AWARDS

The 10th Cycle of Aga Khan Award for Architecture is Announced

Founded in 1977, The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, is one of the world’s largest and famous architecture awards that has marked its 30th anniversary and the completion of the 10th cycle of the programme. The nine recipients of the current cycle, 2005-2007, were chosen among 343 projects submitted and were announced on September 4th, 2007 by his Highness Aga Khan in the awards ceremony that took place in Kuala Lumpur.

ARCHITECTURE AND CRITICISM

The two articles, one being “The Manner of Criticism” by Bülend Tuna and the latter, “Two Sinans” by Gürhan Tümer, comment on the role of criticism, which apart from involving disprovements should also welcome the contribution of different beliefs, points of view and evaluations. The articles drew attention to the danger of making less sense when the manner in criticism cannot be directed properly.

ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN ASSEMBLIES

“From the Architecture and Urban Assemblies to the Architectural Policy of Turkey” Forum took Place in Istanbul

The last meeting of the Architecture and Urban Assemblies took place in Istanbul with a theme “Metropolises and Architecture”. The morning session focused on the presentations related with the theme, while the afternoon sessions consisted of evaluations of all the previous meetings and their outcomes, which were summarized by all the previous forum leaders. The participants and the audience commented on the possible contributions of the discussions that took place in these meetings, on the Architectural Policy Text.

ARCHITECTURAL POLICY
On the text of “Towards an Architectural Policy” / Cengiz Bektaş, Yaşar Marulyalı
In these short paragraphs you can find the ideas of two well-known Turkish architects on the Architectural Policy Text. Cengiz Bektaş insists on the fact that architects have to find a way to achieve self-control, where Yaşar Marulyalı calls attention to the practical issues of the policy and reminds that it is needed to work on possible strategies to put the policy into practice.
 
 
EVENTS
* Events Scattered Around the City and the 10th International Istanbul Biennale / Selcen Tuncer
Istanbul has been hosting a series of events, which have started towards the end of summer and still continue to diffuse into the streets and daily life of the city. The author picks up three major events, Istanbul Designweek, CowParade and the 10th International Istanbul Biennale and recaptures their effects on the city.
 
* The “phoenixes” of Turkish Architecture that “Rose from their Ashes” Accommodated the 10th International Istanbul Biennial/ Kıvanç Kılınç
The article, reviewing the significant works that were exhibited during the Istanbul Biennale, also draws attention to the conscious selection of the exhibition spaces. Being among the significant modern architectural examples of Istanbul, spaces of AKM, İMÇ, Antrepo No.3, Kadıköy Halkevi (Public Education Centre) and Santral İstanbul mingled with contemporary art all through the Biennale. Especially AKM stood in this exhibition as the significant phoenix of modern Turkish architecture that rose from its ashes, against the lack of public interest to its existence.
 
* A Photography Exhibition on Galata: KÖPRÜ6
Merih Akoğul, Orhan Cem Çetin, Ahmet Elhan, Cemal Emden, Murat Germen and Ömer Orhun, six famous Turkish photographers, were invited to present different perspectives through their recent experiences of the Galata Bridge. The exhibition, consisting of the photographs of these 6 genuine stories, also covers other visual and literary materials that document the multicultural history of the bridge.
 
FILE: A New Approach to the Field of Conservation- Preservation / Editor: Emel Kayın
The file focuses on the long going changes and inner challenges in the field of conservation and preservation. The articles touch on different aspects of the issue by either spotting the novel ideas and concepts that started to take place in the practice, or the changes and the new problems that arose in the field of contemporary understanding of conservation. The aim is to share these challenges that the practice is facing with general public and architectural milieus. The article of Emel Kayın, discusses the conservation as a paradigm, which to her view was evolved in line with modernity and through its constitutions and yet has to adopt to the new era through certain changes in its inner dynamics as well as in its relation to the idea ‘to be modern’. Modern architectural heritage is also among the topics Kayın discusses in her article. Güliz Bilgin Altınöz in her article “An Overview to Architectural Conservation Practices” provides an analysis on the practice of conservation in Turkey in respect to the international principles set for the field. Feyzal Özbakan, in his article “A Novel and a Contemporary Technological Problem in Conservation: the Heritage of Reinforce Concrete” points out to the fact that reinforce concrete buildings need new technologies in their preservation and in fact this has been a rather underestimated issue in the field of conservation. In the last article of the file, Emre Madran reviews the recent new legislative arrangements in the field of conservation, in Turkey and the extending role of local initiatives in this respect.
 
