GAU Friday Seminars VI: David Harvey: Rebel Cities & Urban Commons

By: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jakob Rigi (Central European University)

Abstract:

Since 2009, cities such as Teheran , Cairo, Madrid, Barcelona and New York, to mention just a few, have witnessed majoruprisings against the established orders. David Harvey in his recent book Rebel Cities discusses the role of urbanin fomenting rebellious and revolutionary social movements. This talk willexplore major pillar of Harvey`s arguments. While approving his main arguments,I will also show that a major shortcoming of Harvey`s approach is the absenceof  attention to the role of knowledgeand knowledge workers in  the urban struggle.

Bio-Statement:

Jakob Rigi, Born in Iran, Baluchistan, has a BSc from Stockholm University and a PhD from London University (SOAS). He has been associate professor at Central European University, Budapest, since 2008. He was an assistant professor at Cornell University 2002-2008. He also taught at SOAS (London University). He has hold research fellowships from Edinburg University (2000-2001), New York University (2004). He has widely published on Kazakhstan and Russia. His major publication on Kazakhstan is Post-Soviet Chaos: Violence and the Dispossession in Kazakhstan (London: Pluto Press), translated into Turkish and published by İletişim. His current research focuses on the role of knowledge and internet in the transformation of space, time, society and culture.  

GAU Friday Seminars V: Computare | Architecture, Technology and Education

By: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şebnem Yalınay Çinici (Istanbul Bilgi University)

Abstract:

In contemporary world of design and education computation becomes one of the very hot topics of architectural debate. Computation is mostly understood with its affinity with mathematical understanding of world and numeric logic. But when we trace the meaning of the word to its etymological origin, there appears another way of thinking related with the word through 'settling things together'. If we further the word trace on mathematics, another layer of meaning on learning and teaching at the same time encounters us. And, when we try to understand computation in its relation with architecture and design, there emerges another body of knowledge that extends into the British avantgarde movement and discussions on "third culture". So, this lecture is an endeavor to further the discussion on computation and design through its hidden meanings and its misunderstandings by illustrating an approach on first year design education.

Bio-Statement:

Şebnem Yalınay Çinici graduated from Middle East Technical University (METU) Department of Architecture as B.Arch in 1989, where she took her M.Arch degree in 1991 and Ph.D. in 1999. She completed her Post-Doctorate Study at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, in 2001. She pursued her academic career at METU, Department of Architecture, from 1992 to 2006 and at Yildiz Technical University from 2006-2011. In 2003 she founded and initiated Digital Design Studio in the Undergraduate Program of METU, Department of Architecture. Her major field of research is architectural design, design education and design+production technologies. She has numerous national and international publications. She has been working as an Associate Professor and Head of Department in the Department of Architecture at Istanbul Bilgi University since 2011.

GAU Friday Seminars IV: Praxis: Can Architecture be Socially Responsible?

By: Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın (METU)

Abstract:

Urban and architectural utopias since the turn of the nineteenth century proves that "Praxis" is a purposeful act, in other words, it requires a certain degree of focused expectations for the sole purpose of securing long-term objectives. Second, contrary to the notion of "mediocrity", praxis calls for a creative act and sets forth the active participation of social agents as a must. Third, the primary factor in such processes is "reasoning" and the capacity to "reason". As such, our primary question should then revolve around if a new political  praxis is now possible within the verge of the twenty-first century; and in which capacity architecture can be socially responsible?

Bio-Statement:

Guven Arif Sargin is Professor of Architecture at the Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University (METU). Specialized on Urban and Environmental History and Theory (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990-1996) he currently teaches architectural and urban design and courses on “Politics and Space” and “Critical Urban Theories”. Sargin has been the recipient of METU Academic Excellence Award (2000 to 20011) and Mustafa Parlar Foundation Academic Excellence Award (2004). Among other extensive publications he is the editor of Nature as Space: (re)Understanding of Nature and Natural Environments (2000); Şevki Vanlı: Ideas and Designs (2001); Public Faces of Ankara: Theses on the Spatio-politics of the Capital City (2002); Hybrid Spaces (2004); and the author of The Environmental History of Turkish Modernism (forthcoming).