Yener Baş | Mersin University (original) (raw)

Papers by Yener Baş

METU JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, 2015

THE NOVEL “ANKARA” AS (URBAN) UTOPIA Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu’s novel Ankara was written in 193... more THE NOVEL “ANKARA” AS (URBAN) UTOPIA
Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu’s novel Ankara was written in 1934 as a utopian narrative that represents the hope for an ideal society arising from political and ideological connotations of the revolutionary transformations in 1930s. Aim of this paper is to discuss the connections and contradictions between utopian elements of the novel and socio-spatial context of the early Republican period with reference to the city of Ankara. Ankara is composed of three chapters. The first chapter represents the spirit of national struggle through the experiences of a young woman, Selma, in Ankara during the Independence War; whereas the second chapter represents the negation of this spirit after the constitution of the Republic through Selma’s disappointment in her new life in Yenişehir. The novel satirizes the construction period of Yenişehir around 1926 as a community of superficial individuals, who pursue their individualist desires of money and rent; thus the main theme of the utopia appears as the elimination of the individualist ambitions for private interest from the Republican revolution. Along this theme, Karaosmanoğlu describes an imaginary community with its elements at different scales, such as industrial and agricultural development based on Statism, urban and rural interaction, workers and peasantry, arts, media, education, cinema and theatre, etc. Furthermore, he depicts the spatial implications of these elements in cultural and public life through the daily activities of the protagonists Selma and Neşet Sabit in Ankara. In this way, the city Ankara emerges as the spatial representation of the author’s imaginary community. Its streets, public places, squares are depicted as the embodiment of the national solidarity, unity, hope and happiness. Analysis of the utopian characteristics of these social and spatial elements reveals that Ankara is written as a literary expression of the ideas of Kadro [Cadre] Movement, in which Karaosmanoğlu has a key role. In this respect, the novel Ankara reflects the Kadro’s attempt to reformulate Kemalist ideology as a systematic doctrine of the Republican revolution and it functioned as a pedagogical narrative that aimed to disseminate the perspective of Kadro into the public agenda. However, the conflicts between Kadro’s ideological activity and the government party led to the “elimination” of Kadro Movement from the political agenda in 1934. The utopian dimension of the novel reflects its authors’ idealist viewpoint in which the existing class conflicts in the political community of the early Republic is negated by the means of its imaginary community. Nevertheless, its utopian impulse is still worth reading as an expression of social hope inspired by its historical period.

The fringe-belt concept provides a basis for connecting urban growth patterns to internal process... more The fringe-belt concept provides a basis for connecting urban growth patterns to internal processes of urban transformation. However, multi-nuclear growth patterns and the associated fringe belts require greater attention. The development of fringe belts in Turkish cities is discussed with particular reference to the city of Mersin. Especial attention is given to the development of an outer fringe belt which forms an 'umbrella' over the multi-nuclear pattern of the metropolitan area.

Urban Morphology, 2017

Changes to the characteristics of the urban landscape as a result of morphological processes are ... more Changes to the characteristics of the urban landscape as a result of morphological processes are investigated. The effects of change to individual plots are considered. Particular attention is given to the residential district of Çamlıbel in the city of Mersin, Turkey. Conzen's conception of the burgage cycle provides a basis for recognition of a development cycle. This comprises initial, interim and ultimate phases that gave rise respectively to generation, degeneration and regeneration. Individuals, government, planning practice and legislation contributed to this cycle. Attention is drawn to the value of the concept of morphogenetic type in understanding plot pattern development and building repletion and replacement processes.

