A slope is a constitution

For a planner used to flat land, a slope is first a cost item: excavation, retaining walls, level differences. For us, the slope is the project's first and most honest author.

Dividing the 3,500 m² program of Canoğlu Teras into nine units, we did not negotiate with the terrain; the stepping was set by the slope itself. Each terrace turns the neighbour's roof below into a garden — the view is withheld from no one.

The price of this composition is discipline. Every level gained in section is paid for with a concession in plan; stairs grow longer, service runs more complex. In return, no unit builds a wall in front of another.

Drawing on a slope means counting the rules first. Clauses that violate the site's constitution — retaining walls that flatten the land, masses that block the view — could not enter our drawings.