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Roberto Rocco

In this city series, Roberto Rocco who is Associate Professor of Spatial Planning from the Netherlands was our guest speaker. His presentation was generally about the relationship between water and the Netherlands and how water management is done in this country.

He stated that the Netherlands is located on a delta and that this delta is effective in terms of fishing and agriculture. Besides these, he also specified that most of the Dutch territory is under sea level. In this way, this shows how important water, as a natural element, is for the Netherlands. Additionally, it also demonstrates that this region should be planned with water for future generations.

Many programs have been put forward by the Dutch in order to make planning with water. Difficult environmental conditions have led the Dutch to create a societal model that allowed them to ensure life on this land. This societal model can also be called the Polder Model. This model includes three characteristic features. Collective action, consensus-seeking, and trust in institutions are the mentioned principles. Another established program is the Delta program. The aim of this program is to make the Netherlands a good, safe, and attractive place to live and work for the present and future generations. The program mentioned has 3 tracks. Safe, now and in the future, freshwater supply guaranteed, also in dry periods and climate-proof urban environment are the three tracks. Apart from these, this program includes three concepts such as biophilic, sustainable, and good governance. Also, civil society, public sector, and private sector relations constitute good governance. Furthermore, it can be said that Delta Programme is not reactive but preventive and also has a long-term perspective for the Netherlands.

(photos taken from his presentation)

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Ines Vieira Rodrigues

For this city series, Ines Vieira Rodrigues who is Ph.D candidate was our guest speaker. Her presentation was about the geography, community life, and general situation of Rabo De Peixe, which is an island.

First of all, Rabo de Peixe is a region located in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and this settlement covers 3 percent of Portugal's territory. The population of this region is between the ages of 15-64 in general. The economy of this region, which has a high level of illiteracy and unemployment rate, depends on fishing and agriculture. Besides these, the productivity level is quite low in Rabo de Peixe.

If we talk about the reason for structuring this presentation, it can be said that it is caused by the very high level of social segregation in this region. Rabo de Peixe is divided into two areas called the lower zone and the high zone. 2nd class people live in this lower region and these people generally try to contribute to the economy with fishing activities. People living here are called ghettos. In addition, in the lower region, overpopulation, inadequate housing, and hygienic problems arise day by day. In other words, it can be said that the people in this region continue to live in poor conditions. On the contrary, the people in the high zone of Rabo de Peixe live in richer conditions. The people here are not interested in fishing, but in the orange trade. As a result of this, social segregation emerges in Rabo de Peixe. It causes the two regions to be socio-economically asymmetrical and creates a social barrier between the two sides of Rabo de Peixe.

An example of this situation that emerged in Rabo de Peixe can be given from Turkey. This situation can easily be seen among the districts of Ankara, the capital of Turkey. In order to better explain the similarity, Çankaya and Altındağ, which are districts of Ankara, can be compared. People from the upper classes generally reside in Çankaya and this district is more developed than other districts in Ankara. However, this case is not the same in Altındağ. People living in Altındağ are generally poorer and this area has been the living space of refugees in Ankara. Briefly, it can be understood that the social situation of the two regions is different.

(photos taken from her presentation)

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Nele De Raedt

To introduce our guest speaker, Nele De Raedt is an Assistant Prof. in theory, history, and criticism of architecture from UCLouvain, Belgium. Her presentation was about city planning and everyday life: A Closer Look at Campo De'Fiori in Rome.

Nele de Raedt handled the characteristics of squares of Rome in general in the first stages of her speech. Piazza Farnese, Piazza Navona, and Piazza Del Popolo are some of the examples she mentions. Piazza Navona, one of the famous squares, is connected to many main streets and it can be said that this square resembles a rectangular shape. The other famous square -Piazza Del Popolo-  is at the intersection of three main roads and has an elliptical shape. In addition, this square also contains open green space.

Then she started to talk about Rome's historically famous square called Campo de Fiori. This square, unlike the others, is also known as the bazaar place and has a significant element- a fountain. In addition, this area hosts many shops, markets, taverns, inns, and carnivals. This area has an important feature of being a valuable square as a result of its spontaneous formation for years, and it can be said that this place is the embodiment of the concepts of "Everday Life" and "Lieux de Memoire". The term Lieux de Memoire can be translated as "places of memory". In this context, the reason why Campo de Fiori has an important place in terms of memory places of Rome is that the events in the past made this place valuable.

When I think of the squares I know in Turkey, Ulus Square in Ankara comes to my mind, because this square has similar features to the Campo de Fiori square in Rome from my point of view. For example, Campo de Fiori is an area identified with historical events and this is the same for Ulus Square. The story of Ulus Square is based on the founding years of the Turkish Republic and this place includes many historical incidents in its contexture, too.

