The leading architectural designers and theoreticians in Turkey will meet at a conference entitled
“Debating Architecture in Present Day Turkey” to be held on October 8-9, with the collaboration of
İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of The Building Information Centre (YEM). The conference will seek an
answer to the question; “Is it still possible to discuss architecture in its respective society?”
Architecture, too, has been affected by the current environment where politics is penetrating in more and
more fields. According to experts, it became extremely difficult to think about architecture removed from
the day-to-day political divides countrywide. İstanbul Bilgi University Dean of Faculty of Architecture
Prof. Dr. Uğur Tenyeli commented on the conference:
“We will try talking architecture ‘once again’ under these conditions. We will debate the complex relationships
between design, drawing, building and platforms for setting up dialogues in and outside architecture”.
Remarking that architecture needs to be discussed on the basis of its respective society, Tanyeli stresses
that the way to do is not to dream of an supra-political sterile architecture. To the contrary, it is possible to forget about the day-to-day bickerings and concerns
to a certain extent but re-think architecture calmly on a political platform.
The sessions entitled “Public Architecture”, “Change in Architecture”, “Cross-Borders Architecture” and “Criticism in Architecture and Beyond” will feature
more than 25 participants including Emre Arolat, Suha Özkan, Gökhan Avcıoğlu, Mehmet Kütükçüoğlu, Uğur Tanyeli, Şebnem Yalınay Çinici, Abdi Güzer and
Gülsüm Baydar.
