro

Daniel Nunes

Elisabete Pinho

António Brancas

Portugal

DART LOOKOUT

Monika Jokiel

Wrocław University of Science and Technology

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Obsidian & Steel

Sam Naylor

Elaine Stokes

United States

The Train

Fang Xu

Yuxuan Jiang

Zhi Wen Sun

Canada

Nemrut Caldera Observation Route

Keremcan Kirilmaz

Erdem Batirbek

Turkey