MİMARLIK AGENDA

Losing the Commons Amid Urban Transformation and Questions for the “Sequel” / İclal Dinçer

The urban transformation policies ongoing for two decades in Turkey reveal that the multidimensional and problem-driven approaches are being refused: The construction processes are structured by neglecting the socio-economic framework of the land, and reduced to an understanding of “demolishing, constructing and renewing the physical environment”. The author questions: (1) For the sake of what were the urban transformation projects completed negligibly, and what did the public lose? (2) Which dynamics played roles in the uncompleted urban transformation projects, and what do they disclose?

COMMEMORATION

•           An Exceptional Intellectual, The Beloved Comrade Murat Balamir / Ömer H.Kıral

Murat Balamir was born in 1941. He received a bachelor of architecture degree from METU in 1960 and a master’s of architecture degree in 1965. With the British Council scholarship, he studied in 1970-1972 at the London AA School of Architecture and received his second master’s degree. Following his job as a designer in the London Municipality Housing and Design department, he took planning education at Londra University of Collage, and subsequently got accepted as a doctoral student. Within the METU City and Urban Planning Department, he lectured urban economy (bachelor) and urban risk management (master’s) courses, supervised the master’s degree design studio, and conducted prominent studies on disaster, housing and urbanism. Balamir passed away on August 16th, 2022. Ömer H. Kıral addressed memoriam in his name.

•           Sensitivity on Details: Nişan Yaubyan / Yaşar Marulyalı

Born in 1928 in Istanbul, Marulyalı graduated from Istanbul Technical University Architecture Department in 1953. Together with his colleagues from ITU, who later became his associates (Enis Kortan, Avyerinos Andonyadis and Harutyun Vapurciyan), they received various awards in architectural competitions. Following his master’s education at Michigan University, Marulyalı became a part of Eero Saarinen and Minoru Yamasaki's design team and contributed to significant projects such as the Twin Towers and Century Plaza. After spending a decade in the United States, he returned to Turkey as a self-employed architect, lectured design studios for 11 years since 2000 in Yeditepe University Architecture Faculty, and received Mimar Sinan Grand Award within the 2020 National Architecture Awards. Yaubyan passed away on August 9th, 2022. Yaşar Marulyalı addressed memoriam in his name.

AGENDA

●          Populism and Participation: The Recent Experiencies in Turkey / Yiğit Acar

Populism, which is commonly deemed to be a practice of left-wing politics, comes our way through discourses of participation or the unintended consequences of poorly managed participation processes. The author examines the recent projects of Istanbul Taksim Square and Ankara Ulus Square competitions and discusses the notions of populism and participation through these examples.

●          Power Against The Law: Bodrum Cennet Cove and Gökburun / Kazım Erol

The Cennet Cove - Gökburun region of Muğla Bodrum, a popular coast district that transformed with tourism, has been an arena of struggle between capital and law. Relying on the lawsuit reports and the news releases, the author (the first-hand witness of the process) forecasts the further steps to be taken.

EVENT

•           2022 IAPS Conference and Terms to Rethink for Climate / Hülya Turgut

The 27th session of the biennial conference series “International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS)”, hosted by Portugal, was conducted online on 5th-8th July 2022. The author shares notes from the event with the motto “Global difficulties, local consequences” by repeating the call of the conference: Rethinking the terms “governance”, “sustainability”, consumption” in relation to climate change.

•           COP26, Heritage and Climate / Duygu Ergenç

The theme “Heritage and Climate”, established by ICOMOS on the “International Day for Monuments and Sites 2022” (April 18th), focuses on (a) the ways of utilizing climate justice and equality, and (b) modes of protecting the societies vulnerable to climatic changes through climatic action. Ergenç depicts the events planned throughout the term and the prominent issues of COP26. The author highlights the importance of utilizing cultural heritage in sustainable terms, as the primary action for reducing the consequences of climatic change.

 

INTERNATIONAL AGENDA

•           World Urban Forum / WUF 11: A Global Meeting / Şebnem Önal Hoşkara

The 11th session of the prominent global conference concerning sustainable urbanism, “World Urban Forum” was conducted in Poland, Katowice, in 25th-30th June 2022.

