AWARD

For Architecture that is Delicate and Powerful, Precise and Fluid:

2010 Pritzker Prize was given to Sanaa Architectural Office

Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners in the architectural firm, Sanaa, have been chosen as the 2010 Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious prize in the field of architecture given by Hyatt Foundation. The jury elaborated the work of Sanaa as an architecture that is simultaneously delicate and powerful, precise and fluid, ingenious but not overly or overtly clever. In a citation from the jury report their architecture is valued “for the creation of buildings that successfully interact with their contexts and the activities they contain, creating a sense of fullness and experiential richness; for a singular architectural language that springs from a collaborative process that is both unique and inspirational”. Most well-known projects of the architects include Rolex Learning Centre (Lausanne, Switzerland), Glass Pavilion for the Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio), New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York, USA), Serpentine Pavilion (London, UK), Christian Dior Building (Tokyo, Japan) and 21st Century Museum of Modern Art (Kanazawa, Japan).

FILE: 12th National Architecture Awards, 2010

Organised by the Chamber of Architects (CAT) in every two years, the 12th cycle of the National Architecture Exhibition and Awards programme took place in Ankara in April 2010. The Selection Committee for the Awards programme of this year consisted of Doğan Tekeli (chairman), Boğaçhan Dündaralp, Namık Erkal, Nevzat İlhan and Hüseyin Kahvecioğlu. The awarded architects for “Grand Award” (Sinan Prize), “Achievement Award in Contribution to Architecture” and “Commemoration Programme” and the award winning projects in the categories of Building, Project and Presentation of Ideas were announced with a ceremony accompanied by the opening of the exhibition that took place in Ankara Contemporary Arts Centre on April 16, 2010.

This term 172 projects were submitted to the Exhibition and Awards programme. After a preliminary evaluation conducted by the Exhibition Organisation Committee with respect to the requirements of the programme, 160 projects were submitted to the evaluation of the Selection Committee. Among the 37 nominated projects the Selection committee awarded 8 projects in the scope of the programme. The file includes the presentation of award winning projects, which were accompanied by personal opinions and reviews of jury members, Doğan Tekeli, Boğaçhan Dündaralp, Namık Erkal and Hüseyin Kahvecioğlu.

AGENDA

Chamber of Architects in the 50th Anniversary of May 27, 1960 Coup / Arif Şentek

With the rise of discussions on the idea of “coup” nowadays, our history started to be analysed as the “history of coups”. In reality coups just like elections can be regarded as a common experience, which gets repeated nearly in every ten years in Turkey. The author looks at the recent history of architects and their Chamber, in the 50th anniversary of May 27, 1960 “coup” or “military coup”.

FROM RURAL/CITY

A Village in Taurus Mountains: “Button Houses” of the Antalya-Ürünlü Village/ Didem Şimşek Ünal

Ürünlü village, located at a 180km distance from Antalya and surrounded by the Taurus Mountains, is one of the rare settlements which contain genuine examples of civil architecture of Akseki-İbradı region and which managed to preserve its historical fabric to the present day. The village is located within the boundaries of the region of Altınbeşik Cave National Park, which was declared as a protected region by UNESCO in 1994. Due to the scale of emigration and public indifference to the region, the traditional fabric of the village is rapidly deteriorating each day. The only advantage of this indifference and disuse is the fact that the genuine architectural fabric of the region is still remained untouched and deprived from unconscious destruction processes.

CHAMBER BUILDINGS

Chamber of Architects Muğla Branch and Milas Representative Office Buildings

“Terzibaşıoğlu House”, which was purchased in 2007 by the Chamber of Architects, started to function as the Service building of the Muğla Branch after the completion of its restoration project in December 2009. Parallel to the opening of the new building, a panel discussion titles as “Problems of Re-functioning in the Field of Preservation” was organised on January 6, 2010. The panel hosted the presentation of Ebru Soydaş Çakır, who is the author of the restoration project. The other building on the other hand, “Körpezlioğlu House”, located in Milas was purchased by the Chamber of Architects in 2001 and the restoration project lasted till June 2009. After the completion of the restoration project, this building also started to serve as Milas Representative Office Service building in October 29, 2009. The restoration project of the building was done by Nursen Ören Coşkun and the application project was conducted by Meral Oğuz.

