2014/5-6 Post-World’s end Architecture: Turkey / Blueprint 334
Istanbul is in turmoil. While not the only Turkish city to experience disquiet among the populace, this ancient place is, it could be argued, facing greater upheaval in its urban fabric with mega expansion plans that include a new airport, a new bridge over the Bosphorus, the demolition of whole communities and relocation of inner city schools. But as this fifth instalment of Post World’s End Architecture reveals, there are some architects and designers-cum-activists trying to tackle the city’s problems with positive action.
Words: Irmak Turan
DDRLP Architecture & Design
Architect as social advocate
TOKI, the Housing Development Administration of Turkey, is a federal agency established in the mid-Eighties to address the country’s housing shortage. In the past decade however, TOKI’s liberalised income scheme has shifted the focus to luxury and profit-driven projects, largely ignoring the needs of lower-income residents. But because of the urban transformation law to replace buildings at risk to earthquakes, many poorer residents have been left at the mercy of TOKI, forced to relocate to new mass-housing developments. This move has uprooted entire neighbourhoods and destroyed communities.
Survival Manual for TOKI Dwellers, a hand-drawn pamphlet, aims to address the social problems that result from new mass housing projects in the city
Survival Manual for TOKI Dwellers, originally presented at the _ rst Istanbul Design Biennial in 2012, aims to address the social problems that come with this physical relocation. The manual, a hand-drawn pamphlet, explores the spatial constructs of the residents’ original communities and their new TOKI dwellings. The simple and straightforward illustrations are as amusing as they are informative, making suggestions for how residents can adapt their new dwellings to suit their domestic lifestyle.
Pdf Download: B334-172-P-Turkey-csh ph