“Indeed, architecture might be nothing more than turning the strangeness of all journeys into an art.”
Mark Wigley, “The Myth of the Local” in Architects’ Journeys: Building, Traveling, Thinking, eds. Craig Buckley and Polyanna Rhee, 2011.
The first and only physical instalment of the In Situ exhibitions started with a trip taken at the end of April 2017. The itinerary included Urfa and Antep alongside Mt Nemrut, starting from the cliffs of eastern Taurus mountains, passing the Euphrates river, and ending in the plains of Harran. This "voyage to the east" was so inspiring that it led to a graduate seminar within the context of Bilgi University Master’s Programs under the title ARCH 542 In Situ: Rethinking Site in Architecture. In that seminar, we discussed the impact of physical geography and the site on architectural thinking through the impressions of a short trip to the Harran Plain. This exhibition has its roots in the experience of the trip undertaken in May 2018 by a group of 12 graduate students and 10 architect/researchers who tagged along, seduced by the area.
Konya: Terra Sancta
We are currently collating our field notes and observations according to several research axes led by different participants of the 2023 Konya site trip. The 2023 itinerary has been transformed into an interpretive map and a series of sections; while photos, video and audio recordings are still being sorted, classified and partially exhibited on our website. An object series was inspired by this journey, and a botanical inventory is under construction. We are hoping for further collaborations with geologists, artists, architects, archeologists, and NGOs, along with a second site visit.
