The principle of the edge, or out of town shopping centre arguably goes back at least as far as renaissance Florence. Back then, “out of town” meant the other side of the river Arno where land was cheap because it was inaccessible. When the accessibility question is resolved, land values rise and the challenge then is to create a sense of place that people will want to come to.
Tabanlioğlu Architects have shown they understood this challenge with the Amasçati, shopping centre in Balcova, Turkey. Their emphasis is not on the shopping so much as the meeting place. The rest as they say, will take care of itself.
The retail units are treated more or less as “black boxes” but the space between the boxes is given life with a huge cantilevering canopy. It incorporates an abstract leaf pattern to make it visually lighter and more transparent, whilst at the same time providing shade from the unforgiving sun.
I am not a fan of edge, or out of town shopping but this building seems to move well beyond a few giant sheds in a sea of carparking.
Compare this project with David Chipperfield's city centre flagship store for Peek & Cloppenburg.
Both buildings was a finalist in the Emirates Glass Leaf Awards 2012, Commercial building of the year category..
