VitrA Çağdaş Mimarlık Dizisi - Arkitera

Kempinski, Bodrum project is an accommodation facility that consists of a hotel and
residences. The challenges caused by the steep slope of the site have been turned into
an advantage via structural and spatial solutions. By doing what nature allows and not
doing what it does not allow, a simple and functional scheme has been achieved without
compromising the structural system. Vertical connections are provided by multileveled
staircases, ramps and elevators located outside the building. The functionally
essential single level spaces consist of slabs supported by columns rising from the
strong ground rather than infill. The structural geometry that bears this platform has
been organized according to the functional use of the spaces formed underneath. Since
the formal structure of the buildings includes regional references, the indoor public
spaces merge harmoniously into nature. The open spaces were designed with functional
elements that also reflect the mystery of the Orient.
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Motivated by the expectations and convictions generated by the global tourism industry
and focused on consumption of all physical, spiritual and experiential forms,
modern tourists have become more demanding, and the buildings built for tourism
have responded accordingly. Kempinski Hotels was founded in Germany at the beginning
of 19 th century in 1837, in a period when the praxis of tourism was rapidly spreading.
Kempinski Hotels is the oldest luxury hotel group in Europe and considered to be
one of the most important international luxury hotel chains. Kempinski Hotel Barbaros
Bay, one of the four enterprises of Kempinski Hotels in Turkey, is located within an untouched,
bare natural landscape on a steeply sloped site in Gerenkuyu, in the Yalı district
of Bodrum, a region classified as a tourism center since 1987. Being one of the few
luxury resorts in the region, the facility serves as a cognitive and spiritual shelter that
caters to modern peoples’ desire to escape from the stress of urban life while providing
a chance to turn their secluded holiday into a discovery for adventurous souls, as the
location is also close to the center of Bodrum.
The hotel aims to respond to the expectations of tourists who have fictional images of
the Mediterranean via an organic pattern created by the white cubical hotel and residence
units. The facility has been carefully distributed on the sloped site in order to provide
every room with an uninterrupted view of the immense blue sight of the Aegean
Sea, the strongest component of this fictional image. In all of the meticulously designed
rooms, these framed views are enriched by wooden terraces, balconies and pergolas.
Among these tourist spaces that have been set up, the one with the most poetic atmosphere
is the dome of the Turkish Bath rising from above a reflection pool and its
organically-formed ventilation shafts. Aiming to sustain the fictional stage atmosphere
that draws tourists into dreams and fantasies, a series of thematic spaces such as the
Turkish Bath, the Asian Restaurant, the Mediterranean Restaurant and the Far Eastern
Spa Center have been successfully established as sections of the diverse topography.
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