Ece Postalci | Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ece Postalci

Thresholds in Architectural Education

Today the built environment struggles to cope with the rapid pace of the technology and change. T... more Today the built environment struggles to cope with the rapid pace of the technology and change. The architect, as the major professional takingresponsibility in the design and transformation process of the environment is mostly bound with the use of the latest technology and methods, whilepresenting and materialising new ideas and concepts in his/her projects. Thus, many recent approaches in architectural education pave the way forthis process, introducing the new technical tools and instruments. However, these tendencies have to be questioned deeply and do not always meet the expectations. In the contrary they sometimes are disputed by the schools, which have a habitual experience and rich roots in teaching and adopt a more traditional perspective for education. As is well known, changes cannot be easily accepted in such systems and schools. MSFAU Department of Architecture, being established in 1882 has a past that dates back to the Ottoman Empire times. The education started in 1883 with a small number of students and since then continued with minor transformations and renovations until today. The Department of Architecture has more than 120 students each year and the academic staff of the Department consist of 80 tutors, approximately. For the students who want to continue with thepostgraduate programs, there are a variety of specialization programs under the frame of the Department of Architecture. The accreditation of the education program has firstly been approved bythe National Accreditation Board of Turkey (MIAK) and recently by the UNESCO/UIA Validation Council in 2017 for 5 years. Although the method of the architectural design studios -which are believed to be the backbone of the education- seems to appropriate the traditional approach, there is a visible consensus on the idea of the need for reviewing and reforming the continuing system.Hence, the two workshops on architectural educationin 2017, coordinated by the Department, created the opportunity for the teaching staff to discuss and evaluate the concepts of ‘continuity’ and ‘change’ in architectural education and reflect the results in the strategic plan for theprogram within the emerging needs and new context. This article will attempt to debate the pros and cons of the traditional approach to architectural education by analysing the MSFAU program as a model and further will suggest ways to improve and advance the system for a updated education program for today.

This study aims to open a discussion on the concept “cultural sustainability” in arch... more This study aims to open a discussion on the concept “cultural sustainability” in architectural design. We asked the question if spatial planning has a role in cultural sustainability and in which terms cultural sustainability could be considered or discussed in design process. We started with a presupposition of an example which achieved cultural sustainability in time. We exemplified a holiday resort village designed in 1970 and is still in use with inconsiderable transformations. As being a social engineering was a necessity for the architects, Altuğ and Behruz Çinici [1], it can be said that their design approach was to achieve a sustainable living considering the financial, ecological, environmental and cultural dimensions. Behruz Çinici and his wife Altuğ Çinici are influential and proclaimed architects of their time. For understanding Çinici’s design concepts, we first looked at his inspiration sources as he verbalized in his confe...

The current climate crisis brings to the fore new responsibilities for architectural educators, s... more The current climate crisis brings to the fore new responsibilities for architectural educators, students and professionals. The role of higher education to initiate new breeds of architects to the principles of sustainable design is of overriding priority, although several barriers hinder their effective implementation in both curricula and practice. A global review of the embracement of sustainability in academic programmes and in the profession of architecture reveals that the achievement of fully integrated 'sustainable' literacy still proves elusive. Teaching of sustainability in pre-and post-professional education is indeed often disjointed to creative studio work so that students are not able to consistently engage with an integrated design process and achieve a mature and in-depth competence in sustainable mandates. New priorities have to inform the agenda of architectural education to overcome existing barriers and facilitate knowledge transfer between the acquisition of sustainability-related notions and their application in design. To contribute to address this challenge, the paper builds on some of the results of EDUCATE (Environmental Design in University Curricula and Architectural Training in Europe), a project funded by the European Commission to promote the embracement of sustainability in architectural curricula

SGEM 2014 Scientific SubConference on ARTS, PERFORMING ARTS, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, 2014

isocarp.net

... Ayşegül Kuruç Ada İmre Özbek Eren 2 The memories The urban memory establishes relations with ... more ... Ayşegül Kuruç Ada İmre Özbek Eren 2 The memories The urban memory establishes relations with the past by knowing the history of the city and of its societies in connection with today. “Urban Meaning” depends on the long term development of the city”. (Robins,1997) ...

Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering B, Jul 28, 2015

Traditional Turkish house which characterized with its original shape of the room, plan layout, c... more Traditional Turkish house which characterized with its original shape of the room, plan layout, construction and roof forms has two main spaces as "sofa" (common space) and the "room" differentiate it from the houses in different geographies. The flexibility of the room in traditional Turkish house is characterized with its fixed-in-furniture, which supplies all necessities of a person in a house. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences in use of space between traditional Turkish houses and today's flats in apartments. The comprehensions will be made through the field works on traditional houses and with the projects of architecture students in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul. The concept of the students' projects is redesigning their own houses. Since the students come from different regions of Turkey, their houses have both similar and different spatial characteristics. Whether the cultural identity of the user plays a role in use of living space will be discussed. The aim of this study is to put the relation between the past and today's use of interior spaces of Turkish houses.

