MİMARLIK AGENDA

War as a Planning Activity: Notes from Suriçi Diyarbakır / Tarık Şengül

The author defining planning as a political activity that utilises different tools, draws attention to the extent that politics turns into a war, planning in return becomes a tool for such political conflicts. While Suriçi becomes a wreck and a space of death and migration, the author states that in times of peace our cities are planned with direct influence from the dynamics of the market, whereas in times of war military logic takes the stage.

COMMEMORATION

To My PhD Supervisor, Hande Suher / Hatice Ayataç

Hande Suher, who has graduated from İTÜ in 1951; holding a registration number, 76 to the Chamber of Architects İstanbul Metropolitan Branch; a faculty member in İTÜ Department of City and Regional Planning and a founder member of the Chamber of Architects, has valuable contributions to the issues related to urban planning and conservation. We have lost her on 21st February 2015 and her obituary was written by Hatice Ayataç.

AGENDA

Transformation in the Energy Sector and New / Local Forms of Collective Ownerships / Baha Kuban

Climate change, often referred at global scale, is in fact a problem that should be dealt and resolved locally. The author, drawing attention to sustainable energy production methods of cooperatives owned by local groups rather than companies, indicates the need for new energy policies.

International Measures for Preventing the Smuggling of Cultural Assets in Countries at War / Zeynep Boz

Wars, besides endangering human life, damage the cultural heritage, underminingany hope from past and cause the extinction of local identity. In addition, the smuggling of cultural assets from the country by taking advantage from the chaos, is another significant fact. The author, in the light of her work for UNESCO, draws attention to problems caused by these smuggling actions and to what could be the precautionary solutions.

“Rural Architectural Projects”: Thoughts on the Presentation of a Project Series / Ebru Omay Polat

The work conducted for “the revitalisation of local architectural values that are under threat due to unsupervised building in rural environments”, envisages the development of the built environment in rural areas through certain types that reminisce theatre settings. It won’t take long to observe whether the new building practice in rural areas that is expected to benefit from the local values by utilising contemporary technology and needs are to be preferred instead of replicate projects.

EVENTS

Architecture in Copyright Law / Beyza Birben Tuncer

The panel, Architecture in Copyright Law, hosted by the Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch was held on the 26th December 2015 in Ankara. The author, who is also the lawyer of the Chamber, summarises the discussions that took place at the panel and draws attention to the problems created by the changes that will be made on the Law of Intellectual and Artistic Works.

Microcosms of DS Mimarlık / Enise Burcu Derinboğaz

The author, comments on the exhibition “From Pre-Microcosms to Today; 30 years of DS Mimarlık” that presents a collection of the work of DS Mimarlık, one of the important landscape architecture firms. She states that the exhibition shows how a unique practice is formed by the documentation and correlation of landscape and architecture together and the evaluation of an experimental design approach inspired from adding to the knowledge of material, application techniques and methods.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

“There is an Architecture that has an Economy but not Trade” / H. Cenk Dereli, Yelta Köm

The authors scrutinising the forms of ethical behaviour in contemporary architectural practices, in the article, written in the form of an interview, state that the profession should be evaluated “in the frame of ethical principles like the rights of the planet and right to housing, rather than vague ethical principles that try to cover everything”.

COMPETITION

Municipality of Lüleburgaz, Lüleburgaz Stars Arts Academy Architectural Competition

Organised by the Municipality of Lüleburgaz, with a vision to develop projects for an arts academy “with social and urban cultural focus” has finalised. The national and two-staged competition aimed to achieve projects that provide spaces enabling flexible use at different time periods and designed to enrich the functional qualities with a balanced distribution of open, semi-open and enclosed spaces integrated with the natural landscape of the area. 27 projects evaluated at the first stage of the competition led to 8 for the second stage and at the final run 3 awards, 3 equivalent honourablementions and 1 purchase award were distributed.

Antalya Muratpaşa Municipality Multi-Purpose Hall Workshop and Stage Architectural Ideas Competition

The architectural ideas competition, organised by Muratpaşa Municipality, aimed to achieve projects for a cultural centre, which can serve for amateur and professional small-scale performances, various arts and cultural events. The national and two-staged competition sought for ideas that propose the city to become a centre for arts and culture besides tourism and agriculture. At the first stage of the competition, 96 projects were evaluated, with 8 of which was awarded at the second stage. In the final evaluations 3 awards and 5 equivalent honourable mention awards were distributed.

Pamukkale University Faculty of Architecture and Design Architectural Competition

Announced by Pamukkale University, the competition sought for projects for the faculty of Architecture and Design, and the promenade axis as the backbone of the campus. The projects were expected to propose single or fragmented but low-rise building solutions that can create a new social focus within the campus, thus utilises the climatic and local conditions of the geography and integrate with nature.

