EVENT
Ankara Hosts Hans Poelzig / Ali Cengizkan
The exhibition titled “Hans Poelzig (1869 – 1936) Architect-Teacher-Artist” , which opened in Ankara during 18 October- 4 November 2008, was prepared and conceptualized by a large academic and professional team and with models, an adaptable exhibition systems and window displays and film corners covering almost all fields of interest of this multi-dimensional artist with equal space and detail. The curators of the exhibition emphasise that the German architecture cannot be conceived without this master constructor of the past, but his work was not known internationally to the same extent. This is due to the fact that Poelzig, unlike other modernist German architects remained in his country and passed away in 1936, before he could realize his desire to find a new field of practice in Turkey during the “Third Reich” period
 
11th Venice Architecture Biennale: “Out there: Architecture Beyond Buildings” / Selcen Tuncer
The biennale which was realized during the days 14 September–23 November 2008 with the theme “Out there: Architecture Beyond Buildings”, as expressed by its curator Aaron Betsky, aimed to show that “architecture is not about constructing buildings but to breath life into our physical and social environment.” According to Betsky, the buildings around us are objects which are the end products of the building process but, architecture is about how we conceive and talk about the buildings in our social life, the power of representation of the buildings and how we actually construct them. The biennale, with images, projects, installations, presentations and short films supported experimetal approaches in architecture and presented them to the visitors as a “communication tool.”
 
AWARD
Schindler Architecture Awards 2007/08 / Güven Arif Sargın
The latest cycle of the award, which is open to students from schools of architecture of the European Union countries was around the theme “Access for All – To Reclaim the Public Ground”. The required task was re-development of an unused and derelict public area in Vienna with special care for those with physical disabilities. Among the 125 projects, one of the 10 chosen as award candidates was from Turkey, with Middle East Technical University Faculty of Architecture submission receiving the third prize in the category of “university awards”.
 
FILE:
ARCHITECTURE OF MASS HOUSING: Experiences, Opportunities, Possibilities
Cites, throughout their existence have been evolving with the unique socio-cultural, economic and technological process of each period. Today, this proces is defined as global re-structuring and as such is reflected in the cities. The changes and evolutions witnessed in the world has initiated a new process where architecture is evaluated not only as a physical environment, but also in a political and social context, where new strategies for spatial and urban planning are produced within this framework and where the city and housing are considered with a holistic approach. In Turkey also, while the process of articulation to the global world is becoming more rapid due to economic, political, socio-cultural and technological changes and urban transformation has become a favorite tool. Particularly in the larger cities, housing production and renewal - centered urban transformations are rapidly shaping with global discourses, while on the other hand, the basic concepts of urban transformation are persistently and increasingly ignored by public and private entities. Wheras, what is needed is a multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary concept, development and process where, housing is seen not merely as a means of meeting shelter needs but as a social, cultural, economic and political object, housing production is regarded as investments for creation of good quality cities and settlement environments, and housing policy is based on aims to achieve a better quality of life, socio-cultural sustainability and participation as well as obtaining products which are designed in harmony with the characteristics of the location. While the growth and shaping of European cities, where such an approach pravails, is a result of developments such as mass housing, cooperatives, workers’ housing and social housing deriving from user needs, in our country and particularly in our large cities, the question and the problem of should the factors shaping the urban areas be “luxury housing, residences and squatters” seems to be valid and is being investigated with the essays included in this special file.
 
COMPETITION
National Architectural Competition for the Beyoğlu Stage of the City Theater of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
The competition was launched by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality with the purpose of obtaining projects for a theater complex located in the Beyoğlu District to house part of the City Theater stages and the environmental design of its vicinity. 56 submissions were evaluated and 3 prizes and 5 honarable mantions were granted. The jury has stated that, during the evaluation process, some basic criteria such as the particular location within the urban character of the competition site and its contribution to the urban pattern, the fact that the building should have the prestige required by its function and be original, functional satisfaction and spatial arrangement and technical aspects were given due considderation.
 
