Landform and Built Environment Studio(12852)

As the newly introduced studio “Landform & Built Envir.Studio” (CNR: 12852) “THE L.A.N.D.” was conducted by Assoc. Prof. Meltem ERDEM KAYA (PhD) and assisted by Res. Asst. Elif SERDAR YAKUT in 2022-2023 Fall semester. This studio, with its collective theme “The L.A.N.D”, introduced students to the basic elements of landscape architectonic design by addressing multi-dimensional aspects of topography and built-environment. For this goal, The L.A.N.D. was structured around a series of experimental design exercises with a focus on morphological, phenomenological, compositional and material qualities of landscape architectonic design.

Studio Report / Lanform and Built Environment Studio

Landscape Design II: IN-Visible Amasseia: Bringing Cultural Landscape Layers to the Present and the Future

LANDSCAPE DESIGN II (CRN: 12854) ’IN-Visible Amasseia: Bringing Cultural Landscape Layers to the Present and the Future’ was led by Assist. Prof. Dr. Melih Bozkurt @mel_bozkurt and was assisted by Res. Asst. Gizem Aluçlu @gizemaluclu in 2022-2023 Fall Semester. Landscape is the whole of cultural actions between place and people, which is formed by the mutual relations between ecological systems and social environment, shaped by the time factor. Landscapes having a constantly changing and transforming structure and are therefore multi-layered. Today, issues such as the preservation of these layers in rapidly transforming urban areas, the way they relate to current situations and their transfer to the future are the common agenda of many disciplines, not just landscape architecture. In this context, the main subject of the studio that focused on the historical city center of Amasya, was the cultural landscape with all these visible and invisible layers it carries.

Studio Report / Landscape-Design II

Landscape Design II: IN-Visible Amasseia: Bringing Cultural Landscape Layers to the Present and the Future

LANDSAPE DESIGN II (CRN: 12856) ’IN-Visible Amasseia: Bringing Cultural Landscape Layers to the Present and the Future’ was led by Associate Prof. Dr. Ebru Erbaş Gürler @landscape_eeg and was assisted by Res. Asst. Başak Akarsu @basakakarsu in 2022-2023 Fall Semester. Landscape is the whole of cultural actions between place and people, which is formed by the mutual relations between ecological systems and social environment, shaped by the time factor. Landscapes having a constantly changing and transforming structure and are therefore multi-layered. Today, issues such as the preservation of these layers in rapidly transforming urban areas, the way they relate to current situations and their transfer to the future are the common agenda of many disciplines, not just landscape architecture. In this context, the main subject of the studio that focused on the historical city center of Amasya, was the cultural landscape with all these visible and invisible layers it carries.

Studio Report / Landscape Design II

Landscape Design III – IV: Urban Jungle (12859 – 12858)

LANDSCAPE DESIGN III (CRN: 12859) & LANDSCAPE DESIGN IV (CRN: 12858) ‘Urban Jungle’ was conducted by Prof. Hayriye Eşbah Tunçay (PhD) @hetpeyzaj and was assisted by Res. Asst. Fatma Sultan Yaman @fatmasultanny in 2022-2023 Fall Semester. Urban vegetation is indispensable for the health and livelihood of the communities. They are the most effective mechanisms to mitigate climate change. Cities benefit from many ecosystem services through well established vegetation cover. And yet, the urban vegetation suffers from ignorance, underappreciation, vandalism, lack of maintenance, ill planning, and unsustainable design in nowadays’ rapidly growing urban matrix. This studio explores the dialogs between the city and its biota. It aims to develop understanding and appreciation of urban vegetation in the harsh urban context through creative thinking, detailed analyses, and research based design. Different scale urban environments was the focus throughout the semester ranging from a single tree to urban groves, from idle spaces and vacant lands to large urban infrastructures. Science oriented concepts such as urban hydrology, carbon sequestration, urban heat island effect, primary production, phytoremediation enlarged students’ knowledge with respect to landscape’s capacity to address environmental problems. Meanwhile, cultural meanings, humanly encounters and artistic interventions with urban vegetation in place making will make the tighs with site specific urban design. Overall, the studio was a platform for elaborating nature and artifice relationship in the town of Fatih, the historic peninsula of Istanbul.

