Museums are no longer show rooms of historical collections, they are the places of production.

Framing the Space is an architectural project that redefines the idea of the museum by transforming the city itself into the exhibition, rather than constructing a conventional museum building.

The original brief required the design of a museum within the historic old city of Famagusta, a coastal city defined by centuries of layered civilizations and architectural heritage. Instead of inserting a closed object into this sensitive context, the project proposes a radical shift in approach. The city is not treated as a backdrop for a museum, but as the museum itself.

Awarded the best emerging design idea in architecture graduation project 2018, EMU

Rather than enclosing history within dark rooms and solid walls, the project opens the urban fabric as a continuous cultural experience. Streets, fortifications, public spaces, and historical landmarks become part of an open and accessible narrative. Architecture operates as a framing mechanism, guiding perception, revealing relationships, and activating existing heritage without isolating it from daily life.

Gazimagusa is the second largest city located on the eastern coast of Northern Cyprus, with a population around 50.000 inhabitants. The development of Gazimagusa was influenced by different civilizations throughout its history The most significant architectural and urban features from the remains of the history in the Walled City are the harbor, the gothic St. Nicolas church/ Lala Mustafa Pascha Mosque, Namik Kemal Square, the Venetian Palace, Bugday Mosque and many others like the twin churches and St. George church placed at the west border of the selected site for the graduation project (see. Walled city map); in addition to Ottoman hamam and fountains and many warehouses, the closed market from the British Period are inside the walled city bound with the fortifications that date back to the Lusignan period.

By dissolving the boundary between exhibition space and city space, Framing the Space challenges the traditional institutional model of museums. It proposes an alternative where heritage is not stored, but lived. History is encountered through movement, visibility, and engagement, allowing the city to function as a living archive shaped by time, people, and place

“ Most art and heritage in museums never gets noticed by most of the people .. “ Erik Schilp

Framing the Space

Heritage should be all around us, because it is not a luxury, it is something determined by visibility, we need to live it, we need to feel it