The Limbo’s Pilgrimage: A Metaphoric Exploration To Uncovering Time Fictional Structure Through Dreamscapes And Island Narratives | Design Thesis On Fictional Architecture

Site Context

The Kuruçesme area and the surrounding Bosphorus have been shaped by multiple layers of civilization over time. However, this historical richness has also led to the abandonment or loss of significant historical elements, resulting in a fading sense of identity within society. This project seeks to explore how architectural narratives can revive these lost temporal layers and restore identity to the site and its inhabitants.

Memories evolve with time, forming overlapping layers that contribute to the ever-changing identity of a place. Each layer tells a unique story while collectively building the meta-narrative of the site. Kuruçesme holds many untold stories and hidden perspectives, often accessible only through fragments. These fragments, though incomplete, are essential to understanding the site’s diverse and multifaceted character.

By acknowledging and incorporating these narrative fragments, the project enables both local communities and wider audiences to reconnect with the significance of the place. It responds to the issue of disappearing site-specific stories during urban transformation, emphasizing the value of what lies beneath the visible.

Ultimately, the project aims to revive these forgotten memories through a creative exploration of imagination, mapping invisible structures of time to bring past perspectives back into the present consciousness.

Design Process

The approach of architectural allegorical narrative is employed in this project, using elements such as time, memory, and mimesis, as outlined in Marcel Proust’s novel. By mapping out these elements, the project aims to create a space that invites the public to take a deep journey, similar to Roberto’s exploration in The Island of The Day Before, which represents a spiritual journey in an abandoned boat. Each space can be viewed as an allegory of a journey through life, where each moment represents a different point in time, according to the perception of the visitor’s imagination. Forgotten moments are triggered to be revived, forming a fictional structure of that time. Although this emotional approach may lead to different interpretations, it can also provide a representation of moments in the future.

To resurrect the loss of mementos, the method proposed is to visualize triggered memory in a dream as a recovering medium. The manifesto enhances the visitor’s experience of limbo—a space at the edge of dream and reality. Symbolic spaces are divided into narratives from The Island of the Day Before. These spaces are structured by three key characteristics: the realm (daily spatial experiences), the dream (protagonist’s narrative), and the limbo (a non-dimensional threshold). Totems are placed to guide visitors within this journey of memory recovery.

Final Outcome

The final design process begins with interpreting the unique characteristics of Kuruçesme Adası—its isolation, fragmented access, and proximity to layered urban histories. Using generative design strategies, the site was studied through topographic mapping, movement flow analysis, and spatial sequencing based on site-specific narratives. These strategies led to the development of modular spatial units that respond to physical thresholds and atmospheric transitions.

From this foundation, the design was expanded and recontextualized in two distinct urban conditions: Eminönü Sahil, a highly active waterfront plaza, and Zeytinburnu Park, a calm green space with linear coastal boundaries. In Eminönü, the intervention becomes more vertical and interactive responding to public density and visual landmarks. Lightweight structures and reflective surfaces invite passersby into layered spatial experiences without interrupting circulation. Meanwhile, in Zeytinburnu, the design merges with the landscape—following natural contours, integrating soft materials, and encouraging solitary reflection along walking paths.

Each location demanded a contextual recalibration while retaining the conceptual core of transition and memory. This flexible design language enables the narrative to adapt, scale, and remain sensitive to differing urban rhythms. The result is a site-responsive system that generates new experiential layers in each setting, amplifying the relationship between place, perception, and time.

Conclusion: Ultimately, this project reimagines architecture as a medium for storytelling, memory, and temporal exploration. By engaging with the layered histories of Kuruçeşme Adası and extending its narrative into diverse urban contexts, the design offers a spatial journey that reconnects individuals with forgotten identities and collective memories. 

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]