MIMARLIK AGENDA

"A Domestic and National Frankenstein" Story: The Public (TOKİ) Procurements / Güven Arif Sargın

The fund partnership instituted through TOKİ during the AKP government is coming back with housing projects / public tenders which are planned to go ahead in region after the Elazığ-Malatya earthquake. The writer defines this government-funds partnership as "a new Mary Shelley story: Alla Turca Frankenstein, which skillfully uses contemporary means based on capitalist instrumental reason, but also includes conservative ideological codes."

COMMEMORATION

Baran İdil: Seeing the Design in the Urban Scale / Cengiz Bektaş

Baran İdil, who graduated from ITU with the title of master engineer architect in 1960, and who was registered in the Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch with the number 1395, contributed to the cheating of architecture as a lecturer at ADMMA and Gazi University. He was one of the founders of TH&İDİL Architecture, and contributed to the development of the profession by holding various positions at TSMD and Chamber of Architects. Having served as the Head of the Ankara Branch of the Chamber of Architects from 1972 to 73 and from 1991 to 93, passed away on 24th December 2019. Cengiz Bektaş wrote a text in memoriam.

Şevki Pekin: The Consistent, Serene and Refined Aesthetics / Doğan Tekeli

Şevki Pekin, who completed his architectural education at the Faculty of Architecture of Vienna Technical University and the Architecture School of the Vienna State Academy of Fine Arts, and who was registered in the Chamber of Architects İstanbul Büyükkent Branch with the number 6996, had contributed to architectural teaching as a lecturer at Bursa Uludağ University, Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul Technical University and Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. A winner of the Building Category, Design Category and Mimar Sinan Grand Prize in the National Architecture Exhibition and Awards program, he passed away on 4th February 2020. Doğan Tekeli wrote a text in memoriam.

AGENDA

Turkey's Disaster Policy and the Malatya-Elazığ Earthquake / Murat Balamir

Turkey has been the scene of numerous disasters, especially earthquakes, since it rises over a geography where unfortunately there is a great possibility to experience major tragedies. Therefore citizens, officials and the media play an important role in pre and post-disaster periods. Evaluating our position as a country in terms of disaster management after the Elazığ-Malatya earthquakes, the writer highlights the conditions of disaster management and the approaches that should be undertaken in this period when the potential Istanbul earthquake has also came to the fore.

The Invisible Face of a Project Unique to Turkey: the National Gardens / Bülent Duru

The National Garden projects, which emerged as an electoral pledge and are increasing in number, are questionable in terms of city and environmental policies. The writer draws attention to the unsustainable aspects of the project due to the fact that "it is not an intervention that was internalized by the grassroots of the party, the local governments and the people; there are no principles regarding its design and implementation, and there emerges concerns regarding the distribution of the products.

Reconstructing Peace and Implementation in Protected Areas under the Law No. 2863 / Eylem Aydoğdu

The question of how to apply the temporary article no. 16 within the framework of the additional regulations passed after the "zoning peace" initiated in 2018, in the areas encompassed by the Law on Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage numbered 2863 has raised questions. The writer, by surveying the regulations and annunciations issued to facilitate the application of the article, tackles the process of illegal reconstructions in the protected areas.

EVENT

A Comprehensive and Integrated Approach to the Conservation of Cultural Heritage: The KORU Project / Süreyya Topaloğlu

This article introduces the KORU Project, one of the most important projects carried out by the Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The writer both summarizes the work done so far and emphasizes the potential of the project to inspire new studies with future developing potential.

FILE: CONFLICT WITH NATURE, COOPERATION WITH CONSUMPTION: THE ANTHROPOCENE

• The Anthropocene Aesthetics: Sensitivity, Humanity, Violence / Eray Çaylı
• Discussing Environmentalist Architecture in the Anthropocene Age: Post-Sustainability / Can Boyacıoğlu, Nezih Ayıran, Gülçin Pulat Gökmen
• (Re)Discovering Urban Nature: The Berlin Experience / Funda Baş Bütüner

The relationship between the origins of today's environmental problems and consumption -the ecological crisis whose solution is being attempted by existing public interventions and various regulatory mechanisms- sets its scopes on the decisions taken by humans on nature. Defining the recent period, when the effects of the humans on the ecosystem in which they live reach maximum, the Anthropocene focuses on human-centered interventions related to the city and the environment. The humans who are disconnected from the production -who define the economic development through the consumption of nature and for this reason come into conflict with nature- are the ones whose traces on the non-human are increasing day by day.

Under the title of Anthropocene, Eray Çaylı, who deals with the ecological debates "on the shoulders of humanity", argues that aesthetics, which nowadays is the primary medium that brings together ethics and politics materially, overcomes the singular and visible effects of the ecological destruction caused by a constant digging of the earth - seeing geography as valuable only inasmuch as it can provide measurable quantitative resources. In this context, the writer emphasizes that the "aesthetic crisis" has become the tool of the forms of thought and action underlying the issues discussed under the title of Anthropocene.

The fact that those architectural approaches which aim to sustain the current economic, social and ecological systems with minimum transformation - and that can be defined as techno-ecologic - cannot procure significant improvements in the parameters related to global climate change since 2000s, becomes questionable in relation to the concept of "sustainability" and architectural approaches based on this concept. Can Boyacıoğlu, Nezih Ayıran and Gülçin Pulat Gökmen, examining environmentalist architectural approaches from a broad perspective, aim to bring these approaches into the agenda within the framework of the Anthropocene concept, as opposed to sustainability, and to point out the potential of such a discussion to deliver more positive outcomes.