Toplum ve Demokrasi, 2017

Ütopyalara yönelik en yaygın eleştirilerden biri sundukları toplum tasarımının, yaşamın canlılığı... more Ütopyalara yönelik en yaygın eleştirilerden biri sundukları toplum tasarımının, yaşamın canlılığını ve çeşitliliğini kavrayamamasıdır. Bu eleştirilerin başlıca hedefi olan bütünlük arayışı, hem ütopyanın hem de kentsel planlamanın temel çelişki kaynağı olmuştur. Bütünlük ile çeşitlilik, akılcı tasarım ile kendiliğindenlik, otoritenin yetkileri ile bireyin seçimleri arasındaki ikilemler her iki alanda da sürekli yeniden üretilmiş, antiütopyacı ve planlama-karşıtı tutumların zeminini oluşturmuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı ütopya ile kentsel planlama arasındaki etkileşimi, bütünlük arayışlarının koşutluğu ve bu arayışın doğurduğu çelişkiler üzerinden yorumlamaktır. Bu yorumlama ‘bütünlük’ kategorisinin tarihsel olarak değişen anlamlarını tartışırken, bu kategoriyi ütopya ile kentsel planlamanın eklemlendiği ortak bir izlek olarak ele almaktadır. Çalışmada, Descartes’in akılcılığı tanımlayışında kentsel planlamaya yaptığı vurgudan hareketle ve akılcılık, planlama ve ütopya arasındaki ilişkilerin karakteristik yönlerini açığa çıkarmak amacıyla kent tarihinden çeşitli uğraklar tartışılmıştır. İlk olarak Antik Yunan kentinden başlanırken, ardından modern dönemi özgül kılan özellikler sorgulanmış, kapitalizmin gelişme dönemine ilişkin olarak Marshall Berman’ın Faust yorumu ve ütopyacı sosyalizm ele alınmış ve sonrasında 20. yüzyılda planlama ve ütopya alanlarındaki değişimlerin ana hatları tartışılmıştır. Sonuçta ütopya ve planlamaya getirilen eleştiriler çerçevesinde, dinamik ve diyalektik bir bütünlük kavrayışına dayalı olarak, kenti kolektif bir aklın ürünü olan ortak bir yapıt halinde inşa etmenin gerekliliği vurgulanmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Ütopya, Kentsel planlama, Bütünlük, Descartes, Modernite, Kapitalizm.

İdeal Kent, 2014

Bir Meta Olarak Kent Biçiminin Tasarımı ve Üretimi -Kavramsal Bir Çerçeve Önerisi- Yener Baş Bu... more Bir Meta Olarak Kent Biçiminin Tasarımı ve Üretimi -Kavramsal Bir Çerçeve Önerisi- Yener Baş

Bu çalışmada Lefebvre’in “ürün-yapıt diyalektiği” kavramlarından yola çıkılmakta, kent mekanının bir meta halinde üretilmesinin kentin tasarımı üzerindeki etkilerini açıklayan kavramsal bir çerçeve tanımlanmakta ve böylece kentsel tasarımın politik doğasının ortaya koyulması amaçlanmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda “parsel” hem kent biçiminin yapı taşı olarak hem de kent mekanının üretildiği temel birim olarak ele alınmaktadır. Bu bakımdan parselin meta olarak üretiminden doğan iktisadi gerekliliklerin mimar ve kent plancılarının kentsel mekanı biçimlendirmeye yönelik etkinliklerini nasıl belirlediği incelenmektedir. Sonuç olarak parselin kullanım değeri, değişim değeri gibi nitelikleri ile kentsel rant, kentsel planlama ve mimarlık arasındaki ilişkiler çözümlenmektedir.
Anahtar kelimeler: kentsel biçim, kentsel tasarım, meta, ürün, yapıt, parsel, mimarlık, planlama

Design and Production of Urban Form as a Commodity -a Proposal for a Conceptual Framework

This study, departing from a Lefebvrian conception, that is “the dialectics of work and product”, aims to define a conceptual framework, which explains the impacts of commodity production on urban design, and thus states the political nature of urban design process. In this regard, “parcel” is taken up both as the basic unit of urban form and as the basic production unit of urban space. Therefore, it is investigated that how the economic requirements of the production of parcel as a commodity influences the activities of architects and urban planners, who are responsible from the formation of urban space. As a result, the relations between urban rent, urban planning, architecture and the qualities of parcel such as use value, exchange value is analyzed.
Keywords: urban form, urban design, commodity, product, work, parcel, architecture, planning

PLANLAMA TMMOB ŞEHİR PLANCILARI ODASI YAYINI - Journal of the Chamber of City Planners, 2006

Books by Yener Baş

Bir Şehir Kurmak: Ankara 1923-1933, 2020

Urban and Regional Planning in Turkey, 2019

This study aims to elaborate a discussion on the urban growth of Turkish cities from an urban mor... more This study aims to elaborate a discussion on the urban growth of Turkish cities from an urban morphological viewpoint and to question the applicability of the urban fringe-belt concept to explain the growth of Turkish cities and their urban structure. It has been recognized that the inner fringe belt that surrounded the historic core emerged and developed during the late Ottoman period was consolidated during the early Republican period and then experienced further changes in the subsequent periods. The inner fringe belt was enveloped by residential accretions, produced as a bourgeoisie environment by jumping over the inner fringe belt. The units of the middle fringe belt began to appear in the early Republican period and intensified during the 1950s. It was consolidated after the second wave of sprawl through large-scale housing projects, while at the same time, informal residential environments encircled the inner and middle fringe belts. This study suggests a tentative framework for a discussion on the development periods of Turkish cities in relation to fringe-belt development. The more these cities are studied, the more accurate results will be acquired.