MİMARLIK AGENDA

Dilemmas in the Routing of Canal İstanbul / Korhan Gümüş

The author addressing the Canal İstanbul project, which has started to be re-mentioned recently, states that the project, unlike the projects the 3rd bridge or the 3rd airport, cannot be undertaken by a single constructor or investor financially, be it the state or the “build-operate-transfer” model, due to its grand scale. In the course of Canal İstanbul, a project with details and route have yet to be clarified, the government has realised the need to cooperate with institutions and academies that have been producing knowledge for years in order to prolong and improve its hegemony. The authorindicates that there is a possibility for the project to be run by a well-established university.

AGENDA

A Precondition for the Preservation of World Heritage, Suriçi: A Common Sense of Value among Stakeholders / İclal Dinçer

Diyarbakır and Suriçi, both are on the agenda for long. The author addressing the effects of events on urban form by summarising the development of the city throughout history, draws attention to the fact that the region cannot be preserved although it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list and therefore it is futile to discuss the issue through the concept of “preservation”.

ARCHITECTURE OF CRISIS

Rethinking the Refugee / Immigrant Crisis in Architecture / Neslihan Dostoğlu

While the number of people who abandon their hometown to migrate to other geographies radically increase, arrangements for answering the spatial needs of this mobility remain very insufficient. Where does architecture stands at this point which can be named as “crisis”? The article, written by Neslihan Dostoğlu, sets the general framework of this section of the magazine; “Architecture of Crisis”, and is launched to search for answers to the problem and brings forth the studies on the subject to the agenda. The magazine makes an open call for contributions to the section for next issues.

COMMEMORATION PROGRAMME: EGLI

The Reform in Architectural Education in the Academy of Fine Arts in 1930-1936 and Ernst A. Egli / Neslinur Hızlı, Nezih R. Aysel

Various research contributing to the Commemoration Programme on Ernst A. Egli, conducted by the Chamber of Architects during 2014-2016 were published in this section of the magazine and the section will continue to reserve space for articles subjecting the research on the next selected architect and on his/her work, for the following term. The last article of this programme focuses on the “reform movement” which enabled the shift of the Fine Arts “school” in gaining “academy” status legally in the leadership of Egli.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

Cancellation of Awards, Plagiarism and Ethics in Student Competitions / Açalya Allmer

In this section of the magazine, where we subject debates on ethical issues in the field of profession, the author focuses on the competitions attended by architecture students, who are yet active professionally. Today, the fast spread and sharing of various images of projects through internet from all over the world, blurs the distinction between inspiration and plagiarism. The author, indicating the lack of impact in many student competitions, where there are many plagiarism cases followed by cancellation of awards, states that the debate on ethics should also subject such exemplar cases in competitions.

COMPETITION

Van İpekyolu Municipality Building Architecture Competition

The competition opened by Van İpekyolu Municipality for achieving an administrative building for the municipality, aimed for projects that propose valuable contribution to the daily life within the city and answer the needs of the citizens for democratic and participatory areas for public use within the city. The competition sought for projects that will associate with the collective memory of the city and contribute to the built environment of İpekyolu. The jury evaluated 74 projects and distributed 3 awards, 5 honourable mentions and 1 purchase awards.

Çaycuma Sports Complex Architecture Competition

Announced by the Municipality of Çaycuma, the competition aimed to achieve projects which will besides housing areas for swimming & fitness would also act as a social hub within the region, which is supported by the designing of the park and open spaces located at the west side of the building area. Among the 114 projects evaluated inthe scope of the competition, which was announced as national and single-staged, 3 awards and 5 honourable mention awards were distributed.

Sivas Kızılırmak Bridge National Architecture Competition

Announced by the municipality of Sivas, the architectural competition aimed to achieve projects for the building of a bridge that can be of significance in urban memory, and which can use contemporary and modern technologies, by offering cost-effective, economical, practical and sustainable design solutions and tectonic approaches. The design proposals were expected to compromise spaces for recreational use like observatory terraces on and around the bridge, areas for hiking and sitting and routes for cycling. Among 107 projects submitted to the competition, the jury distributed 3 awards, 3 honourable mentions and 8 purchase awards.

