Söğüt, A Center for Encountering History and Nature | 2022
Throughout history, natural stones have been widely used as building and cladding materials. From Göbekli Tepe to the Pyramids, from Rome to the Ottoman Empire, stone has stood out as one of the few enduring materials in the construction of civilizations.
Today, every piece of natural stone used in structures serves as a geological time capsule, offering a tangible narrative of the Earth’s movements through time.
The region, home to some of Asia Minor’s most significant ancient quarries, presents a topographically diverse landscape shaped by the number of discovered quarries and the fascinating stratification they have created. The structure we envisioned emerges as a product of Söğüt’s quarries—a physical embodiment of stones that have been preserved underground for approximately 260 million years, now finding life above the surface.
When we began conceptualizing a space for ‘Encountering History and Nature’ in Söğüt, we realized that nothing speaks of greater antiquity or strength than something that has traversed the depths of history unchanged. Moreover, can history achieve a more meaningful encounter with nature than through its very own stone? Here, history is nature itself, the very land, a treasure hidden in the depths of the geography that has borne witness to millions of years.
Emerging organically from the topography and partially fragmented along the slope, the structure blurs the distinction between interior and exterior spaces. Visitors are guided on a journey through stone walls and terraces, seamlessly connecting them with the landscape.
Here, stone takes on multiple roles: as a part of the ground plane, as an architectural element defining space, and as a landscaping feature organizing levels. This multifunctionality embodies the timelessness and versatility of stone in creating a dialogue between history, nature, and architecture.
