VitrA Çağdaş Mimarlık Dizisi - Arkitera

The facility was constructed on one of the numerous adjacent tourism parcels situated
perpendicular to the sea at Lara, Antalya. Rather than the conventional architectural
approach of the region that consists of a fragmented polyphonic mass organization,
a simple and solid mass was chosen, in which the buildings are situated towards
the west of the site and the eastern and southern (seaside) spaces are used as open
recreation spaces. This different mass scheme has led to an unexpected contrast
with the neighboring facilities. The main bedroom mass was constructed using the
maximum height and front façade width limits allowed by the regulations and orienting
all rooms towards the sea. The huge void between the two bedroom masses is covered
by a semi-transparent shelter and has thus been added to the indoor social spaces of
the hotel.
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Antalya Airport opened in 1960 and triggered the development of Antalya in the eastern
direction. As a consequence of the addition of the first international terminal in
1998, the addition of the second international terminal in 2005 and the declaration of
the Lara-Kundu coastline as the “Antalya Kemerağzı-Kundu Culture and Tourism Conservation
and Development Zone” in 2004, the dunes and the agricultural areas located
at the coast rapidly filled with tourism investments. A series of adjacently positioned
luxury hotel complexes stretches along the road passing 500-750 meters inside the
coastline, and has transformed the region. The opening of WOW Topkapı Palace, the
first thematic hotel in Turkey in Kundu in 1999 determined the architectural character
of the region while instigating the trend of thematicity, which, in time has come to
dominate tourism investments.
Due to its mass nature, the tourism industry has rapidly consumed the area and its
identity. This development of the tourism industry has a homogenizing effect that systematically
destroys the regional characteristics to be replaced by characteristics that
“seem to be regional”. The new identity promises a fictional authenticity and simulated
cultural animations, and the past years have seen an increase in the number of touristic
spaces with this sort of fictional reality. However, these phantasmagoric atmospheres
that present satisfactory experiences for masses of tourists focused on the
consumption of ready-made images, packaged scenarios and staged views, partially
lost their appeal after the 2000s. These atmospheres have been rejected by the new
“post-tourist” consumers who are aware of the deceptive nature of tourism complexes
that promise fake authenticity and fictional realities. The new non-thematic new type
of tourism buildings focus on comfort, recreation and pleasure demanded by this “posttourist”
group.
With its non-thematic architectural approach, Lara Kervansaray Hotel and Congress
Center is shaped by the demands of post-tourist consumers, and has a distinguished
location within the surreal atmosphere of the Lara coastline. The disadvantages of its
780 meter long but relatively narrow site have been transformed into a strong architectural
statement through a focus on the concept of linearity. The complex has played
a leading role in efforts to create a new ethical code based on architectural statement
rather than themes in tourism architecture.
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