The cities of today, which are under the pressure of excessive consumption, would benefit from an alternative to existing construction-oriented strategies. A landscape-oriented critical view should be developed through collaborations with different disciplines. Funda Baş Bütüner, who once argued that the discovery of areas previously regarded as derelict -"gaps in the cities" as nature or wildlife- has started to shape the landscape strategies of many cities today, examines how this situation is manifested in urban spaces through the example of Berlin.

COMMEMORATION PROGRAMME: NEZİH ELDEM

The Mind Flowing into the Hands / Sevinç Hadi

The writer, who was one of the speakers at the Commemoration Program 2018-2020: Nezih Eldem and Organizing the Space -an event held at İTÜ Taşkışla Nezih Eldem Conference Hall, no: 109, on 8 October 2019- describes Nezih Eldem as "the frontiersman of architecture". This text, which bears the same title as her lecture, allows us to get to know intimately his personality and architecture.

ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM

A Glass Box in the Aegean: The Bodrum Demirbükü Houses Social Club / Laçin Karaöz

The Bodrum Demirbükü Houses Social Club, which has been nominated for the "Building Category Award" at the 2018 National Architecture Awards, was built as a seaside restaurant of the Mesa Bodrum Demirbükü Houses, located on the Bodrum peninsula. It was made before the building blocks and started to operate as sales office promoting the project. Emphasizing "meticulous elevation analysis and landscaping practices at the site", the writer takes a close look at the building's relationship with nature.

Two Eyes, One Building: The Denizli Government Mansion / Burak Altınışık

The Denizli Government Mansion, which was nominated for the "Building Category Award" at the 2018 National Architecture Awards, chosen via a competition, was completed and started operations in 2012 after the construction works. Focusing on the transformation between the processes of the competition and designing of the building, the writer focuses on the production of architectural knowledge as a professional practice within the frame of the building.

A Quiet and Private Summer House: The Blu Apart Hotel / Yusuf Furkan Kaya

The Blu Apart Hotel, which was nominated for the "Building Category Award" at the 2018 National Architecture Awards, is located on a "peninsula with a cul-de-sac flavour" in the İzmir Paşalimanı Bay. The writer examines its structure – the design of which was influenced by the significant factor of it being on the shore - and evaluates the architectural pursuits in the building by resorting to the concept of "privacy".

CULTURAL HERITAGE IN DANGER

An Important Element of Istanbul's Urban Archeology: the Sea Walls / Nisa Semiz

In this chapter of Cultural Heritage in Danger, a series which began in our 405th issue, Nisa Semiz wrote a piece on the sea walls of Istanbul.

PARAMETRIC DESIGN

And Google Recognized the Cat! Architecture in the Near Future of Artificial Intelligence (Part I) / Nizam Onur Sönmez

With the developing technologies, the expectations, questions and fears aroused by artificial intelligence are, to some extent, unmet by the current level of technology, and heavily influenced by several historical-cultural paths and the field of science fiction. In this first part of the text, which will be published in two chapters in the 412 and 413th issues, the writer, stating that most of our fears and expectations are groundless and their source is cultural history rather than actual developments, indicates how to identify these concerns, how they are linked to developments in technology and how they resolve simultaneously.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Between Intuitivism and the Rationality of Order: Museum for Post and Communication Frankfurt / Gökçe Ketizmen Önal

Günter Behnisch, who played an important role in German architecture after World War II, comes across as one of the most effective actors in the establishment of the identity of the architecture of his period. The writer remarks on the importance of Behnisch, who saw architecture as a situation-focused process and designed a user-focused social architecture in whose buildings he re-evaluated and differentiated the spaces of working, living and learning.

The Old-New Contradiction in a Changing and Transforming City: Ankara Train Station - Ankara YHT Station / Elif Tektaş, Aysu Akalın

Designed by Şekip Akal, the Ankara Train Station, which holds an important place in Ankara's city memory, was left in the shadow of an ideological discussion with the establishment of the Ankara High-Speed Train Station (YHT), which opened in 2016. Evaluating the utilization of architecture as a tool in the process of government-power-rent conflicts, the writers carefully examine the transformation of the historical station complex.

URBAN HISTORY

The "Citizen" as an Efficient Actor in the Re-Construction of a City: The Pera Fire, 5 July 1870 / B. Su Ertürkmen Aksoy, Neşe Gurallar

The Pera Fire, one of the biggest disasters that took place in Istanbul in the 19th century, is one of the important milestones in the region in terms of urban planning, with many studies addressing its destructive and transformative nature. Based on these studies, the writers research the role of the citizen in the aftermath of the fire as well as the planning proposals made during this period and point out the "effective" and "influential" presence of the citizen in the transformation of the city.

CONTACT

Meeting in a Limit"less" Urban Space: Columnless Canopy / Gökhan Okumuş

Columnless Canopy, designed by Olgooco and built in 2018, defines a new understanding of flexible and permeable public space. Arguing that the space approach in design provides a powerful conceptualization of notions such as limit/limitlessness, the writer draws attention to the emphasis on permeability that is sought after between residential areas and urban space in a controlled manner.