“CER Modern Arts Center”
Cer Modern Arts Center merges the design and spatial features of an old building, one of the maintenance workshops (Cer Atölyesi) built soon after the nationalization of the railways in the first years of the Republic, with new building technologies and contemporary thought in a single entity. The maturation of the architecture and the city through a stratification of time and people, and the subsequent building up of an identity has a significant place in the architectural approach of the project. As the concurrence of the old and the new bring out the value of the different periods through contrasts, the fact that the totality that is made up of these two elements manages to establish harmony and continuity makes it not only rooted in the period of its initial construction but also provides the space with a sense of belonging. Without losing anything of its essence, the old is introduced into the life of today by being equipped with functions in accordance with current requirements, and the structure expresses its own period through a contemporary interpretation without imitating the old.
Semra-Özcan Uygur
Semra Uygur was born in 1956 in Erzincan. She received her undergraduate degree in 1980 and her postgraduate degree in 1984 from the Faculty of Architecture of METU. As a part-time instructor she participated in the design studios at Eskişehir Osmangazi University in 1995-1996 and at METU in 2001-2002 and 2005-2006. Özcan Uygur was born in 1956 in Anamur. He received his undergraduate degree in 1980 and his postgraduate degree in 1983 from the Faculty of Architecture of METU.
Semra & Özcan Uygur have been continuing to produce works in design at Uygur Architects, that they have founded, since 1986. The couple, who have served as jury members in national architectural design competitions, have won a total of thirty-seven prizes and honourable mentions, seven of which were first prizes, in the seventy architectural design competitions they have participated in.
Uygur Architects
Uygur Architects, founded in 1986 by Semra Uygur and Özcan Uygur in Ankara, have been creating architectural and urban design projects for over 30 years. Uygur Architects, which started its professional journey by partaking in architectural design competitions, is an office that designed important private and public structures in Turkey, especially large-scale office buildings, cultural and educational structures.
Alongside the activities in producing design projects, the founders of the office have also been serving as jury members in architectural design competitions so as to contribute to the development of the architecture scene.