Mekân, soyut ve somut varligi, temsil gucu ve etkilesimli karakteri ile sinema alani icin basinda... more Mekân, soyut ve somut varligi, temsil gucu ve etkilesimli karakteri ile sinema alani icin basindan bu yana onemli olmus kavramlardan biridir. Mekânin filmler icin hikâyeyi, fikri, durumu anlatmaktaki temsil gucu, onu araci konuma getirirken, ayni zamanda sinemanin diger sanat alanlarindan farkli olarak zaman boyutu ile mekâna ve mekânin temsiliyetine iliskin farkli deneyimler sunuyor olmasi da bu iki sanat alani icin onemli bir diger baglayici unsur olmustur. Gorsel sanatlarda “insa edilen” mekân, yalnizca ana hikâyeyi tanimlamak icin bir arac degil, ayni zamanda bicimi, unsurlari ve diger bircok anlamsal nesnesiyle temsilin kendisidir. Kuskusuz hem beden hem de mekân iliskilerinde etkilesimlidir. Mimari mekân gerek hikâyenin olusturulmasi gerekse bireylerin birbirleriyle ve cevreyle iliskilenme bicimlerini aktarmasiyla sinematografinin temsil bakimindan onemli araclarindan biridir. Sinema filmlerinde beden ve mekân, hikâyenin canlanmasini, izleyicinin goren ve hayal eden olarak soz...

This study aims to open a discussion on the concept "cultural sustainability" in architectural de... more This study aims to open a discussion on the concept "cultural sustainability" in architectural design. We asked the question if spatial planning has a role in cultural sustainability and in which terms cultural sustainability could be considered or discussed in design process. We started with a presupposition of an example which achieved cultural sustainability in time. We exemplified a holiday resort village designed in 1970 and is still in use with inconsiderable transformations. As being a social engineering was a necessity for the architects, Altuğ and Behruz Çinici [1], it can be said that their design approach was to achieve a sustainable living considering the financial, ecological, environmental and cultural dimensions. Behruz Çinici and his wife Altuğ Çinici are influential and proclaimed architects of their time. For understanding Çinici's design concepts, we first looked at his inspiration sources as he verbalized in his conferences. After studying on their village projects, we suggested four spatial concepts for reading the projects from the perspective of cultural sustainability. We analyzed their three resort villages designed in the same decade through the criteria we have suggested. In evaluation; the distinguished features of Çinici's resort projects are discussed in relation with the concept cultural sustainability. In conclusion, we intended to open a discussion for the criteria we proposed for cultural sustainability in spatial planning and put the importance of cultural practices for housing policies for regional identity in global world.

Mimarist, Sayı: 64, Feb 5, 2019

Aegean Region, presents/shows a wholistic character with its economic, political and cultural dim... more Aegean Region, presents/shows a wholistic character with its economic, political and cultural dimensions. Cultural interaction has continued in both sides of Aegea either politically or economically in history. Therefore architectural identities of both sides' settlements are very close to one another./eachother. Especially, the traces/impacts of each culture's on the Aegean settlements after "exchange obligatoire" (1923) are very interesting. We can see the cultural reflection of rums in Anatola or of Ottoman's in Aegea. The effects of environment and climate are also very dominant in this interaction process. It is aimed to confront different settlements from Aegean region in different scales with their architectural characters so as to bring up the cultural interactions in the context of identity.

This study focuses on design process of "living space" through house and dwelling projects in Mim... more This study focuses on design process of "living space" through house and dwelling projects in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul. By taking the "dwelling" unit as a tool for training, students practice different approaches to "living space" in many architecture schools. How the student's perception of living space and their approach to the dwelling design change during architectural education is the subject of this paper.

Having experienced and being shaped through the Westernization process of the Ottoman Empire sin... more Having experienced and being shaped through the Westernization process of the Ottoman Empire since the beginning of the 19th century, Beyoglu has had many spatial and demographic structure transformations. New housing types and modern commercial buildings (apartment blocks, passages, cités) have come into being due to these new circumstances.

Although this urban structure has been conserved untill today, Galata- Beyoglu district is again having transformations in parallel with the new dynamics of the city.

The buildings have been used for purposes other than their originally intended use since 1950’s. In last two decades, the district and the apartment buildings began to be preferred by artists to be used as studios or ateliers and began to be refunctioned for cultural purposes.

The Spatial Organization Studio takes place in 5th semester of architecture education in MSGSU. The studio aims to develop a project in a district that is being transformed gradually considering the sense of place and time. The integrity of building and interior scale is an important matter in this study.
The problem of the design is to develop an extension on the roofs of the historical apartment buildings which mostly had service spaces (laundry, coal cellar, depots) originally on this floor.
The design process begins with creating a scenario about the life which will take place in the loft and developing a program according to the current needs.
The methods of intervention are discussed in structural, physical and functional aspects with the students. It is preferred to give a free creation opportunity to the student although the standing limitations for the district are revised during the design process.

The aim of this study with the students of architectural faculty is to create an awareness about the transformation of historical districts and the re-use and re-evaluation of the buildings in these areas and to discuss the problematics of such realizations in physical, structural and functional aspects. The interior project which is considered to be an integrated part of the whole re-use and transformations of a city also aims to make a point on the sustainability of the cities.

Key Words:
Design integrity, renovation of historical apartment blocks, interior design education

Bildiri / Proceedings by Ece Postalci

Araştırma Projesi / Research Projects by Ece Postalci

Books by Ece Postalci