Side Museum

Side Museum situates exhibition and gathering within the archaeological fabric of Side—a coastal city where Roman theaters, vaulted halls, and fragmentary walls already define the ground. The project treats ruin and new construction as a single continuous landscape: vaulted galleries, a radiating plaza, and a porous canopy organize circulation while preserving the legibility of what remains. Physical models study how visitors move between enclosed vaults, open amphitheater-like courts, and elevated walkways. Perforated screens and blocky masonry textures contrast with smooth contemporary volumes, registering time through material and section rather than stylistic pastiche. The work asks how a museum can curate both artifacts and the site itself—making archaeology legible as architecture.