Neighborhood Kulturpark: Aya Katerina Church Installation
Low-tech AR experience making visible a church lost in Izmir's 1922 fire. Transparent panels align with the historical site when viewed from a specific angle, layering past and present.
Overview
This public installation revealed the ghost of Aya Katerina Church, Izmir's largest church before the devastating 1922 fire, by overlaying its historical footprint onto the landscape of Mahalle Kültürpark where it once stood. Created during a workshop at İyi Tasarım (Good Design Izmir), Izmir's annual design week featuring workshops, panels, and public interventions, this project aimed to restore visibility to the cultural heritage lost in the 1922 fire that destroyed much of the city's pre-fire urban fabric.
Historical Context
In 1922, a devastating fire swept through Izmir, destroying much of the city's Armenian and Greek quarters.
Aya Katerina Church, built in 1857, was one of the casualties. It wasn't just a religious building; the church gave its name to the entire neighborhood.
After the fire, the destroyed area was gradually transformed into Kültürpark in the 1930s—a massive public park that erased the previous street grid and settlement patterns.
Analog Augmented Reality
We created a low-tech AR experience using transparent acrylic panels printed with a photograph of the church's facade. The magic happened through precise positioning—when you stood at the designated viewing point and looked through the panel, the church image aligned perfectly with its actual historical location in the landscape behind it. The transparency allowed current reality (palm trees, park visitors, modern buildings) to show through the historical image, creating a layered view of past and present occupying the same space.
Impact
The installation was up for several days during İyi Tasarım, creating conversations among park visitors about Izmir's lost architectural heritage.
👋🏻 Personal Notes
This project crystallized something I love about public installations—they're not static objects to be passively consumed but experiences that are reproduced with every interaction. Each person who found the viewing angle, saw the church align, and experienced that "aha" moment was actively participating in revealing this lost history. The installation didn't just tell people about Aya Katerina; it required them to physically position themselves, to search for the right angle, to discover the church for themselves.
I'm drawn to projects like this—ones that need human participation to complete them, where the design creates conditions for experience rather than delivering a finished message.
Role: Designer & Ideation
Timeline: December 2023
Workshop Project | İyi Tasarım_8 Design Week, Izmir