MİMARLIK AGENDA

Negligence and Untaken Actions between Disaster and Greater Disaster / Doğanay Tolunay

After the disasters we encountered in the months of july and august, the future outcomes of the ecosystem and climate balance caused by humans can be read through disaster scenarios. Expressing her objection to the fact that the main reason for disasters to reach this level is climate change, the author emphasizes that "the main reason is the callousness, unpreparedness and failure to take precautions".

AGENDA

• Current Problems of Architectural Education / Bülend Tuna

Although architectural education is always on our agenda, we wanted to take a closer look at the quotas of universities in this September-October issue, as the new academic year is set to begin. The government, correlating the fact that such quotas are not met to the threshold imposed by the university entrance exams, solved the problem in its own way by lowering the minimum grade required to be accepted by the universities. The author, who comprehensively compiles these quantitative data to talk about the main problems related to the increasing number of universities and quotas, provides an important starting point for discussions that should be held.

• A Long-Term Conservation Struggle: From the Historical Hasanpaşa Gashouse to Museum Gazhane / Burçin Altınsay Özgüner

The Hasanpaşa Gashouse in Kadıköy, Istanbul, a rare example of Turkey’s industrial heritage surviving to this day, is one of the 3 main gas houses that were established successively in the 1800s. Focusing on the struggle of the partnership of civil initiatives and experts in order to protect the facility where gas was produced to provide energy to Kadıköy and its surroundings for 112 years, the author offers us a glimpse into the 26-year process that transformed the Hasanpaşa Gashouse to today's Museum Gazhane.

EVENT

• In the Aftermath of the UIA 2021 Rio Congress: Archaic Problems, New Methods, New Horizons... / Ayşen Ciravoğlu

The 27th UIA World Architecture Congress and Awards Ceremony, originally planned to be held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 2020, was held online between 18-22 July this year, after a one-year delay due to the global pandemic. Touching on some of the talking points from the congress’ content, the author underlines that "we need new horizons and new methods, together with the solving of archaic problems, in our approaches to professional practices and lines of thought in order to move forward and take action in areas of discussion.”

• Reading the Changing City through Daily Life: "Transforming Cities, Changing Lives" in Bursa / Gürkan Okumuş

The "Transforming Cities, Changing Lives" panel organized by the Chamber of Architects within the scope of the program "Architecture and Society Meetings with a Public Benefit Perspective" was held on July 10, 2021 at the auditorium of the Bursa Academic Chambers Union Campus. A recording of the event, in which local problems and solution suggestions were discussed with a special focus on transformation/change, can be accessed at https://bit.ly/2XDAzfd.

• “The Memory of Kundura: A World Fitting in a Factory” Exhibition as a Pioneering and Multi-layered Example of Conservation of Industrial Heritage / Hakan Koçak

The Beykoz Kundura factory, located in Istanbul, brings forwards to visitors an important testimony of a bygone era with a very comprehensive exhibition narrating the history of both the historical Sümerbank Leather and Shoe Factory and Beykoz, which once was a "proletarian district". One of the primary aims of the exhibition -which opened as the first phase of the work carried out within the scope of the Kundura Memory project, which started in 2015- is to set the stage for an environment where integrated activities and studies can take place. The exhibition, which will be located on the Kundura campus permanently, for the time being, can be visited by making a free appointment online adapting to the pandemic measures.

• Intersections and Layers: Shared Sacred Sites Exhibition / Ayşin Zoe Güneş

Ankara was the last stop (between July 1 and September 30, 2021) of the itinerant “Shared Sacred Places” exhibition, which focuses on the places where the three Abrahamic religions coexist in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans. Discussing the sacred spaces that reproduce themselves as they are shared, the author draws attention to the relationship between the "transitivity process that allows the circulation between religions and sacred spaces" and quotidian life.

COMPETITIONS

• Space of Memory and Gratitude for Healthcare Professionals Project Competition

The design competition organized by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Directorate of Cultural and Natural Assets has concluded. The aim of the competition was to express the gratitude as a society for the outstanding self-sacrifice of health workers during the fight against one of the biggest epidemics ever faced by humanity, and to commemorate those who lost their lives. In the competition (which was freelance, national and single-stage) 3 prizes and 3 honorable mentions were given.

• Memorial Space for Pandemics and Healthcare Professionals Design Competition

The design competition organized by İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Department of Parks, Gardens and Green Areas has concluded. The aim of the competition was to evoke in a multidimensional and layered manner the legacy of this area, which is one of the central points of Istanbul and also an important historical health zone with its surroundings, conveying the city's thousands of years of epidemic history, and to commemorate the health workers who worked and lost their lives in the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. In the competition (which was preselected, national and multidisciplinary) 3 prizes and 3 honorable mentions were given.

• Büyükada Phaeton Square Urban Design Competition

The design competition organized by İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Department of Surveys and Projects, Directorate of Urban Design has concluded. The aim of the competition was to reconnect the project area – which was known as the stopping point of the phaetons that played an important role in the transportation of the island until recently, and which is now defined as the starting point of IETT electric vehicles – to the Istanbulites, especially those residing in the island, through its strengthened public identity, taking into account its location in the heart of the settlement. In the competition (which was freelance, national and double-stage) 10 out of 25 projects passed to the second stage, 3 prizes and 3 honorable mentions were given.