Studio Report / Landscape-Design III

Landscape Design IV: Resilient Design: Drought in Bodrum (12857)

LANDSCAPE DESIGN IV (CRN 12857) “Resilient Design: Drought in Bodrum” was moderated by Prof. (PhD) Gülşen Aytaç @gulsenaytacc and Res. Assist. Lâl Dalay @l.dalay in 2022-2023 Fall Semester. In relation to climate change, drought is a natural phenomenon caused by increases in global temperatures and fluctuations in precipitation. It has a major impact on society, from the economy to food and water security. Landscape architects have an important role in mitigating the impact of drought by designing natural systems with appropriate design solutions for water conservation and reuse in urban areas. Under the theme “Resilient Design: Drought in Bodrum” Landscape Design Studio IV invites participants to create successful open and green space systems, especially considering the drought criterion, and to make successful urban designs. Within the scope of the studio, students will plan and design systems from the entrance of Bodrum to the working area and produce solutions at various scales.”

Studio Report / Landscape Design IV

Graduation Project JURY A ‘Reimagine THE EDGE

Graduation Project JURY A ‘Reimagine THE EDGE: The Multi-layered Landscape of Iznik at the Interface of the Coast and the Urban Periphery’ was conducted by Prof. Gülşen Aytaç (PhD) @gulsenaytacc, Assoc. Prof. Meltem Erdem Kaya (PhD) @meltem_erdem_kaya , and Assoc. Prof. Fatma Ayçim Türer Başkaya (PhD) @aycimbaskaya and was assisted by Res. Asst. Gizem Aluçlu @gizemaluclu and Res. Asst. Lâl Dalay @laldalay in 2022-2023 Fall Semester. The Graduation project invites students to discover the hidden and unrecognizable potentials of a multilayered urban landscape, the city of İznik. Students will be asked to develop a landscape strategy to create an open and green space system that connects two critical edge conditions; the coast and the urban periphery. The proposals need to address the local characteristics and daily life practices of İznik as well as current environmental and urban problems such as climate change, increased population, loss of cultural identity, degradation of historical traces and urbanization process by utilizing urban voids with various programs and advocating contemporary planning and design approaches. The ecological quality of the lake and the coast, the potentials of the periphery as a transition to rural zone and how the proposed strategy provide a setting for the challenging conditions of contemporary life on this historical city will be questioned through the studio.

GRADUATION PROJECT JURY B AMASEIA to AMASEIA: Restorative Landscape Strategies For Chronic Memory Loss

The jury of Graduation Project Group B includes Assoc. Prof. Ebru Erbaş Gürler @landscape_eeg, Assoc. Prof. Elif Kısar Koramaz @elifkoramaz, Assist. Prof. Melih Bozkurt @mel_bozkurt, Prof. Turgay Kerem Koramaz @keremkoramaz, and Assist. Prof. M. Batu Kepekçioğlu @batukepekcioglu with the consultancy of Assist. Prof. Bige Şimşek İlhan @bigeilhan_pm and with the assistance of Res. Asst. Başak Akarsu @basakakarsu and Fatma Sultan Yaman @fatmasultanny in 2022-2023 Fall Semester. Amaseia, the city of the Mother Goddess Ma, is patient. It is experiencing a deep “amnesia”. Amnesia is a form of memory loss. It can be partial or complete. People with amnesia have trouble learning new information and forming memories. However, they are aware of who they are and have no identity problems. Just like Amasya…
Many layers accumulated in Amasya, starting with the Chalcolithic Age and continuing with the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman eras, formed the identity of the city. However, developments especially in the last century made it forget all this. Of course, both global and local policies and interventions had an impact here as well, and brought Amasya to the brink of chronic memory loss. Here, the main issue of the 2022-2023 Fall Term PEM 4902E Graduation Project is the treatment of this memory loss with restorative landscape strategies.

Studio Report / Graduation Project Jury B