COMMEMORATION PROGRAMME

A Leading Figure in Modern Turkish Architecture: Seyfi Arkan

For the period of 2008-10 the Commemoration Programme of the Chamber of Architects, decided to enliven the memories, contributions of an underestimated and not very well known Turkish architect, Seyfi Arkan. Arkan, whose work and professional life as an architect was never subjected to a detailed research and discussions, is one of the pioneering figures of modern Turkish architecture. The first event in the Programme, will be a symposium, where the work of the architect will be brought into discussion. Taking place in İstanbul, between October 9th-10th, 2009, the theme of the symposium is decided as “A Leading Figure in Modern Turkish Architecture, Seyfi Arkan: Architecture-Change-Autonomy”.

COMMEMORATION

Discussing with Turgut Cansever / Cengiz Bektaş

Architectural world have lost one of its Sinan Award winner architect and intellect, Turgut Cansever on February 23rd, 2009. Cansever, who “besides his successful professional career as a practicing architect, was also very talented in reflecting his interpretations of human organic resources in the context of his design philosophy.” In the words of Bektaş, “Cansever and I still prolong our discussions on his work, even today…It is very hard to find someone to discuss these days, people I know are still desperately searching for one.”

EVENTS

PhD. Seminar On Public Space / Ceren Sezer

TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture, hosted a two-day international seminar on “public space” with the contribution of scholars from diverse fields. The aim of the seminar was to share international and interdisciplinary perspectives in studies of public space, through the themes of public space and neighbourhood quality, public space interventions and politics of public space. The author accounts on the seminar, which was dedicated to various events, presentations of selected papers from PhD students all around the world, and discussions with ranking scholars in the field.

Responsive Environmental and Energy Efficient Architectural Productions: Baumschlager-Eberle Architectural Office / Rüksan Tuna

Austrian based architectural office Baumschlager-Eberle and their recent major projects were subject of an exhibition in Milli Reasürans Art Gallery, Istanbul. In the context of the exhibition, Carlo Baumschlager, who is the founder member of the office, gave a lecture on the architectural work of their office. Having founded in the city of Lochlau in Austria, the firm has now become an internationally established architectural office with branches in six different cities. Since they have started their business in 1985, they have received numerous awards in various fields raging from employers, urban design and building awards. The author puts special emphasis on their works, which develop around the idea of sustainable architecture, and on their approach to responsive environmental solutions in architectural design.

ENERGY SENSITIVE ARCHITECTURE

Energy Efficient Buildings Panel: Till 2017 Each Building will be Given an “Energy Identity Certificate” / Rüksan Tuna

Organised by the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, the “Energy Efficient Buildings Panel”, took place in Ankara on February 26th, 2009. As stated in the panel all the current buildings will be given an “Energy Identity Certificate” till 2017, in the course of implementation of EU standards.

AGENDA

After the Architectural Competition for the Building of TU Delft: Ashes, a Cloud of Smoke and Architecture Again / Alper Semih Alkan

On May 13rd,  2008, the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology was unexpectedly reduced to ashes by a devastating fire caused by a short circuit. The fire, demolishing the northwest section of the building, caused the demolition of the whole building in the following months, thus giving a start to discussions and attempts for rebuilding the architectural faculty. The ideas competition, which was announced with a theme “Building for Bouwkunde” in the Dutch Pavilion of the International Venice Biennale in September last year, prompted an opportunity for thinking over the new building, through the contemporary architectural practices and architectural education, as it were “More than a Building”.

FILE: Inclusive Approach to Design: Design for All

Editor: Deniz İncedayı

“Design for all” may seem simply as an act of problem solving in order to answer the needs of “disabled”, however its intellectual background strives for a wider understanding and critical thinking. As presented in many skilled architects’ work, design for all cannot solely be defined as bringing forth a physical norm, as it is an outcome of a skilful thinking, which has the potential to be able to cover all possible user actions and human conditions through design, and by which can it only relates itself to the idea of public. It can be argued that the initial departure point for the idea stems from basic needs of human beings, who pass through certain stages (from infancy to senescence) and certain conditions (illness, disability, pregnancy etc.) along their lives and therefore are in constant need for different special organizations and living standards. However, we come to observe that “design for all” approach can not solely be limited to being elderly, sick, disabled or infant. With the “design for all”, the architect provides an equal opportunity for every being, citizen and urban dweller, to experience, evaluate and share the architectural and urban space collectively, that is to provide a public life space. In accordance the file presents a collection of articles, which focus on the notion of “inclusive” design and “design for all” idea, supported by intensive researches in the design field throughout the world and in contemporary design agendas, in order to argue, discuss and to contribute to the future studies in the field.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Re-interpretation of Continuous Professional Development / Nur Esin

