Night view of the memorial in Ankara's Botanic Park, with a figure standing in a lit circular void enclosed by stepped stone walls, a tall angled dark wall with a rust-red steel blade, glowing sphere lights on a grassy slope and office blocks behind

Competition Project

The Void

Foreign Ministry Martyrs Memorial

Year: April 2025
Classification: Competition Project
Status: Competition entry
Location: Ankara, Türkiye
Team: Studio Evren Başbuğ Architects
Organizer: Ankara Metropolitan Municipality

Loss creates a void that cannot be filled. Sometimes it appears in a single home, sometimes in an entire city, or even across a whole country, but it always resides in the heart. Time flows, everything changes, but the void in the heart remains. No matter what replaces it, it never truly fills. One gets used to living with that emptiness. Over time, this void becomes a part of the person, shaping them into someone new: a little more incomplete, a little more subdued.

We propose a spatial memorial within the Botanic Park to commemorate the Foreign Ministry martyrs who are no longer with us, first remembered in the hearts of their families and colleagues, and then in the collective memory of the nation. The void is defined by a circular, conical boundary formed by fragmented granite layers, extending both above and below ground. A fluid water element gently cascades down these surfaces, visually animating the memorial. Our aim is to create a calm and modest remembrance scenario that harmonizes with the tranquil landscape of the park.

By preserving the existing terrace levels, we geometrically reconfigure them to relate to this new void, each pierced by plastic elements that symbolize ruptures. A memorial wall is proposed at the upper level, allowing for ceremonial activities. This wall also becomes a highly visible and symbolic urban element for residents who use Çankaya Street, inviting them to engage with the presence of the monument.

Design Process

01 / 04

Axonometric diagram of the park slope beside the street, with a curved cone-shaped wall lowered into an orange circle cut into the ground. — 01Carving into the existing terrain to create the void of the memorial space.

Axonometric diagram with three long angled slabs lowered onto the existing terraces beside the circular void, their new outlines drawn in orange. — 02Reconfiguring the viewing terraces.

Axonometric diagram with a folded, pointed wall and a sharp-edged terrace lowered onto the upper level beside the street. — 03Adding the memorial wall and the viewing terrace at the upper level.

Axonometric diagram of the completed memorial, with the circular void, the reshaped terraces and the folded memorial wall shaded in orange. — 04The final spatial composition.

Drawings

01 / 04

Context map of the Botanic Park in Çankaya with walking-time rings in minutes, orange park paths and the memorial site, surrounded by the Russian, Indian and British embassies, Seğmenler Park, Portakal Çiçeği Park and Atakule. — 01The memorial in its urban context, a few minutes' walk from Atakule, the embassies and the surrounding parks.

Line-drawn axonometric of the memorial between the park's trees and Çankaya Street, with the circular void, the reshaped terraces and the folded memorial wall shaded in orange, and small figures moving around. — 02Axonometric of the memorial between the Botanic Park and Çankaya Street.

Site plan of the memorial, with the circular remembrance space ringed by a reflecting pool, three angled terrace walls, the triangular memorial wall with a memorial tree, the ceremonial area and the crossing to Çankaya Street. — 03Site plan — the remembrance space, reflecting pool, terraces and ceremonial area.

Sheet of elevations and sections, showing the memorial from the Botanic Park and from Çankaya Street, and two sections through the sunken void with its stepped granite walls and the angled memorial wall. — 04Elevations from the Botanic Park and Çankaya Street, and sections through the void.

Aerial view of the memorial set into the wooded slope of the Botanic Park beside Çankaya Street, with the circular granite void, the dark angled memorial wall with flags and an orange-leaved tree, terraced planting and sphere lights. — 01The memorial set into the slope of the Botanic Park beside Çankaya Street.

Top-down view into the circular void at dusk, with water cascading down the stepped granite wall into a lit pool, visitors on the dark floor, and the memorial wall inscribed with the names of the Foreign Ministry martyrs. — 02Looking down into the void, where water runs over the granite layers beside the memorial wall.