MAS

The Izmir University of Economics Campus has been shortlisted as a dual finalist in the Future Projects Masterplanning and Education categories at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2026.

MAS MİMLAB

World Architecture Festival

The campus is situated on the outskirts of the Izmir metropolis and acts as an interface between urban expansion and rural ecological protection zones. This unique setting generates a “Rural-Urban” character, merging the seasonal, production-oriented lifestyle of the countryside with the polycentric, high-density, mixed-use profile of the city. To manage the urban growth pressure on the Güzelbahçe district, the masterplan proposes a “Green Link” macro-strategy. This framework functions as an urban boundary to deflect urban sprawl away from vulnerable agricultural and ecological zones. It also establishes a micro-mobility and pedestrian network that strengthens regional accessibility, hampered by the adjacent highway, while fostering year-round interaction between campus users and the local community through shared public spaces, agricultural production, and outdoor events.

Conceived as a sustainable and state of the art educational base, our award winning masterplan for the new Izmir University of Economics Campus establishes a resilient and contextual spatial framework where academics, social life, and ecology converge. Selected unanimously through a national competition, the 162,000 m² masterplan reimagines the campus as a continuous ‘macrocosm’ of interconnected ‘microcosm’s, linked by landscape, water, and public space. With Phase 1 under construction, the project is transforming this vision into reality.