Tekeli-Sisa Architecture Practice from the 1960s to 2000: Construction of the Design Architect’s Professional Role in Modern Turkey PDF Download

Author: Meral Ekincioglu, Ph.D.
Publisher: ITU
ISBN:
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 6

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Tekeli-Sisa Architecture Practice from the 1960s to 2000: Construction of the Design Architect’s Professional Role in Modern Turkey Meral Ekincioglu, Ph.D. MIT, visiting scholar Columbia University, research scholar Harvard University, special Turkish fellow © 2011 Meral Ekincioglu, Ph.D. All rights reserved "With my special thanks to architecture historians, critics, archivists at Columbia and Harvard universities who kindly and generously helped me to clarify the essential research problem, hypothesis, theoretical foundation, research method of my Ph.D. Based on design's architect's creativity and (corporate and commercial) client's economic and commercial expectation in professional architectural practice, my Ph.D.'s aim was to examine "architecture as an art and profession" as my all e-mails show until the final process of my dissertation in Istanbul. In the final jury, jury members decided to "remove" the chapter of "architecture as an art" from my Ph.D. Based on my Ph.D. research at Harvard and Columbia universities, my dissertation was not open to public for three years (2012-2015) with official permission due to my book project. Architecture is a design-centered profession and a design architect operates in a social milieu organized around the market. In addition to individual interests, his or her practice demands close relation among the client, the building sector and other practitioners. It also indicates self-control of behaviour through codes of ethics and a systematic approach. In the meantime, this effort is important for the survival of a design architect’s practice in the competitive professional world. Dealing with these issues, this Ph.D. dissertation focused on Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice from the 1960s to 2000. Established by Doğan Tekeli and Sami Sisa in Istanbul in 1954, this leading design oriented architectural office of the country could accomplish a successful synthesis of their professional roles and creative architectural skills throughout their long careers. Although architectural offices have begun to increase in Turkey since the beginning of the 1950s, most of them could not survive in the private sector. However, Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice is still active with its young partners under the leadership of Doğan Tekeli. Based on this fact, the essential problem investigated by this Ph.D. dissertation is that Turkish architecture is still far from stimulating an in-depth academic analysis of design practitioners’ professional role and a constructive disciplinary debate on this issue. On the other hand, it should be indicated that there is no preexisting Ph.D. dissertation investigating the Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice with respect to the main problem and time period of this academic research. Concerning the increasing influences of the large-scale commissions in the private sector and the demand for clarification of a creative design architect’s professional position within this picture, it is time to bring together the academic milieu and the professional world in Turkey. Doğan Tekeli and Sami Sisa studied with some leading academicians, who were outstanding (individual) practitioners of the country. The education of these two modern pioneers is based on mostly practice-oriented issues with the understanding of rational problem solving. For them, the core issues of architectural design practice are function, structure, material and detail with the sense of creativity. On this basis, they have conducted design-centered architectural practice throughout their professional careers. In other words, architectural creativity and quality are their main principles. Instead of employment in the bureaucratic structure of the state, in the academic world or in an office of a well-known architect, they decided to establish their own design office in 1954 and tried to get large-scale commissions. Doğan Tekeli and Sami Sisa started their careers with architectural design competitions. Their success in this field helped these two modern pioneers make their names in the professional milieu through their creative design solutions. In this way, they could gain self-confidence in architecture and obtain their first large-scale projects before entering the professional world. Then, with the rising influence of the private sector in Turkey, this office could accomplish creating a distinctive philosophy of their practice. Maintaining their essential professional and creative principles, a distinguished office culture, original architectural ideas based on a rational function and structure solutions, a selective strategy in choosing the client and the project type, developments in the building sector and a collaborative act with participants of practice are their basic concerns. On the other hand, invitational architectural design competitions are still one of the important alternative ways for them to maintain their creative languages and obtain large-scale commissions. In this way, they could adapt their practice to new architectural design problems, complex architectural programs and innovative construction techniques in the professional world. With this understanding, their practice has never portrayed a bureaucratic or a single creative profile. On the other hand, their efforts go beyond any discourse, a stylistic approach or national ideology. For them, creative architectural design