National Ideas Competition for the Cover and City Furniture for the Kemeraltı Market
The competition was launched by the Izmir Metropolian Municipality to obtain designs for covering the market in a manner which will be in harmony with its texture and its environmental conditions to replace the current practice of the merchants who use various materials such as canvas or corrugated metal sheets to provide protection and which are in dire contrast to the characteristics of the market. 44 enteries were evaluated and 8 awards of equal standing were granted. The awarded projects were exhibitied and all visitors and the Kemeraltı merchants in particular, were encouraged to write and deposit their views and comments in the boxes provided for this purpose. The Municipality shall determine the project to be implemented taking into consideration the decision of the Conservation Council and the deposited comments. The merchants visiting the exhibition felt that once the implementation is completed, it will revitalize the market.
 
ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY
Architecture and Urbanizm of Falih Rıfkı Atay / Gürhan Tümer
Falih Rıfkı Atay was one of the most influential journalists of the Republican era and an ardent defender of Ataturk’s revolutionary reforms and the idea of Westernization while he also had a keen interest in architecture and urbanizm. He was a writer who was claiming that “City planners and architects (...), should be saved from being tools to follow the orders and wishes of those who are not experts in city plannig and architecture”, but he nevertheless was a member of the jury for the Ankara Town Plan and for a while chaired the municipal planning commission. Gürhan Tümer traces the path of his essays and statements regarding these field from the newspapers of the period and from his books.
 
ARCHITECTURAL POLICIES
European Forum for Architectural Policies met in Bordeaux: Towards a Durable, Sustainable and Interesting Architecture... / Tuğçe Selin Tağmat
The European Forum for Architectural Policies, which provides a platform for cooperation for a better quality architectural and urban environment, met in Bordeaux during 9-10 October 2008 under the French Presidency of EC. The forum focused on urban landscapes, urban design and ecological architecture for sustainable development of cities. Chamber of Architects of Turkey and some of the other Forum members feel that these conferences, rather than being meetings where thematic issues are considered should go back to discussing the contexts of architectural policies and how they could be implemented, as was the case in past forums. The session to be held in Parague in April 2008 will re-visit this issue with its theme “Implementation of Architectural Policies – New Expectations”.
 
FROM NATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION
2008/XIth National Architecture Award Candidates for the “Building Category – Environment” and “Building Category–Preservation and Revitalisation”
Award canditates for the “Building Category – Environmet” and “Building Category- Preservation and Revitalization” of the National Architectural Exhibition and Awards which finalized its 11th cycle in April 2008 are presented with their text and visual contributions. This year the Selecting Jury did not give any awards in the Environment category and for the
Preservation and Revitalisation Category Ottoman State Archives (Treasury of Documents) restoration by Acar Avunduk was awarded in this segment.
 
ARCHITECTURE OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
Turkish Railway Engines and Motor Industry Facilities / Deniz Özkut, Nuray Özaslan
Eskişehir which was the center of the railway engines and motor industry of the early Republican period, contains a rich collection of buildings and sites in terms of industrial archeology. Turkish Railway Engines and Motor Industry (TÜLOMSAŞ) Campus is proposed as an example of our national industrial heritage deserving protection. The authors evaluate the campus in terms of “continuity and historical value, symbolism, effect and contribution, architecture and documentation, economy, use” of this industrial heritage.
 
MEA ARCHITECTURA MEA CULPA
Those Buildings which are Most Welcome / Gürhan Tümer
* In Turkish, the literally translated expression “your place is over my head” indicates esteem and welcome and, it is the actual title of this article and pursued in its content.
“[...] If you are living on the fourth floor of an eight storey condo, the floor of the fifth floor is above your head. If you are standing in the Parthenon or under a modern mega structure, the dome of Parthenon or the pipes of the mega structure are above your head. In these cases some architectural elements are above your head, but they exist indepentently from you. They do not touch your head, you are not the one carrying them. On the other hand, the situation is entirely different with the caryatids, that is the female shaped columns of the Erechteion at the Athens Acropolis. They carry the loads of those buildings. [...]”