We conducted an enjoyable interview about the project “Teachings to the Future from the Ruins: Interior Architecture Application Ideas through February 6 Earthquake Archive Documents” led by Istanbul Gelişim University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Interior Architecture students Ece Yurtsever, Ayşe Dilara Demircan, and Bartu Emir Kaya, with academic guidance from Research Assistant Başak Lale. This project was accepted into the 2209-A University Students Research Projects Support Program.
First of all, we congratulate all of you for your work being accepted into the 2209-A University Students Research Projects Support Program. Could you briefly tell us about yourself?
Ece Yurtsever: I am a 4th-year student in the Department of Interior Architecture at Istanbul Gelişim University. I believe that we don't come into this life without a purpose. Therefore, I aim to constantly improve myself and be productive. I enjoy making people's lives easier and more beautiful. Every day is an accumulation for me, so I love to collect moments and make them memorable.
Ayşe Dilara Demircan: Hello, my name is Ayşe Dilara Demircan. I was born on June 19, 2000, in Bursa. Growing up in a coastal town in İznik, I excelled in swimming, and I also created charcoal and oil paintings. Due to my interest in the field of health, I received training in first aid. Being from a Georgian immigrant family, I attended courses to learn Caucasian dance under the guidance of my family. My father works at the İznik Tile Foundation, and my mother owns a company involved in forest products. My family's involvement in these fields greatly influenced my decision to pursue a career in interior architecture. Witnessing the design process in furniture factories where we sourced wood encouraged me to think about how we can make the spaces we inhabit more qualitative, secure, and comfortable. This led me to enroll in the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design at Istanbul Gelişim University in 2020.
Bartu Emir Kaya: First of all, hello, and thank you for this meaningful interview. I'm Bartu Emir Kaya, born on June 9, 1999, in Istanbul. I am the only child of a mother who is a physical education teacher and a father who is a naval officer. After my birth, we started living in Gölcük due to my father's duty. After the Gölcük Earthquake, we continued to live there for a while, and then, due to my father's transfer, we moved to Erdek. I attended primary school in Erdek and developed my first hobbies there. Throughout my childhood, I was involved in sailing and scouting. Unfortunately, in 2009, due to my father's martyrdom, my mother and I moved to Bursa, where I continued my middle school and high school education. Although our move to Bursa caused me to give up sailing, it opened up a wide range of exploration for me. Due to my desire to experience various sports and hobbies, I engaged in activities such as archery, horseback riding, climbing, photography, music, swimming, cycling, petanque, darts, skiing, among others. Among these, skiing piqued my interest the most, and I actively pursued this hobby. Currently, my active hobbies include reading books, watching movies, improving my skiing skills, and sampling world cuisines. During the transition from middle school to high school, I also developed an interest in military technology, leading me to want to take my first steps in this field by attending a vocational school. However, during my time there, I realized that the school and the branch were not suitable for me. As a result, I transferred to a private high school and completed my education there. After high school, I focused on artificial intelligence and software development, participating in an artificial intelligence program under the Istanbul Rotary Club. After developing myself in this field as well, I took the university entrance exam and began my education in the Department of Interior Architecture at Istanbul Gelişim University. Thanks to my lifelong interest in creativity and various creative fields, I am currently a 4th-year student. After three years of study, I have decided on the profession I want to pursue.
What is the importance of your accepted project in your opinion? Can you explain briefly?
Ece Yurtsever: Our accepted project holds great value for me. I believe that the work we will complete will shed light on the future. Architectural and interior design negligence, as we have focused on in our study, will always be present in the industry. What mattered to us was taking a step in this field, and I think our group, along with our academic advisor, has achieved that with our accepted project.
Ayşe Dilara Demircan: The project we are working on holds significant meaning for us. The issue we are addressing, which has not been explored in terms of interior design until now, presents a growing risk for the users of spaces every day. Knowing that we can be beneficial to our field by addressing this gap in interior design makes me very proud.
Bartu Emir Kaya: The most important aspect of our project, from my perspective, is that it goes beyond the aesthetic or ergonomic concerns of people and adds a new dimension to the space, offering suggestions that could save lives. The fact that there have been no previous studies in this area and that we are the first ones to accomplish this is also very important to me.
At what stage of the project are you currently and how does working as a group contribute to you at this stage?
Ece Yurtsever: We are currently in the data collection phase of the project. Along with our team members and our academic advisor, Research Assistant Başak Lale, we are gathering information by visiting the necessary institutions and organizations and also through email correspondence. The beauty of working in a group is that we complement each other, allowing our work to continue without interruption.
Ayşe Dilara Demircan: At the moment, we are in the phase of conducting interviews for data collection in our project. We collect this information and start developing our project in collaboration with our academic advisor and team members.
Bartu Emir Kaya: We are currently in the initial phase of our project. We are reaching out to disaster and search and rescue organizations. At this stage, we contacted them to review the data they collected during the earthquake. We are studying in a very demanding program, and the pressure of being in our senior year is substantial. Sharing this pressure with our teammates and academic advisor, rather than carrying it alone, allows us to use our energy more efficiently for our research process.
What do you think this project added to you personally? What impact do you think it will have on your career?
Ece Yurtsever: I believe this project will create awareness in our lives. With this project, I think my awareness has already increased a bit, and it will continue to grow over time. I believe it has opened a beautiful door for future generations, and there is more to come.
Ayşe Dilara Demircan: Our project has made a significant contribution to me. As a future interior designer, I will no longer focus solely on aesthetic concerns in the work I complete; in addition, I will consider the idea of "user protection" with the awareness that we live in an earthquake-prone country. Recognizing that we need to align this with our work and the awareness that we are addressing a significant gap will also set us apart and make us valuable in our careers.
Bartu Emir Kaya: Honestly, our accepted project has educated me about how I view my future work. I used to think that our profession was only about creating designs, and the fact that we couldn't truly impact people's lives deeply bothered me. However, with the “Teachings to the Future from the Ruins: Interior Architecture Application Ideas through February 6 Earthquake Archive Documents” project we are conducting, I now know that our field can make a difference in people's lives and even save lives. This knowledge makes me much more determined in my work. I believe that this new perspective I have gained will increase my respect and value for my field and lead to more successful projects in the future. Additionally, the way we approach the topic from different angles in our scientific research makes me believe that it could catch the attention of different R&D teams in the future.
We thank you all for this enjoyable interview and wish you success.
