Architecture Beyond Construction

Abstract

The last decade of urban space-making practices in Turkey has been dominated by a construction frenzy caused by the neoliberal alignment of capitalist market forces and urban governments. Not unlike the current global architectural scene, the effect of this situation toward professional architectural practice in Turkey is twofold: On the one hand, architecture and design in general are becoming booming professions as creative forces of the construction industry that forms the core of the national economy. The job opportunities and commissions for practicing architects are proliferating, and the clientele profile has been expanding with national–international investors as well as the central and local governments promoting large-scale urban development projects. On the other hand, the architectural practice is so immensely dominated by the neoliberal policies focused on “building as a means for economic growth” that there is virtually no room for a professional discourse encompassing disciplinary ethics charged with social agenda, informed by spatial intelligence, formulated with public participation, aiming for the greater good. This paper aims to discuss the current state of the architectural profession and the practicing architect as a spatial intellectual in the globalized world, focusing mainly on the İstanbul experience and reflecting on the possibility of an architectural practice beyond the constraints of the construction industry. In the course of the paper, firstly a brief account on the condition of normative/conventional urban space-making practices at the age of neoliberal urban politics is given through the example of İstanbul. Then, a reflection upon the capabilities and capacities of the architectural profession in terms of producing alternative spatial practices is delved upon. Lastly, concluding remarks underlining the necessity for an architectural practice beyond construction are introduced.