Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2017): Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs

Oeuvre vs. Abstract Space: Appropriation of Gezi Park in Istanbul

Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri (Department of Architecture, Girne American University, Turkey)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Dec 2017

Abstract

The Gezi Park incidents of summer 2013 in Istanbul have marked a turning point in the political life and democracy in Turkey. The peaceful environmentalist protestations in central Gezi Park have turned into a countrywide upheaval against the neo-liberal and conservative policies of the government, pouring millions of people into streets in different cities. It was a time that Turkey witnessed the formation of a new type of public sphere that encompasses a variety of counter publics, and its spatial incarnation –the Gezi Commune-, reclaimed, created, shaped and inhabited by the free will of people. This was the instant creation of oeuvre through the appropriation of the urban space, and a spatial manifestation of reclaiming the right to the city. This article is a reflection on the possibility of creation of oeuvre in contemporary society, and a new way of architectural thinking and practice that can pave the way for it.

Copyrights © 2017






Journal Info

Abbrev

ijcua

Publisher

Subject

Description

The International Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs (IJCUA) is the interdisciplinary academic, refereed journal which publishes two times a year by Anglo-American Publications LLC. IJCUA brings together all the theories, manifestoes and methodologies on contemporary urban spaces to raise the ...