CULTURAL HERITAGE IN DANGER

A Cultural Heritage Rarity: The Ankara Tennis Club / Lale Özgenel

In this chapter of Cultural Heritage In Danger, a section initiated in our 405th issue, we will discuss the “Ankara Tennis Club” with Lale Özgenel’s narration.

ARCHITECTURE-DEMOCRACY-PARTICIPATION

Urban Curation: The Participatory Architecture Model of Taksim / İpek Akpınar, Canan Ganiç

In 2020, an architectural competition for designing the Istanbul Taksim Square through participatory processes was conducted; which aimed at including the local government, professionals, and urbanites, and operated through public voting and jury decision. The authors discuss the theoretical framework for alternative ways of participatory design, and exemplify other cases for speculatively questioning “a livable and democratic future”

COMPETITIONS

İzmir Ekonomi Üniversitesi Güzelbahçe Yerleşkesi Mimari Proje Yarışması

The competition, which aims at designing the İzmir Economics University Güzelbahçe Campus’s education and research buildings, and facilities serving for the sociocultural and housing needs through a holistic campus life, is concluded. For the freelance, national, and one-stage competition 52 entries were taken into consideration; 3 prizes, 5 honorable mentions were given, and 1 purchases were made.

ARCHITECTURAL THEORY

•           Rethinking the Meaning of Architectural Preservation / İmre Özbek Eren

The author aims to rescue the issue of architectural preservation from a biaxial true-false discussion and bring it to multiaxial universes of negotiation; through recalling (and recapturing) the ontological dimensions of preservation, and seeks for new meanings considering the space, history, environment, memory, consumption and experiences.

 

•           The Everlasting Discourses of Dark Tourism’s Memory and Commemoration Spaces / Özge Gündem

Dark tourism, which evokes negative feelings for its visitors, has gained an important place within the cultural sectors in the aftermath of World War II. The author discusses the theoretical framework and experiential cases of dark tourism, and provides provocative speculations through spaces and narratives.

PRESERVATION / REVITALISATION

A Contemporary Preservation Approach Gaziantep / Gaye Cansunar Yetkin

The author gives a quick but overarching gaze to Gaziantep’s architectural preservation over the past 50 years. She claims that the intense efforts of the local governments are positive, and provides constructive criticism for the contemporary preservation approaches for the Hısva, Mecidiye, and Sabuncu Inns.

HOUSING

On Early Republican Contemporary Housing: Dr. Abdullah Cevdet and “Civil Dwelling Crisis” / Önder Aydın

As the Western-inspired “contemporary” houses of the 1930s were registered to be symbols of Republican architecture, the early publications of the 1920s reveal the pursuit of national architecture and they appear as the premises of the process. The author examines Abdullah Cevdet’s articles on housing to be found in the İctihad journal and İkdam newspaper, and his book entitled Mükemmel ve Resimli Adab-ı Muaşeret Rehberi [Splendid and Illustrated Guide for Etiquette].

ARCHITECTURE OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD

•           A Modern in Black Sea Coast: Sümerbank Ordu-Soya Factory / Özgür Demirkan

The Sümerbank Ordu-Soya Factory was a project aimed at contributing to the city’s and region’s financial, spatial and social development. This campus of Sümerbank -the very institution which played an important role in the development policies of its era- was constructed after the 1950s. The author examines the factory as a venue that provided an ideological modernization experience to the city, and highlights the “local and historical values which support modern aesthetics” of the factory.

•           Lost Modern Heritage: Sakarya Atatürk Monument - Sakarya Government Square / Gürkan Okumuş, Özgür Ediz

The understanding of modernism in Turkey appears as a state ideology in pursuit of building a nation-state. Through this understanding, the modern urban planning approaches depict a field that centralizes Atatürk monuments and represents the governments. The authors focus on the Sakarya Atatürk Monument, which has an innovative place in Turkey’s monument practices; and examine the historical transformation of the Sakarya Government Square as an outcome of the architect-sculptor collaboration.

CONTACT

Reality in the Age of Imitation: An Oasis in the Desert / Betül Ergün              

For the latest work of Desert X, the art organization inspired by the process of generating cross-cultural dialogues, pieces of 15 international artists were forgathered in El-Ula Desert- a venue enclosed by Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage venues. Through these works, the author focuses on a piece by the Canadian artist Stephanie Deumer, “Under the Same Sun”, and interprets it as a byproduct of Deumer’s ongoing work on the simulacra-simulation universe and virtual reality.