• Mimar Sinan Museum and Architectural Center National Architectural Project Competition

The competition organized by the Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality and Chamber of Architects (Kayseri Branch) has concluded. The competition aims to gather proposals for a museum building where the life and works of Mimar Sinan will be tackled, an architectural center building that adds value to the city (something that we rarely see in our country), and open and semi-open public spaces to serve these structures. The architectural design competition asked participants to reflect on the design and structural qualities of the space within the context of the current theoretical and structural conditions of architecture, to produce authentic theoretical content for the architectural situation at hand and to create spatial and structural versions of these theoretical productions. In the competition (which was freelance, national and single-stage) 115 projects were evaluated, 3 prizes and 5 honorable mentions were given.

• Talas National Garden and Cultural Center Urban Design Competition

The urban design competition organized by the Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality and Chamber of Architects (Kayseri Branch) has concluded. The aim of the competition was the creation of a significant cultural landmark for the city’s public life by producing a qualified and contemporary urban landscape / open public space design unique to Talas. In the competition (which was freelance, national, single-stage and multidisciplinary) 14 projects were evaluated, 3 prizes and 3 honorable mentions were given.

• Karaduvar Neighborhood Urban Design Project Competition

The urban design competition organized by Mersin Metropolitan Municipality has concluded. The competition aimed to gather plans and projects featuring particular implementation specifics in parts of the Karaduvar Neighborhood, which are important in terms of use and present natural, cultural, historical and social characteristics determining its identity. Participants were asked to work on three levels: the upper-scale (identity and language), the middle scale (mass-void organization, aimed at designing the structure and its surroundings comprehensively) and the lower scale (the environmental design of the spaces in between the masses). In the competition (which was freelance, national and single-stage) 1 prize and 2 honorable mentions were given.

ARCHITECTURE-DEMOCRACY-PARTICIPATION

Urban Transformation and the State in the Financialization Process / Galip L. Yalman

The deployment of neoliberal globalization policies in urbanization processes is continuously transforming housing into a commodity rather than a public need. Focusing on the dilemma generated by the financialization of the housing sector, the author draws attention to the necessity of serving the citizens of the places whose intended purpose is changing / transforming day after day.

CULTURAL HERITAGE IN DANGER

Detaching the Square from its Definition: the Uşak State House / Çağlar Samancı

In this chapter of Cultural Heritage in Danger, a series which began in our 405th issue, Çağlar Samancı wrote a piece on the Uşak State House.

ARCHITECTURAL CRITICISM

• At The Threshold: 270° Sivrihisar / Özgün Özçakır

270° Sivrihisar was deemed worthy of the award in "Building / Environmental Design Category" at the 2020 National Architecture Awards for “its design setup that offers the opportunity to experience the city and the natural environment on which it is located, from different planes and various perspectives, with layered platforms constructed with a geometric language befitting the rocky topography it is located on; its material selection that provides a panoramic view and reduces the dominant effect of the structure by finishing up the wooden floor covering with glass material at the edges of the platforms; its architectural thought that emphasizes its representative identity by converging with the city’s symbolism and establishing a strong relationship with the city center, via a simple design reinforced with a rich assembly”. The author draws attention to the fact that the building is located at the meeting place of the rocks, which are the natural heritage of Sivrihisar, and the historical settlement, which represents its cultural heritage, and emphasizes its contribution to making Sivrihisar a station by rather than being a transition point.

• An Architectural Case Study: The Caterpillar as a Design Corridor / Burak Altınışık

İzmir Design Corridors, which is a "Building / Environment (Public Space Design) Award Candidate" at the 2020 National Architecture Awards, was determined by the "Design Corridors National Idea Competition" in 2014 and was built in 2019. Focusing on the building, which is defined as a design station open for interventions of urban dwellers, the author draws attention to the aspect of the structure that "becomes a ridge that emerges linear and incorporates tactics to produce interaction areas around its sphere of influence, instead of an architecture of limitation that creates an interior by closing on itself".

REBUPLICAN ARCHITECTURE

A Rare Example of a Tourism Structure Witnessing History in Fenerbahçe: the Petek Pension

As more and more people turned to tourism and holidays, this had an effect on the architecture of tourism-related structures as they diversified and continue to diversify. The small-scale Petek Pension in Fenerbahçe was built for this need and is one of the qualified examples of the period that are still standing in İstanbul. The authors, who look at the building in the light of an oral history study, also touch on the tourism approach of the period while looking at the history of the pension, which is trying to survive in the rapidly changing urban fabric.

BOOK REVIEW

A Traveling Archive and Non-Majoritarian Historiography of Architecture: Looking at the Ottoman Architecture and Balyan Archive/ Aslıhan Günhan

The newly surfaced archival materials of the Balyan Family, who made significant contributions to architectural understanding during the Ottoman Empire, were compiled and published as an important book of collected documents. The extensive research of the author Büke Uras transformed into an important 352-page book under the editorship of N. Müge Cengizkan. The author, who reviews the book for us, not only reads the projects in the book, but also evaluates the place and stance of the work within the field of architectural historiography.

CONTACT

An Open-Air Bathroom Installation in Norway: FLYT / Merve Şanlı

The FLYT project celebrates the bathing / sauna traditions and political history of Norway in the Fleischer Park of Moss City in Østfold the province that came to be known as the heart of Scandinavia. The design is a multi-layered commentary of the land’s physical, mental and poetic resources with its bathroom installations placed on floating docks.