GASTRONOMIC HUBS AS URBAN CATALYSTS; A RESEARCH-BASED DESIGN APPROACH

Abstract

This study presents the "Food-Focused Community Center" model as an architectural alternative and an urban catalyst to the traditional shopping center (mall) typology, which often persists as an isolated, introverted "closed box" within the modern urban pattern. The disconnection between commercial spaces, social interaction, and local production in contemporary cities is identified as a fundamental problem. The research investigates the potential of transforming introverted commercial environments into public focal points that repair urban disruptions when a food-oriented program is structured through the criteria of permeability, modularity, and programmatic hybridization. A "Research-Based Design" methodology was adopted, where an experimental laboratory setting utilized capstone design outcomes as empirical typological datasets. Within the scope of a Case Study focused on the dense residential pattern along the Fevzi Çakmak Street corridor in Avcılar Ambarlı-directly complementing the adjacent historic Köyiçi core-ten design prototypes (Pr 1–Pr 10) were evaluated across four fundamental parameters: Permeability, Mass and Tectonics, Modularity, and Programmatic Hybridization. Supported by comparative ground-floor plan layouts and tectonic section diagrams, the findings indicate that micro-plazas and level-access entrances designed as direct extensions of the street effectively ensure urban continuity. Furthermore, rational gridal systems provide high spatial adaptation capability, while the integration of production workshops and market functions renders local craftsmanship visible, transforming standard commercial volumes into active community hubs. As a result, the proposed model serves as an urban catalyst and a "Sustainable Urban Metabolism" prototype that supports local production cycles and social interaction through multi-scalar transitions. In the context of contemporary "de-malling" discussions in the literature, the study offers a robust methodological framework for reconfiguring introverted commercial structures into public generators. Future research is suggested to focus on the typological transformations of these architectural models across varying urban morphologies and their tectonic integration with digital fabrication technologies.