NEW BUILDINGS
Doha, The museum of Islamic Arts / Dilek Aksoy
The competition opened in 1997 in Doha, the capital of Qatar, for the exhibition of the Islamic arts collection of Şeyh Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani – the president of Qatar National Council for Arts and Heritage, was won by I.M. Pei. The museum is due to be completed in 2007 and it will become a significant building in the Doha Gulf seashore through its expressive design .The building is believed to act as a catalyst for the development of Doha as a cultural and educational centre, demonstrating the vision and commitment of the State of Qatar to its culture.
 
CAPITALS OF CULTURE
An Awakening of a City and Cork Opera House / Burkay Pasin
The discussions around the AKM issue, “Should we demolish the AKM Building, or not?” oppress the whole preparations in the process of Istanbul being the European Capital of Culture for 2010. However a different approach can be observed in the experience of the Irish city Cork, which was the European Capital of Culture for 2005. The 150 years old Opera House of the city was renovated to act as the main event space where all other cultural events were attached. The author comments on this conscious decision to turn the building to a symbol reflecting the development and transformation of the city.
 
PRESERVATION- REVITALISATION
The Culture House of the Childeren: Mavitay / İsmail Erten
The building, which was known as ‘priesthouse’ in Çanakkale was abandoned after the Exchange in 1924 and was left to suffer certain structural and functional deformations. “Mavitay” (Bluefoal) as it is now called, was renovated to become a culture house for children and opened in early June this year. The restorators summarize the renovation process, the architectural qualities of the building, the materials used and the contribution of the building to the city life.
 
COMPETITIONS
* Konyaaltı Nature and Culture Park Area Architecture and Urban Planning Competition
In the coordination of the Chamber of Architects Antalya Branch, the Antalya Municipality had launched an architecture and urban planning competition for the planning of a nature and culture park in the Konyaaltı beach of the city, which is neighboring Atatürk Cultural Park and Fair Place. The competition aimed to fulfill the need of the citizens for green and recreational spaces, while enriching the cultural identity of the city. The results were announced in July and 3 prizes accompanied with 5 mention prizes were given to the competitive projects. The first prize, the project of Özgür Top, Kahraman Kartal, İskender Hüseyin Kulu and Barış Ekmekçi was approved by the jury in the way the project evaluated the existing historical and ecological qualities of the area.
 
* Başakşehir Urban Planning Competition
The results of the two staged competition launched by the Istanbul Municipality for achieving an urban plan for Başakşehir, were announced. The competition required the planning of a local centre with detailed plans for its inner organization schema, which was expected to complement the neighboring İkitelli industrial settlement. In the end of the first stage 8 projects were invited to attend to the second stage and in the end of this final stage 3 prizes and 4 mension prizes were given. The winning project of Ayhan Usta , Gülay Usta , Ali Kemal Şeremet, Güneş Erden, Cenap Sancar, Adem Altıntaş and Buket Özdemir was regarded as a successful finalization of the ideas that were taken on the first stage and a responsive plan towards the urban qualities of the area and its scale.
 
ARCHITECTURE OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
İstasyon Street: The Symbol of the Republic in Isparta/ Sıdıka Çetin ve Ş. Hasan Haştemoğlu
 
The establishment of the Turkish Republic marks a significant political and social shift. The people of the new regime were after a nation state with modern and contemporary cities. In 1930s primarily the pioneering Anatolian cities of governmental importance and latter the other cities were started to be rearranged in the light of the contemporary model applied for the capital Ankara. Located on the final destination of the West Anatolian railway line, Isparta and the spatial variations and alteration that can be observed along its major urban axis, the ‘Station Street’, from earlier times to today, presents the story of how the nation state image was tried to be achieved in urban scale.
 
ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION
The Relations between Local Culture and Architecture in Architectural Education / Tülin Vural
A significant subject in the architectural education is the leading of the architecture students to interpret the relations between cultures and build environment. In the line of this thought, the author outlines the “Culture, Art and Architecture” course being given to the 1st year architecture students at the Uludağ University Architecture Department and comments on the methodology of the course.
 
BOOK REVIEW
The Planning Reports of Istanbul during the Republican Period 1934-1995 / Cânâ Bilsel
Published by the Chamber of Architects, Istanbul Metropolitan Branch, the book is a substantial source, covering all the Planning Reports of Istanbul during the Republican Era. It is to the author that this documentary source is significant, not only by showing the history of planning of Istanbul but also by shedding light to the political approach of this significant era towards the practice of planning in general.

MEA ARCHITECTURA MEA CULPA
Three Books on Skyscrapers / Gürhan Tümer
There are but many books that mention skyscrapers in the library of Tümer. However he picks up only three of them, all named skyscrapers. Among these three books, the first two are novels and the other is a large sized architecture book. Which one of these books you think is mostly interests the author?