competition featured project
Dereiçi Open-Air Museum
Project envisions an Open-Air Museum capable of safeguarding and revalorising the unique heritage of Dereiçi, Turkey. Often described as a “Ghost Town,” the site embodies layers of history that risk fading without thoughtful intervention.
The project sought to counteract this condition by promoting Slow Tourism as a catalyst for cultural awareness and local economic revitalisation.
It is a museography concept that would transform Dereiçi into a dynamic living exhibition, seamlessly blending historical traces with contemporary architectural insertions.
Alongside the open-air experience, the program includes the design of a Visitor Centre to serve as both a gateway for tourists and a hub for cultural activities.
The project sought to counteract this condition by promoting Slow Tourism as a catalyst for cultural awareness and local economic revitalisation.
It is a museography concept that would transform Dereiçi into a dynamic living exhibition, seamlessly blending historical traces with contemporary architectural insertions.
Alongside the open-air experience, the program includes the design of a Visitor Centre to serve as both a gateway for tourists and a hub for cultural activities.
Location of the site
Architecture as a palimpsest
The journey through Dereiçi begins at the visitor center. The entrance to the inner courtyard leads visitors along a circular perforated wall. Cut into the surface are phrases in the languages once spoken here across different eras. The texts overlap, creating a palimpsest effect: as visitors move forward, they transition from contemporary linguistic layers to older ones. Through perforation, the inscriptions turn into “solar writing,” revealed through light and shadow.
This palimpsest introduces the key themes of the project – memory,
stone, water, and light.
This palimpsest introduces the key themes of the project – memory,
stone, water, and light.
Visitor center. Architecture where light uncovers time, and the culture of place is read as a layered text
At the visitor center guests can learn about the history of the place, receive information about routes, and pick up maps to help them navigate. The building itself is circular in form, referencing the idea of natural cycles and eternal return.
Inside the center, there is an exhibition space dedicated to local history and culture. Alongside artifacts from the past, visitors can also explore stories of descendants of families who once lived here. Guests are invited to leave feedback about their visit, allowing the story of the place to continue writing itself.
In addition, the building includes a café with a cozy inner courtyard, a conference hall, and a bookstore offering themed literature and souvenir items.
Inside the center, there is an exhibition space dedicated to local history and culture. Alongside artifacts from the past, visitors can also explore stories of descendants of families who once lived here. Guests are invited to leave feedback about their visit, allowing the story of the place to continue writing itself.
In addition, the building includes a café with a cozy inner courtyard, a conference hall, and a bookstore offering themed literature and souvenir items.
Three paths of Dereiçi
In Dereiçi several layers of the same text coexist – stone, water, and light. The project intertwines routes and installations to create a unique open-air museum experience.
Today, Dereiçi is often described as a ghost village. Yet unlike many abandoned settlements, this place cannot be considered lifeless. Here, life has not disappeared but rather paused, leaving traces of different times and languages. For centuries, Syriac Christians of various traditions and Muslim communities shaped a layered cultural landscape, where coexistence was an everyday reality.
The project approaches Dereiçi not as an object to be restored or reconstructed, but as a living system of memory. The site is saturated with inscriptions carved in stone, traces of agricultural labor, and ruined yet still legible structures of dwellings and religious buildings. These traces do not form a linear narrative; they exist simultaneously. The landscape of Dereiçi can be understood as a palimpsest, where new inscriptions do not erase the old ones but coexist with them.
This idea is articulated through a system of three paths – Stone, Water, and Light – each representing a distinct language of memory. Stone records linear history through architecture, craftsmanship, and writing. Water embodies movement and cyclical time, referring to agricultural practices, gardens, and vineyards. Light addresses the metaphysical dimension – faith, inner experience, and shared notions of the sacred and the eternal.
In this way, the open-air museum is conceived as a path. Visitors choose one of the routes and follow it, gradually unfolding meanings. Each path connects key locations within the village and incorporates site-specific installations interpreting the essence of one of the three elements.
While developing the concept, we approached Dereiçi not as a museum about the past, but as a place actively present in the contemporary moment. This perspective defines the visitor experience: people come here not only to acquire historical knowledge, but to engage in a bodily and aesthetic encounter with the site. Touching ancient ruins, feeling stone pavements beneath one’s feet, and slowing down become integral parts of an experience that is personal and reflective, offering a chance to reconsider time and one’s own position within it.
The visitor journey begins at the Visitor Centre, where guests receive essential information and can explore exhibitions narrating the history of the place through artifacts and the memories of former residents. Regardless of the chosen route, visitors reach the Square of the Three Churches, envisioned as a venue for performances; the archaeological park, where paths pass through and above the ruins; and the market square, hosting a crafts center for workshops and local production.
By introducing specific functional elements, the project also considers the future of Dereiçi. The market square may evolve into a platform for local producers, while the crafts center and surrounding buildings can function as an art residency. The Visitor Centre is designed as a multifunctional space for cultural and educational events.
Ultimately, the project proposes a model for working with disappearing settlements in which heritage preservation goes beyond conservation or static museification. Such places are understood as open systems where architecture acts as a mediator between past and present.
The project approaches Dereiçi not as an object to be restored or reconstructed, but as a living system of memory. The site is saturated with inscriptions carved in stone, traces of agricultural labor, and ruined yet still legible structures of dwellings and religious buildings. These traces do not form a linear narrative; they exist simultaneously. The landscape of Dereiçi can be understood as a palimpsest, where new inscriptions do not erase the old ones but coexist with them.
This idea is articulated through a system of three paths – Stone, Water, and Light – each representing a distinct language of memory. Stone records linear history through architecture, craftsmanship, and writing. Water embodies movement and cyclical time, referring to agricultural practices, gardens, and vineyards. Light addresses the metaphysical dimension – faith, inner experience, and shared notions of the sacred and the eternal.
In this way, the open-air museum is conceived as a path. Visitors choose one of the routes and follow it, gradually unfolding meanings. Each path connects key locations within the village and incorporates site-specific installations interpreting the essence of one of the three elements.
While developing the concept, we approached Dereiçi not as a museum about the past, but as a place actively present in the contemporary moment. This perspective defines the visitor experience: people come here not only to acquire historical knowledge, but to engage in a bodily and aesthetic encounter with the site. Touching ancient ruins, feeling stone pavements beneath one’s feet, and slowing down become integral parts of an experience that is personal and reflective, offering a chance to reconsider time and one’s own position within it.
The visitor journey begins at the Visitor Centre, where guests receive essential information and can explore exhibitions narrating the history of the place through artifacts and the memories of former residents. Regardless of the chosen route, visitors reach the Square of the Three Churches, envisioned as a venue for performances; the archaeological park, where paths pass through and above the ruins; and the market square, hosting a crafts center for workshops and local production.
By introducing specific functional elements, the project also considers the future of Dereiçi. The market square may evolve into a platform for local producers, while the crafts center and surrounding buildings can function as an art residency. The Visitor Centre is designed as a multifunctional space for cultural and educational events.
Ultimately, the project proposes a model for working with disappearing settlements in which heritage preservation goes beyond conservation or static museification. Such places are understood as open systems where architecture acts as a mediator between past and present.
Catherine Kholuyanova
Anastasia Bogoduhova
Evgeniia Gorozhantseva
Polina Sylialina
Anastasia Bogoduhova
Evgeniia Gorozhantseva
Polina Sylialina
TERRAVIVA Living Ruins II Winners announcement https://www.terravivacompetitions.com/living-ruins-ii-competition-results-2025/
+7 965 053 33 37
Catherine Kholuyanova
Catherine Kholuyanova
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