practice is a service and depends on the social milieu of the professional world. It can be claimed that one of the essential factors of Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice is the formulation of the client. Although the client’s unfamiliarity with architectural design practice is one of the important difficulties in Turkish architecture, Tekeli-Sisa have regarded this actor as a participant of their practice and helped them translate their expectations into reality without imposing an architectural ego. On the other hand, this office does not conduct client-dominated practice and maintain their architectural values. With this strategy, Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice has been able to achieve gaining the trust of their clients with professional integrity, codes of ethics and the quality of their buildings. Indeed, they are hired by their clients who seek unique solutions and high-level quality. In the meantime, a systematic approach and self-control are main principles of their architectural languages. In this way, they could complete over 180 big scale projects, more than 100 have been constructed and awarded over 60 architectural design competitions including 27 first prizes in spite of many unsuitable economic conditions and the lack of a professional understanding in the country. It is obvious that the survival of their creative architectural design practice indicates a new era in Turkish architecture and has opened up a new path for future generations in the professional world. With the rising influence of the private sector, it can be assumed that they have reconceptualized the design practitioner in Turkish architecture and crystallize his or her professional role. In light of this problem and argument, the following statements elaborate the objectives of this Ph.D. dissertation: ▪ to emphasize that architecture is a design-centered profession; ▪ to underline that a creative design practitioner has a professional role; ▪ to point out that this professional role demands a collaborative act and a systematic approach in the market; ▪ to draw attention how the design architect’s professional role has become clear in Turkey since the end of the 1960s; ▪ to indicate how this architectural community is still far from elaborating a design architect’s professional role with respect to the case of the Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice. As the research strategy and the method of this Ph.D. dissertation, the time period was limited and it was focused on some specific large-scale buildings designed and supervised by Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice for large-scale clients in the private sector. In order to better understand the problem, the period commencing from the end of the 1960s provides a fertile background. With the emerging conditions of the private sector, those years indicate the appearance of a professional spirit in Turkish architecture and its influence on the design practitioner’s architectural effort. As opposed to small-scale architectural buildings, these large-scale architectural programs and their distinctive design solutions intensively demand the design architect’s professional role. In this way, buildings investigated in this dissertation exemplify how a professional vision has been clarified in Turkey. Pursuing a chronological order, Chrysler Truck Assembly Plant, Lassa Tyre Factory, a bank and office building complex in Zincirlikuyu, Metrocity Shopping, Office and Residence Complex were investigated. In order to do this, first of all, the publications of this partnership and texts written by Doğan Tekeli were examined. As secondary textual resources, articles written by academicians, architecture historians and critics about the Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice were studied. Then, face to face semi structured interviews with Doğan Tekeli were conducted. These interviews provided the validity of findings obtained from textual readings and studies on buildings. Finally, it should be implied that the problem of this academic research was investigated from the point of view of the design architect. On the other hand, its findings can not be generalized for other design oriented architectural offices in Turkey. This analysis on the Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice can be helpful for future studies within the same field and provide some significant clues. Among these buildings, Chrysler Truck Assembly Plant is the first important large-scale commission of the Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice in the private sector. Realized in 1963-1964, this industrial building indicates a new mode of architectural design practice for Tekeli-Sisa. This period is characterized by a new aspect of market under the leadership of the USA after World War II. This new situation also changed the existing dynamics of the architecture profession in the country. With the growth of the business world and its influence on architectural service, the structure of the professional community became more heteregenous and the competition became more intensified. Considering former buildings designed and supervised by Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice, Chrysler decided to work with this office from among 61 architectural offices. Rational methods, engineering techniques and a professional culture were important issues for this new and international large-scale client. This new mode of practice consisted of a new kind of contract, a more technical organization with other experts, a new specification with respect to the new type of the client and a professional vision. On the other hand, new economic dynamics promoted the