Following the decision taken in 2004 for giving a start to continuous professional development, the Chamber of Architects established a Continuous Professional Development Centre (SMGM), and gave a direction to a search for possible models of operation parallel to the institutional and organisational structure of the Chamber. Besides summarising the current plans for the 2009-10 period, the article not only informs about the process of SMGM but also tries to promote public contributions and discussions on the future objectives and activity plans.

COMPETITION

Bitlis Government Head Office Building Architectural Design Competition

The competition aimed to achieve an architectural project for the new government head office building in Bitlis. The jury evaluated the submitted projects in the light of the quality in the presented architectural form, the distinctiveness of the design and its practical attributes.

COMPETITION

Uludağ National Park 1st and 2nd Development Regions Landscape, Urban and Architectural Design Ideas Competition

The competition aimed for the betterment of the Uludağ National Park 1st and 2nd Development Regions, in the light of functional and aesthetic concerns, which also include the ideas related with its preservation, thus achieving a balanced condition between the conservation and utilization of the area. In the light of these objectives, the competition sought for innovative design ideas and principles related to the landscape, urban and architectural qualities of the area.

SHOPPING CENTRES

“Non-Places” and Loss of Identity in the Case of Shopping Malls/ Tülin Vural Arslan

Increased mobility and telecommunications, and the rise of consumer-oriented lifestyles, to which a major role has been ascribed in the globalization process, affect the relations between time, space and context. In this process, there appear a new understanding about the concept of space, which loses its ties between local context and function and being characterized by undefinedness, boundlessness and neutrality. General mood of the users of those places is described by Augé as “passive joys of identity-loss and the more active pleasure of role-playing”. According to the author, shopping malls, hotels, airports, hypermarkets are the examples of such places, which he describes as “non-places”. The author discusses the concept of “non-plac”e through the case of shopping malls with an aim to get a critical point of view about their space understanding and usage scenario.

A Revaluation on Shopping Malls as Grand Scale Urban Projects in Case of İstanbul / Gülşen Özaydın, Ebru Firidin Özgür

Urban projects as a means of urban interventions, has become a common activity, which causes not only the disintegration of the urban fabric, but also controls and manipulates the use of urban space by social groups. The authors focus on the subject of shopping malls that is present in each different typology of urban projects. As it is argued, these large scale shopping malls besides generating a system for the transference of urban investments, also have an effect on the current urban fabric, its accessibility, the use of public space, social conduct and relations.

BOOK REVIEW

From the World’s Architecture and Grand Bazaar of ArchitectureS / Namık Erkal

Sharing the proceedings and the valuable outcomes of the UIA 2005 World Architecture Congress İstanbul, which preserves a “pioneering position among the world congresses” in terms of the quality and richness presented to the filed of architecture, took a lot of effort and time. Chamber of Architects have published three books related with the congress, which include “The World Architecture Congress”, “From the World’s Architecture: Theoretical Approaches, Thoughts and Practices” and finally “Grand Bazaar of ArchitectureS: Selected Presentations from the 22nd World Architecture Congress”. The author focuses on the last book in this review.

MEA ARCHITECTURA MEA CULPA

A White Sprout, not a Tulip but a Minaret / Gürhan Tümer

“A white sprout stands as a tulip, […] not the kind that we are accustomed to see around the petrol stations on the highways, which looks as if it was made out of paper or cut out from a tinplate, thus it is a kind of minaret, which doesn’t look desperate and ridiculous. There are a number of minarets in Bilecik, the motherland of the Ottomans, which stand-alone piteously after loosing their mosques. ‘I thought that whether the one I saw was one of them.’ ”