FROM RURAL / CITY

Sarvan Village in Giresun, the Capital of Hazelnut / Salih Salbacak

The author draws attention to the qualities of Sarvan village, located in the eastern part of the Black Sea and a central district of Giresun. The arched bridge, water mill, fountains, village stoves, tombstones that are believed to date 19th century and even prior to that period and traditional houses from the late 19th and early 20th century are some of the qualities referred by the author.

ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY

Cultural and Social Sections from the Architecture of İstanbul of 18th century / Deniz Mazlum

The social mind-set is among the unwritten codes that pass through generation to generation as much as traditions and customs. The author trying to understand the architectural atmosphere of the 18th century İstanbul through reading the written resources that cover the documentation of repairs and their accounting records, states that even though the professional norms are determined through laws and regulations today, we still can trace the remnants of the mind-set inherited from the Ottoman period.

ARCHITECTURE AND CHILDREN

Architectural Education for Children: ARKKI School of Architecture / Dilek Acer, Aynur Çiftçi

Studies for raising the awareness of children towards built environment starting from early ages, have been carried out by various institutions and organisations in many countries. The authors evaluating on the teachingprogramme and realised projects of the most well-known school in Finland, Arkki School of Architecture, state that the school, instead of training children to become architects, aims to educate them to be independent and free thinking individuals, respectful to environment they live in.

URBAN TRANSFORMATION

Evaluation on Urban Regeneration and Transformation in Ayvansaray / Mine Esmer

Upon the announcement of Ayvansaray, one of the historical places in İstanbul, to become a “regeneration area”, the region has witnessed a fast transformation process, which still continues despite the general objections from public and experts. The author evaluating the on-going practices in the region through the frame of international laws and principles of the disciplineof preservation, states that these practices will be an example to future projects.

Visible Public Intervention to the ‘Sector’s Invisible Hand’ in Fikirtepe / Dilek Özdemir, Dinçer Aydın

In recent years profit based projects carried out by the private sector in the name of “urban transformations” have being supported unconditionally by the civic administrations, causing the emergence of new residential areas with poor quality. The authors, subjecting one of these projects in Fikirtepe, reveal the transformation of the area under the influence of free market and the contributions of the civic administrations’ interventions into the transformation process, chronologically.

URBAN DESIGN

The Symbol of Administrative Centres in Muğla from the Ottoman Empire to the Republican Era: Governors’ Mansions / Feray Koca

With the rise of building governors’ mansions and town squares in cities as representations of central authorities in Tanzimat period, these buildings have started to make significant impact on the existing form and development of cities. The author, evaluating the urban context of the two governor’s mansion buildings, built in different periods in Muğla, explores the power of architecture in representing the dominant ideology.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Giving the Rights to Footbridges: Garden-Bridges / Pınar Öktem Erkartal

Pedestrian footbridges, due to semantic corrosion in overpass footbridges and especially in our country, as opposed to the world’s examples, it is nearly impossible to come across to any new experiments in this building category. The author subjects two garden-footbridge examples that tried to develop a new perspective and a conceptual approach to these structures.

URBAN MEMORY

Ayvalık Şeytanın Kahvesi (Coffeehouse): The Field of Spatial Practice of Greek Population Exchange Culture / Bedriye Asımgil, Mervenur Efe

Lifestyle and spatial customs of societies are two issues directly related to each other. As in case of Ayvalık, with the arrival of different cultures to the city after the Population Exchange, the region witnesses a change in the use of space, turning the coffee-houses, which were once part of the social life to gain a new function. This new function is to ensure the continuity of culture. The author, writing on one of the significant gathering places of Greek culture, Şeytanın Kahvesi (Devil’s Coffeehouse), states that coffeehouses, which are still in use today are the places of social reconciliation.  

CONTACT

A New Approach to the Concept of Tree and House: Pot Houses / Fatma Zehra Çakıcı

Green roof, often used in various ways in architectural practices was challenged with a different approach developed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, with their project called “Pot Houses”, which revaluates the relation of people with nature. The houses designed as five concrete pots, besides housing living spaces also create large green areas on their top. This new formation in the roofs defines a new relation between the built environment and nature, turning the greenery at the roofs beyond being a mere layer of grass.