(some photos are taken from her presentation)

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Ali Rad Yousefnia

For this city series, Ali Rad Yousefnia from the University of Queensland was our guest speaker and his presentation was about the relationship between nature and the city through the example of Brisbane. In his speech, Ali Rad talked about the natural elements of a city, especially water.

The region that our invited speaker handled for the subject he wanted to convey to us is Brisbane, the capital of Queensland which is on the east side of Australia. Like Efes, which we worked on for our midterm project, Brisbane is a region established on a certain grid, too. In addition, Brisbane has a large water source, a river, that covers almost the whole city. This river makes the city exist and it is a significant element for the city. This river also plays an important role in the transportation network of Brisbane.

According to Ali Rad's presentation, nature and design are in a constant relationship. This relationship can be explained by designing a city or any region with the help of nature. In other words, nature and design are in harmony. In this context, nature should not be considered as a border, and nature should be taken into account in the design of a region or a city. As in the Brisbane example, natural elements such as water resources should shape cities and nature should be in a relationship with the city.

The most important information I have learned from the talk is that natural elements such as water are an important factor in the design of the city. The reason for this is that the necessary importance is not given to these natural elements in the construction of the city in our country.

(photos taken from his presentation)

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Dr. Martin Steskal

In this city series, Dr. Martin Steskal from the Austrian Archaeological Institute was our guest speaker. He made a presentation about the history, geography, and general structures of Ephesus which is located between Bülbül Dağ and Panayır Dağ. He helped us about comprehending the elements and characteristics of Ephesus in both abstract and tangible ways with the help of the online presentation even if we can't visit Ephesus during the pandemic.

How did this presentation influence my midterm project?

First of all, this presentation helped me in many ways and it was the trigger factor to start my project. As I understand from Dr.Martin's speech, Ephesus was founded on a certain order and the structures were shaped through this order. In this context, I created an order by referencing the significant elements of Ephesus in the first stages of my project. These elements are the Bülbül Dağ,  the ancient harbor, and the Celsus Library, as Dr. Martin gives as an example. Moreover, when he talked about the life of the people in ancient Ephesus and how people managed the spaces in Ephesus, the concept of flow came to my mind and I thought about how I could integrate this concept into my project. Based on this, I set the flow according to the places where human movements in ancient Ephesus were excessive. Furthermore, after Martin told us about the geography of Ephesus and the functions of its areas, I started to think about how I can bring these areas and topography together in a meaningful way. Examples of these regions are agricultural and commercial activity areas, sports-based zones, and areas where noble people live. After a long thinking process, I decided to create my clusters on my project in a way that would match with what Dr.Martin conveyed to us.

( Some photos are taken from his presentation )

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ASSIGNMENT 5: SITE ANALYSIS

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In  Class  Exercise : Form  Groupings  Assignment

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Story Mapping the Images of My City Assignment

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In-Class Exercise: Re-shaping the terrain

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In_Class_Spatial Organization On a Terrain

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In-class Group Exercises on the Talk of Dr.Amini

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Assignment #2 Half & Half

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In Class Exercise_Aybüke&Büşra_Collage

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In_Class Exercise: Terrain Model

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Assignment #1 Half and Half Project:

                                                         Conceptual Drawings

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In-class Exercise: Three Conceptual Drawings

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OPENING TALK by Asst.Prof.Dr. İnci Ayhan ---  “Visual Arts and Design from the Eyes of a Vision Scientist”

The first guest speaker of the second semester was Asst.Prof.Dr.İnci Ayhan from Boğaziçi University, Department of Psychology Chair. She talked about the famous pipe at the beginning of her speech. When we look at the aforementioned photo, we perceive the thing in the photograph as a pipe and we can directly call it a pipe, but it's just a representation of something.

The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you    stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written      on my picture 'This is a pipe', I'd have been lying! —René Magritte

After then, she mentioned the perceptual presence of objects. Sometimes when we look at an object from the right angle, we can see that the object has a meaningful unity, but when we change our perspective a little bit, we can see that the integrity of that object is lost and something else entirely emerges. Hence, we can say that " Any given perception can be produced by an infinity of different scales"

After these topics, she informed us about lines and contours in drawings. Sudden changes in the amount of light on a surface and what defines the boundaries of an object can be called a line. In fact, there is no such thing as a line in the real world. However, we just pretend that there is such a thing as a line. Lines do not appear in the world we live in, but we can say that the interruption of color, texture, or tone is visible.

(All photos are from İnci Ayhan's presentation.)

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