building sector in the country. In this way, this plant and its architectural solution underline how close relation among the client, the building sector, new engineering solutions and other practitioners became clear in Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice. As a response to the logic of mass production in the automotive sector, the spatial arrangement of the assembly hall and the original structural solution of this plant demanded a collaborative act with other experts in the sector. For instance, twin north light roof system spanning a single bay with regular trusses was an original solution designed by the Tekeli-Sisa and realized with the help of engineers. On the other hand, standardization and modular planning emphasize their systematic approach and a controlled language in the professional world. In conclusion, it can be assumed that Chrysler Truck Assembly Plant manifests not only new dynamics of architectural design practice but also its design practitioners’ professional role. The second building, Lassa Tyre Factory can be regarded as a further step after Chrysler Truck Assembly Plant. This building was completed in 1977, nominated and shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award in 1983. As Doğan Tekeli points out, they entered into the competitive professional world in a realistic manner with this industrial building. In order to offer a proposal, Sabancı Holding invited national architectural offices at the beginning of the project. Although Tekeli-Sisa did not take place among them, they made contact with the client and obtained this commission with respect to their former successful industrial buildings and professional visions in this field. In other words, this process shows how these two design architects could adapt their practice to the competitive dynamics of the market. On the other hand, the large-scale client’s evolving corporate culture and the building sector pushed Turkish design architect’s creative skills into a new professional milieu and material conditions. Although some foreign consultants helped with the technical issues of this project, its architectural concept, functional solution, the structural system and all prefabricated components were designed by Tekeli-Sisa. As one of the biggest industrial buildings of its period, only the production unit of this factory is 70.000 square meters. Using pre-tensioned thin roof plates, prefabricated beams, columns and prefabricated façade panels, it could be possible to cover 400 square meters in a day. In this way, all of this system was constructed in one and half years as a record in Turkey in those years. This building and its original solutions underline how new aspect of architectural design practice benefited from new opportunities of the building technology and demanded an interdisciplinary team. Tekeli-Sisa produced not only one of the most distinguished buildings of modern Turkish architecture but also positioned their design practice in new organizational capacity related to new economic dynamics, the building sector and construction techniques in the country. Taking all of these facts into account, it can be assumed that the Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice reached at a high-level of their professional skills through this factory. Unlike their former buildings, the bank and office building complex in Zincirlikuyu, Istanbul shows that Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice have begun to work under the commercial dynamics of the market. This new axis is characterized by the client’s speculative expectations and the purpose of profit from a building. In this period, Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice had begun to be recognized as a commercial instrument by different capital groups and stimulated by their fragmentary financial investments. Although the free market economy of these years had a potential to provoke commercial architecture, these two modern pioneers preferred an organizational discipline and the economic logic of space production. On the other hand, this building complex differentiates itself from industrial buildings in terms of the dialog between the design architect and the client. Although the general definitions of industrial building programs were stated clearer at the beginning of the design process, the main principles of these blocks were ambiguous. As Doğan Tekeli indicates, clients made contact with their office without clear architectural objectives. Instead of portraying a dominant architectural figure, they regarded their clients as a participant of the design process, acted as a team player and developed architectural solutions together. The design of the first building began in 1976 and the last block was completed in 1999. Although each block was built for different large-scale clients at different time periods, the general architectural language of this building complex represents an organizational and visual unity. The plans, sections and facades of these blocks show that Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice maintained their systematic perspectives and controlled languages. Using standardized building components and materials, they designed a grammar of modular combinations and could gather three blocks into a unified system. Without lowering the quality of the architectural space for profit, design practitioners preferred simplifying the program and maintained their rational and modern principles. In the meantime, they designed the perimeter structural system for the flexible office arrangement of the first office block and created a more distinctive aesthetic appearance than surrounding commercial buildings. Following its completion, this solution of