URBANISM

Cities in Search for Glory: An Overview in the Light of ‘Mega’ Projects and ‘Mega Events’/ Şebnem Gökçen Dündar

Not only Turkish cities but also many cities around the world work on advancing their strategies to accelerate the economic and urban development and also to achieve an image at national/global scale. Also known as the “Bilbao Effect”, creating big scale, spectacular urban projects in the name of providing a cultural development axis to the city is among the most common tool for this aim. The author presents her opinions on the fundamental basis of future urban strategies.

RURAL SETTLEMENTS

Ilısu Dam: Impeding Sustainable Social Life and Denouement of the Civil (Rural) Architectural Settlements in the Water Collection Basin / Kamuran Sami

If a group of people move away from their genuine settlements and geography to a new place, due to mass poverty, war, conflicts, earthquakes, landslides, floods or such similar disasters, we define this action as “migration”. In the history, while some migrations cause the birth of new civilisations, today we discuss the possible destructive outcomes of the Ilısu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant, which is planned to be build on Tigris (Dicle) River, on the social and cultural places that carry the values of the Mesopotamian civilisation. Together with the problems created by the dam, hundreds of rural settlements in the region created by the patterns of civil architecture and their histories will be covered with water. The author while transferring the results of her study conducted in the region, also puts forward her predictions related to the future of the region, which will eventually give way to new immigration dramas and stories. Thus to her view this action will be a significant attempt in legitimising the stultification of the sustainability of the social and historical life.

ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHITECTURE

Background of Marketing New Concepts: The Sustainability Certificate of ACE / Güven Birkan

The document, “ACE Charter and Policy on Architecture and Sustainability” presented by the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE), explains the roles that can be assumed by the architectural profession in order to face and cope with the ongoing climate change. It also presents a summary on the position of the architectural profession in the context of the policies of European institutions on the climate change. The author states that the ACE Management instead of reclaiming “short term popular concepts”, should focus on supporting scientific and technological developments that try to reduce the speed of growth and expansion of environmental problems, which in the meantime try to increase the energy efficiency.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD

Modernist Dwelling Production in the Peripheries: İzmir-Buca Example / Hümeyra Birol Akkurt, Feyzal Avcı Özkaban

The authors focus on the houses built in Buca between the years 1960-1975. In that context they point out that in the dissemination of the modernist discourse from the centre to the peripheries, the designers and users take active roles. To their view, while the architect adopts a popular design language, the users develop a demand towards spaces that reflect the contemporary image of the social class they belong.

READER’S CORNER

Skyscraper Syndrome / Çelik Erengezgin

The author evaluates on the impacts of skyscrapers and high-rise residential blocks on the human health and the quality of the urban life. 

BOOK REVIEW

Urban Land Value in Turkey / Ruşen Keleş, Ayşegül Mengi 

The decisions given by many public institutions related to urban land economy by means of various interventions contribute to unjust rise of value and inequities in the distribution of land acquisition and income. Among all of these the largest conflict over the land acquisition and the fight for its sharing is the ongoing dispute on the land, which deprives the next generations’ right for land use. The issue hasn’t attracted significant interest from the scientific environments, thus researches and studies on the topic are remained limited. The book of Dr. Menaf Turan, “Urban Land Value in Turkey: From State Acquisition to Private Acquisition”, published towards the end of 2009, is a genuine attempt to fill this gap in the academic environment.

MEA ARCHITECTURA MEA CULPA

Two Doors / Gürhan Tümer

A door, or doors. There are many doors. For example take a look at Topkapı. Afterwards there is another door of İstanbul, Eğrikapı. And there are the doors to Heaven and to Hell. And in this page you see the pictures of two doors. One of them is the picture of the Northern door of the Ulu Mosque in Divriği. The second picture of a door, on the other hand, belongs to the surrealist artist René Magritte.