From Merve Karadaban II. Paper Presentation at the Spatial Studies Symposium!

 
Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU) Faculty of Fine Arts (GSF) Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Department Merve Karadaban attended the II. At the Spatial Studies Symposium, Assoc. Dr. In the "Urban Transformation" session moderated by Dilek Erbey, she made an oral presentation titled "Looking at Istanbul as a Hollow City: A Study on the Ambiguous Areas of the City".
 
The paper was presented by Merve Karadaban, Assoc. Dr. It is based on the theoretical analyzes and fieldwork that Fatma Erkök conducted within the scope of her master's thesis titled "Looking at Istanbul as a Hollow City: A Study on the Ambiguous Areas of the City". Merve Karadaban shared her thoughts on her work as follows:
 
“The session focused on the social effects of 'urban transformation' on urban life in general, and the social, economic and spatial segregations created through 'urban transformation'. In my statement, I tried to give critical answers to the situations of "dissolution, decay, abandonment, dereliction, dysfunctional and emptying" in the city through concepts. It is of great importance to evaluate the existence of these reasons as a paradox in the city, that is, a contradiction to the city itself. This importance stems from the fact that they are the spatial products of the conflicts in the economic, political and social relations of the city. Abandoned factories, gas stations, water tanks, ports, warehouses, construction sites, bridges, tunnels, schools, hospitals, military zones, etc. The remnants of the recent past carried to the present can be considered as "counter-space" or "other space" (Foucault, 2016; Barron, 2014) with their situation between "familiar" and "strange". The mentioned areas, in a sense, constitute inverted forms of urban spaces. The city constantly presents some spatial and behavioral codes: speed, control, order, program, activity... The city organizes, places and codes people with these codes and more. On the other hand, areas that have become dysfunctional, abandoned, emptied and empty can be described as places where uncertainty, uncanny, ambiguity, and dereliction proliferate, and the contrast of the settled world. These areas can be considered as places that have not found a place in the human-space coexistence or that have ceased to have a place. This situation of 'placelessness', which is formed by the temporary suspension of these areas between the past and the future, their disconnection from the order and their separation from economic powers, can also be seen as a 'space of freedom' or even a 'nomadic geography' (Cupers, 2005). Stalker (1996), a collective of architects and artists, describes these spaces as “the negative, the boundaries, or the cracks of the built city”. In this sense, these opposite spaces, which are the symbol of contradiction with the city, become places that facilitate the perception of the city with their contrasts.”
 
We congratulate Merve Karadaban Karadaban and wish her continued success.