FROM RURAL / CITY

Earthquake Village: Yazıköy and Yarıköy / Güler Özyıldıran

Yazıköy and Yarıköy, located at the heart of the earthquake region and heavily damaged after the Burdur Earthquake in 1971, were later declared as “earthquake village”, allowing for the observation of the effects of the earthquake and the damage it caused on the buildings. In the article presented here for the Earthquake Week between the dates 1-7 March, the author shares her notes obtained from the technical trip to the region organised in 2015 and evaluations on the structural conditions of the built environment.

ARCHITECT

Michael Graves: In the Pursuit of Reference / Ebru Özeke Tökmeci

In the first anniversary of his death, Michael Graves, an architect counted among the leading names of late 20th century of American architectural discourse, is commemorated by the author. Through providing a general review on his career, she states that he has to be remembered through the attitude for “making things better for people” as a common approachof his work rather than his style of design.

ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION

Elective Courses in Architectural Education: On Diversity, Flexibility, Constraints and Opportunities / Nilay Ünsal Gülmez, Ayla Ayyıldız Potur, Kutlu Sevinç Kayıhan

The article, written as the extension of the work carried by the “Elective Courses in Architectural Education Commission” founded in 37th MOBBIG meeting, draw attention to the fact that elective courses end up being mandatory electives. The authors evaluate on the positive and negative outcomes of Bologna process dating 2001 on elective courses, emphasise that quantitative changes have yet to constitute qualitative foundations.

DIGITAL DESIGN

From Limited to Limits: Limits to Interface: Digital to Physical / Semra Arslan Selçuk, Arzu Gönenç Sorguç

The article focuses on the potentials of computational design / production technologies that affect how certain limiting concepts or constraints have turned out to claim different meanings in design process and evaluates on what is a limit and when it becomes an architectural element that triggers the process of architectural design. The authors state that concepts like limit / limited / interface are experienced with new forms in both digital and physical environments.

URBAN DESIGN

Cars Crashed İstanbul / A. İrem Mollaahmetoğlu Falay

Car traffic, affecting the expansion of circulation networks and change of urban tissue, is a significant actor in urban planning. The author focusing on the negative impacts of cars on cities through the case of İstanbul, states that even though the citizens affect the decisions on the future of the city, the major responsibility is in the hands of the government and decision-making authorities.

COMMEMORATION PROGRAMME: EGLI

Ernst A. Egli and “New Primary School Models” / F. Nurşen Kul

Ernst A. Egli, in his adventures in Turkey between the years 1927-1936, worked in the Ministry of Education Construction Bureau for ten years and meanwhile designed some very iconic buildings of the early Republican period, like İsmetpaşa Institute for Girls. He is also well-known through his work on developing prototypes for modern school buildings which was an essential requirement for the early Republican period in the country. The author with a hypothesis that these are the most common examples of his architectural repertoire, tries to trace these primary school buildings that are remained unknown till today.

BOOK REVIEW

Politics and Architecture: Ernst Egli and the Search for Modernism in Turkey / Belkıs Uluoğlu

The first book of the Ernst Egli Commemoration Programme carried out by the Chamber of Architects has been published. The book covers Oya Atalay Franck’s meticulous research on various archives in Ankara, İstanbul, Vienna and Zurich revealing rare documents and is a new edition of her PhD thesis, which subjects relations between the representation of the political approach of the state and architecture. The book is reviewed by Belkıs Uluoğlu.

A Man of Profession and Thousand Narratives: Zeki Sayar and Arkitekt / İpek Akpınar

The second book of the Chamber of Architects’ Zeki Sayar Commemoration Programme is published from CAT Publications. Covering the outcomes from the symposium and exhibition of the Programme, the book reveals new perspectives to the role of Arkitekt in the formation of professional and cultural memory and their wider influences.

Architectural Guide to İstanbul / Özen Eyüce

Published by the Chamber of Architects İstanbul Metropolitan Branch in 2005 in English, Architectural Guide to İstanbul, is now published in Turkish. The review on the guide, which is a significant source that presents a thorough documentation on the architectural repertoire of İstanbul, a unique city with its historical layers and geographic location, is written by Özen Eyüce.

CONTACT

Comfort Corners for the City: EmpathiCity / Neris Parlak

EmpathiCity, an exhibition of temporary and experimental interventions on public spaces by the French artist Shani Ha, aims to create emphatic cities for its citizens and visitors by breaking down the hardness of city surfaces with soft objects. The author states that the project creates a domestic comfort by bringing out the sofa cushions to the streets and in return triggers the transference of social life to public spaces.