YAHŞİBEY VILLAGE

Yahşibey is a small Aegean village with a population of about 200. People mostly raise cattle and olives. It is situated at the skirt of a hill, facing the Mytilini island of Greece.

Yahşibey is a mere 1 km away from the sea and has some of the most beautiful beaches and coves of Northern Aegean. Like the neighbouring village Bademli, Yahşibey is part of Dikili township in Izmir. Dikili is the foremost town in Turkey with the intellectual and democratic tradition, where typical middle-class families holiday. Each year in August Dikili hosts Emek ve Demokrasi Şenlikleri (Labor and Democracy Festival).

It would be safe to say that Dikili has the cleanest and most generous sea in Aegean. Dikili is also very close to hitorical sites like Bergama, Allianoi Aigai, Troya, Adramytteion. Also in neighborhood of seaside centers like Ayvalık and Foça. Yahşibey is 8 km’s to Dikili, Dikili is 120 km’s to Izmir.

Yahşibey is a peculiar village. It faces a sea but is far from it. It is not green in the literal sense. One can even call it dry and somewhat bony. Calm, not-crowded, with soft but limited water. There is one cute convenience store. Scarcity of children give away the aged population. All are nearly democratic by birth. At various times  the work theme was the village itself and the vicinity. The participation of the villagers were extraordinary. 

Our village is still very clean even with all the holiday makers and the tiring endeavors of tourism. Each summer, with a minimum of 70 people visiting Yahşibey Project House, we do our best to live an environment-friendly daily life.

We separate our garbage, utilize our organic waste in the village; take rest of the trash to the town, use our daily water and the pool sparingly; never overlook the possibility of fire. We enjoy entertainment from time to time, but never cause noise. And of course, we do not smoke.

DESIGN WORKSHOPS

 “An initiative of modest contribution to the universal design culture”

That is what our web site says in the introduction and  that is exactly what we set out to do. Yahşibey provides a provocative atmosphere of creativity for the young design students of different disciplines working enjoyably together. All we do is talking and producing design; creating design problems and attempting to solve them.

Our mechanisms are simple: Each summer, during fifteen-day periods of workshops, we invite ten best design students from around the world to Turkey. We organize their juxtaposition with  established universal masters of design. They board, cook, clean, have fun in Yahşibey together, and of course tackle the design project the masters specify. At the end of the term, they present the result of their joint work and submit it to the Foundation. Their contribution to the universal design culture is then turned into a web site and a book.

To take part in Yahşibey Design Workshops as a student, all you need to do is send an e-mail to the address indicated for the term you are interested in. You must also send the [design] work you are required in order to be selected. Those who have taken part in a Yahşibey Workshop cannot take part again. 

Yahşibey Design Workshops is a non-profit initiative: It does not ask anyone to make any payments, or pay anyone. No sponsorships or financial relationships with anybody or any corporation are accepted. 

PROJECT HOUSE

Yahşibey Design Worshop is a two-storey complex, custom designed by Nevzat Sayın. First floor contains the atelier and a dining room with kitchen as well as two small halls that can be combined. This level also opens to the garden and the swimming pool. The garden and the building are surrounded by stone walls.

Second floor is comprised of two large halls of sleeping quarters for the project leader and the students. It also has the bathroom, toilet and the storage room along an inner patio. One of the two entrances to the building is on this level.

The main construction element of the village is stone. So, the building uses as main material the stone. Concrete, steel and glass are complementary. All material are used in its natural form and none is allowed to cover another.

The design of the building priorized the users’ comfort of living and working together; and the appropriateness for the environment and local climate. 

The building offers:

• Beautifully situated overlooking the Aegean sea.
• Sleeping quarters for 10 attendants, partitioned with mosquito nets.
• A 2m×12m swimming pool.
• Kitchen equipped to feed 15 people.
• Adequate number of large working tables and chairs.
• Projector and screen, music set.
• 2 toilets and 2 bathrooms, washing machine, dishwasher, water cooler.
• Adequate storage room.