In response to a 2022 national architecture competition, Turkey-based KAAT Studio proposed a conceptual revival design for the urban area around Alaeddin Hill in the city of Konya in Turkey. The approach undertaken here sees this 120,000 sqm area, overlaying the site's historical and environmental concerns, as well as aesthetic revitalisation.

From urban design to small buildings, KAAT Studio is an architectural firm with a sensation and a humanistic approach. Background, history, and context are the basis of their work. This sensitivity is even more apparent in the Alaeddin Hill project because of the historicity of the area. Therefore, to get an understanding of the design it is perhaps best to begin with the context of the land. Both Alaeddin Hill and the city where it is located are historically and socially significant. As one of the more religious cities of Turkey, Konya is the last home and resting place of Rumi, the renowned 13^th century mystic poet who settled there after the Mongol invasion of what was then referred to as Greater Iran (also known as Persosphere). However, Alaeddin Hill predates Rumi by thousands of years. Dating back 3,000 years, Alaeddin Hill is a significant archaeological site from the Bronze Age, with some accounts claiming even an older age of human settlement in this area. It was settled by the Hittite Empire in 1190 BCE before passing on to the Phrygians, then the Lydian Kingdom in 547 BC, and ultimately being conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire. After that, the area was occupied by the Romans and the Persians throughout the following centuries. It was a significant administrative location at the peak of the Eastern Roman Empire during which its fortifications were reconstructed around an expanded hilltop perimeter.

Another noteworthy moment in this region's history comes from the Seljuk Sultanate. From that era, the Alaeddin Mosque is one of the most important surviving buildings named after Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad in 1220, overlooking the Rumi Complex, which was built in 1936. For the competition proposal, KAAT Studio had a dramatic and poetic approach. They consider the Alaeddin Hill as a living creature that has seen thousands of years of human development. Societies that vanished, civilisations that rose and fell and structures that were built and destroyed. All of this was accumulated history. In their view, the hill was overloaded with societal historical and architectural activity and in their own words they decided to listen to a consultant who told them to "leave this hill alone..."

Therefore, the studio decided to take a minimalist approach to their intervention and only act where necessary. The first thing that was noted by the architects as a problem was the boundary between the hill and its borders, which could not be distinguished from the urban plane. The outline was only defined by trees that were more than half a century old and grew at different speeds. Subsequently, afforestation has contributed to this problem. Moreover, it is impossible to perceive the oval character of the hill line because of excavations, setbacks, vehicle entrances and retaining walls. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Alaeddin Hill is not perceived as a mound but as an elevated park.

The architects believe that the historical and archaeological significance of this hill needs to be emphasised by it being distinguished from the urban fabric. So, to create a sense of the elliptical shape, a series of trees are proposed that make a circle around the side of the hill. Unlike the green-leaved trees in the region, this tree line is Acer Platanoides (also known as the Norway Maple) with yellow leaves to define the area further. An arched canopy is proposed on the archaeological site, in harmony with the hill, ensuring that the oval form of the hill is perceived by the observer. The existing interventions at the intersection between the archaeological site and the city have been removed to blend the archaeological site with the natural flow of urban life.

When questioned about their approach to the archaeological section of the hill, the architects noted, "Old buildings evoke memories; new ones generate memories. At the centre of this tension, Alaeddin Hill is a unifier that accumulates memories; a generator that incorporates its prehistoric and cultural inventory into the natural flow of life.” The site includes the Keykubad Mosque and the ruins of the Kılıçarslan II Mansion which are already places where historical artefacts found in the previous excavations of the Hill are kept. However, the hill is also witness to new sets of archaeological excavations in the open air. KAAT Studio architects believe that while these archaeological findings and their processes should be protected from the natural elements, they should also be a part of urban life and be easily accessible to people in their day-to-day lives. “Archaeological remains and historical buildings should become landscape elements.” The solution to this was a canopy system that sheltered the archaeological excavation sites. The shade is attached to the body of the hill following the pattern of the slope and serves as a reminder of the “battered original geometry of the hill”. The three covers proposed for the three excavation sites are fluid in shape following the form of the hill and it is expected that the future covers built for the excavations in the future would follow this concept to maintain this composition as a complement to the hill. The upper cover is made of large slate stones on a steel structure. Between the lines of the structure, pots are installed to make sure of the growth of natural flora.

When settling in an area that has already adopted its identity, keeping and developing the existing identity as much as possible in the design is necessary. Konya Alaeddin Hill is a known urban element, in such spaces, architectural interventions must be carried out with care to the collective perception of people towards the site. In this case, the architects have approached the matter with minimal intervention and heightened sensitivity to urban space, the democratisation of access to archaeological sites, land and environmental concerns and historical orientation.