the structure was used as the typical solution of many office blocks and buildings in Turkey. In conclusion, this complex can be seen as one of the early examples to examine the shift towards the client’s commercial interests in Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice. However, they have still maintained their main principles without being manipulated by his profit-oriented logic. Finally, Metrocity Shopping, Office and Residence Complex can be seen as another important turning point of the Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice. The design and production process of this building complex shows that the design architect’s practice has become an integral part of more competitive commercial milieu and global actors. Under these circumstances, design practitioners began to point out their inability to compete effectively in the market and counter attacks on their professional prestiges. The client of this mixed-use building complex is characterized by more intensified speculative goals and investment strategy guided by maximum profit. After buying the site of a project, they prepared a preliminary architectural program for this complex. In 1994, they organized an invitational competition. Although Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice won it, the client requested proposals from three American architecture offices, Kohn, Pederson and Fox, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Swanke Hayden Connell Architects. After a second evaluation, Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice got this commission and the project was started in 1997. As this process shows, the local design practitioners’ workforce and its protection against the internationalization of the market can be seen some important topics for these years. On the other hand, one of the critical issues of Metrocity was uncertainty inherent in the process due to the complexity of the architectural program, the client’s unclear perspective and the number of participants. Although many variations were made until the project was completed, participants’ flexibility, their professional vision and mutual esteem helped them solve problems and find acceptable solutions. For this mixed-use building complex, Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice dealt with a new architectural program bringing together different user groups and the complexity of urban dynamics. Covering 210.000 square meters, the Metrocity Shopping, Office and Residence Complex consists of a shopping mall, two 27 story residential blocks and one 23 story office block. In order to combine the functional solution and commercial expectations, every component of the architectural program, the needs of users, tenants and visitors, the client’s satisfaction would have to fit together. On this basis, the main design intention of this building complex was the combination of different functional requirements, interconnections of blocks and their structural solutions. Without ignoring the commercial reality of the complex, Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice maintained their clear language as much as possible and avoided the extravangant language of the commercial world. On the other hand, it is obvious that they had to adjust their practice to the demands of a large organization. In this way, the design architect’s management and coordination tasks among various groups of participants, a systematic approach have become more important in order to conduct their practice. Considering this fact, it seems necessary to reevaluate the design architect’s role within the commercial world, its basic requirements and critical issues in Turkey. In light of all these issues, a historical overview on design architects in the country, a literature review on Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice and interviews with Doğan Tekeli revealed that Turkey is still far from a detailed analysis of these practitioners’ professional roles in the market as related to the client’s changing profiles, changing parameters in professional service, general characteristics of main participants of architectural design practice and shifts in construction methods. In the meantime, in-depth studies on different types of architectural design offices, their current profiles and historical backgrounds can help to recognize the design practitioner’s professional role, predict future directions and critical topics in this field. On the other hand, the survival of Tekeli-Sisa architectural practice deserves particular attention. For Doğan Tekeli and Sami Sisa, architecture is not only a creative occupation but also a design-centered profession. Their successful design practice and its survival are based on a balance between their architectural values and the client’s expectations, their innovative technical solutions by using advanced building techniques, a selective strategy for client and project type, a distinctive office culture, professional integrity, a systematic approach and a high degree of self-control. Maintaining their architectural values, they did not conducted commercial practice for financial gain. With all of these issues, it can be claimed that Doğan Tekeli and Sami Sisa are two leading modern pioneers who redefined the design practitioner’s position in Turkey and clarified his or her professional role. It is obvious that the professional principles of this design oriented architectural office and its survival in spite of many unsuitable conditions deserve special attention not only in Turkey but also in the international architectural map. " For more: https://mit.academia.edu/MeralEkinciogluPhD https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Meral_Ekincioglu/research