Kaplankaya Clubhouse

Kaplankaya Clubhouse

In the eastern Mediterranean, on the west coast of Turkey, near Bodrum, the former Halicarnassus, 135 m above sea level, longitude 27° 24’ 30,63” E and latitude 37° 19’ 14,46” N, there is a headland projecting into the sea.

Faced with the dilemma of whether to build a monument on top of the headland, the idea of monumentalizing the site is born.

The legacy and the presence throughout history of fortresses, citadels, temples and monasteries have helped construct the landscape of the Mediterranean.

On many occasions we have witnessed a happy encounter between architecture and landscape, place and territory.

A horizontal platform leads to a geometric partitioning of the terrain. Its slopes meet this, describing a topographical outline and accommodating the immediate landscape in the building, in the reflective pool with its views, and in the small wood that shelters the different accesses.

On the platform a huge cantilever floats above the shadows, creating a porch which acts as an intermediary space accommodating the activities that will put the inside and outside in touch with one another.

On the square ground floor, oriented along the north-south axis, the concept of unity typical of the architecture of tradition holds sway.

Reinforcing this notion is the large, off-center, inner atrium that, roofed over with by big skylights, is encased in continuous intercolumniation, thus revealing the underlying idea of the cloister.

Touring the Aegean, acceding from the sea, a little reception pavilion and a winding path flanked by vegetation lead us towards the summit, from where one will be able to contemplate the views of Kaplankaya.