ma:

1. water, fluid [Ottoman Turkish]

2. void, gap, interval [Japanese]

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masse:

1. barley cake, dough [Ancient Greek (mâza)]

2. the mixing and processing of ceramic raw materials; ceramic paste

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A person’s personality and character take shape over time. We grow through what we experience, through our stance toward the events that unfold in our personal history, and through the ways we respond to them. As time passes, we come to know ourselves better. We mature, heal, take form, and eventually find our sense of self. Yet while time has this nurturing and refining effect on us, it has not produced the same impact on most cities. Bursa, a city that has witnessed history, that has hosted diverse economic and sociological developments, architectural structures, spiritual spaces, cultural landscapes, and a rich river ecology, has not been equally healed or strengthened by time.

On the contrary, time has caused the city to lose part of its spatial and cultural values, weakened the authenticity of what remains, distanced the city from its own identity, and deformed its urban character. Therefore, “ma.sse” is not merely a beginning, but a process of rereading the city’s authentic character and redefining it through an architectural act.