In November of 2013, Mark K. Morrison Landscape Architecture (MKM) was commissioned to design the landscape surrounding the new Marmara Dining Hall on the Bilkent University campus in Ankara, Turkey. For many years, the area between the new dining hall and adjacent buildings had been used for parking and vehicular through-passage. Open space for student meetings and events was scarce, so MKM proposed a flexible use plaza with vehicular passage limited to service vehicles. The design team began by analyzing campus circulation, parking, and bus routes to win approval for road closure and parking space removal. Being on a narrow hilltop, the geometry of the open space between buildings is irregular, so MKM decided upon a curvilinear paving scheme to connect points of access and egress, reference existing and new architecture, and direct pedestrians. The design was inspired by the tulip, Turkey's national flower.

The team was excited to specify local, natural stone for the plaza and to work closely with local masons and custom fabricators. Turkey exports uncut and cut stone worldwide. Enormous stone reserves are located in the Alpine orogenic belt, which developed as the mountains formed. It is estimated that Turkey has 33% of global architectural stone reserves and a 4,000-year tradition of stone production. Primary stones mined are marble, granite, onyx, limestone, basalt, andesite, conglomerate, breccia, magmatic rocks, slate, diabase and travertine. Using native stones to tie together the overall campus design, MKM's paving scheme incorporates travertine accented with basalt, and granite bands in open areas of paving.