Izmir is under the risk of many natural and social disasters such as; earthquakes ranging from 5.9 to 7 in magnitude; floods with 329 heavy damages; landslides which resulted in over 6000 damaged houses, and rock falls. Nowadays the biggest local problem is the refugee migration, which resulted in a sudden increase of the local population. These people are living in very harsh conditions, without even properly meeting their basic needs.

A considerable part of the population of Izmir is concentrated on the Basmane region. However, currently the basic survival needs of the people are not suffciently satisfied. For instance the health care facilities are mostly located in a considerable distance away from the Basmane area and there used to be only a single hospital in the area, but it was shut down in 2015. This resulted in a need for a proper health care facility in the area, especially after the arrival of more than 90,000 refugees to Izmir.

This project proposes a new soup kitchen as a temporarily sucient solution to the local food shortage. It also ofers a multi-purpose and easy to assemble structure to be used in the disaster conditions. Empty car parking slots can easily be converted to be used for a useful purpose. For that reason these parking areas can be designed to serve multiple
needs. Especially multi story car parks can easily be converted into a support center by using low cost, easy-to-assemble materials such as shipping containers or partition walls.

On the west side of the plot, the new soup kitchen building will be located and it will serve permanently alongside the hospital. The architectural properties of the soup kitchen is designed in order to meet the behavioral patterns of the refugees and the people in need. After navigating the ramp, the patients’ visitors have two routes they can follow; one leading to the soup kitchen, and another leading directly to the patients’ visiting rooms. The people going to the soup kitchen follow a queue which is directed by the arcade of the building.

Disaster situations also require a solid source of energy. The existing energy infrastructures are not designed to withstand natural disasters, and this calls for an alternative source of energy. In this project, stack ventilation system -which is sort of passive ventilation system- is installed to the south facade of the building. This system uses the temperature differences to replace the existing air with fresh air circulation. The hot air rises because of the low atmospheric pressure and the cold air takes its place. This way, fresh air circulation within the building is established with no external energy requirements.