About Arkitera Architecture Center

Arkitera Architecture Center is an independent center that has been dedicated to sustain a better
architectural practice, to raise the architectural quality in Turkey and to enhance the architectural culture.
Compared to other architecture centers of the world, Arkitera has a different structure. It is not supported
by any instutition or governmental body and thus is totally independent. The only income which supports
the projects are maintained by the sponsorship and advertisement revenues. The presence of multiple
sponsors preserve center’s independent and reliable character.

Arkitera Architecture Center has started its activities with its first online publication, arkiteracom, followed
by other publications and events. The center, has cooperated with many construction materials firms,
various institutions and universities in many events in tha past 6 years time. Arkitera Architecture Center
undertook a mission of being the single and foremost meeting platform for the physical environment and
urban problems in Turkey.

The growing number of employees in Arkitera Architecture Center has exceeded 30 in a very short
period of time. Since 2000, more than 60 architecture students from different universities have worked in
Arkitera Architecture Center as interns, which also makes the center as one of the main spots for young
architects to work at.

Arkitera Architecture Center has received “Award for Contribution to Architectural Education” of Turkish
Independent Architects Association in 2004, regarding its accomplishments until that date.

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Online Publications

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arkiteracom
arkiteracom is the official online publication of Arkitera Architecture Center. It has started its online
presence in October 2000 as the first online publication on architecture and construction industry in
Turkey. arkiteracom is also followed by many professionals, academics and students from overseas.

All recent news from local and the international sources, industry oriented organizations, national and
international competitions, art news and exhibitions, recently designed or built projects, latest products,
new publications and various events may be counted among the subjects that shape arkiteracom’s
content.

Currently arkiteracom is the leading and most followed architectural publication in Turkey, with a total
number of visitors greater than the sum of all Turkish architectural magazines and other online
publications. Every month, arkiteracom accepts more than 65,000 visitors of which they view more than
1,500,000 pages per month free of charge.

www.arkitera.com

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Arkitera News Bulletins
The weekly News Bulletin, summarized from the previous week’s contents of arkiteracom, is regularly
sent to its subscribers since February 2001. It is a good source for the ones who cannot follow the
agenda during the week in busy business days. The news bulletin of arkiteracom has now over 50.000
regular subscribers. They are also receiving the monthly product update e-bulletins which are formed by
new construction materials’ information.

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arkiteraforum
arkiteraforum is one of the most important sections that highlight the interactive structure of
arkiteracom. Everyone on this democratic discussion platform is welcomed to share his/her opinions
with other members. The topics consist of not only architecture and urbanism, but other fields of design,
as well. The forum is one of the largest online discussion platforms on architecture in the world as well
with more than 13.000 members and over 50.000 topics.

forum.arkitera.com

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Arkitera Architecture Database (AMV)

Arkitera Architecture Database (AMV), is an easily accessible digital architecture archive which aims to
collect all architectural products and activities in Turkey. The preparations have started in March 2001
and the archive became accessible on October 2003. The English version helped to carry the database
into an international level in May 2004.

In order to determine the structure and principals of AMV, an independent scientific advisory board is
formed. This board consists of architects who are counted as authorities in their specific areas.

AMV records consists of architects’ profiles, architectural offices, project informations, competitions,
awards, activities, publications and essays listed in a relational structure according to many parameters,
such as geographical location, alphabetical order or chronology. Every new “data” that’s been added to
AMV brings many information related to itself which in result creates a digital memory of the architectural
environment of Turkey.

www.amv.arkitera.com

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Printed Publications

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RAF Product Magazine
RAF is a magazine, which aims to introduce new materials and systems in the construction industry. It is
a bi-monthly publication which is sent to architects in Turkey free of charge. All of the pages are
designed and published with advertorials from various new materials and products. The covers of each
issue is designed by different well known architects and designers. This new concept of magazine,
brought a fresh view for the architects who are one of the most important roleplayers of the construction
industry. The magazine is also supported with a website, where architects can search or request more
detailed product information.

raf.arkitera.com

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BETONART Magazine
BETONART magazine, owned by Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TCMA), is a publication
that Arkitera Architecture Center is responsible for its content and design.

BETONART, published in 3 month-periods, aims to expose successful examples of the use of concrete
architectural projects. It is a well-qualified architecture magazine that publishes contemporary examples
of local and international architecture scene, avoids becoming a material or industrial magazine. In every
issue, the main chapters have seperate local and international editors.

www.betonart.com.tr

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Events

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ARKIMEET
ARKIMEET is a series of lectures in which internationally acclaimed architects are invited to Istanbul,
Turkey to share their recent works and thoughts on architecture with Turkish architects, scholars and
students. More than 20 internationally well know architects and designers have been hosted in Istanbul
until now. These meetings have an important mission by linking the national and international
architecture setting and bringing the international debate platform to Turkey. The participation level to
the conferences is quite high and thousands of students and professionals from all over Turkey show
great interest into these lectures. Participation to the conferences is free-of-charge by the web-based
registration system. International cultural exchange is achieved by maintaining close relations with
consulates and foreign institutions while organizing ARKIMEET lectures.

In 2006 these lectures branched into a secondary level, where some of the lectures are organized in
collaboration with the Graduate School of Architecture in Bilgi University. These collaborative lectures
are named as ARKIMEET at BILGI.

Apart from ARKIMEET lectures, Arkitera Architecture Center initiated a lecture series devoted to
designers around the world. These lectures, called DESIGNMEET, started with the lecture of Gijs Bakker
of Droog Design in 2005.

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International Guest of Lecture Series

2003 March Wolf Prix, Coop Himmelb(l)au (Austria)

2003 November Dominique Perrault (France)
2004 February Massimiliano Fuksas (Italy)
2004 March Adriaan Geuze, West 8 (The Netherlands)
2004 April Willem Jan Neutelings, Neutelings Riedijk (The Netherlands)
2004 April Francine Houben, Mecanoo (The Netherlands)
2004 April Ben Van Berkel, UN Studio (The Netherlands)
2004 May Luis Mansilla-Emilio Tuñón, Mansilla+Tuñón Arquitectos (Spain)
2004 October Matthias Sauerbruch, Sauerbruch Hutton Architects (Germany)
2004 October Enrique Norton, TEN Arquitectos (Mexico)
2005 May Rem Koolhaas, OMA (The Netherlands)
2005 September Gijs Bakker, Droog Design (The Netherlands) DESIGNMEET Lecture
2005 October Christoph Ingenhoven, Ingenhoven und Partners (Germany)
2005 November Alberto Campo Baeza (Spain) (İn collaboration with Betonart Magazine)
2005 November Daniel Libeskind (USA)
2006 May Kees Christiaanse, KCAP (The Netherlands)
2006 May Thom Mayne, Morphosis (USA)
2006 May Paulo Mendes da Rocha, (Brazil)
2006 November Alejandro Zaera-Polo, FOA (United Kingdom)
2006 November Bjarke Ingels, BIG (Denmark)
2006 December Jacob van Rijs, MVRDV (The Netherlands)
2007 February Eduardo Souto de Moura, (Portugal)
2007 March Axel Schultes, (Germany)
2007 November Bolles-Wilson, (Germany)
2007 December Baumschlager Eberle (Austria)

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arkiteraplatform discussion panels

arkiteraplatform is the series of discussion panels, where at the end of the month, the discussions that
have started in Arkitera Forum, are being moved to pyhsical space in order to be considered at length by
experts. The discussed issues have the quality of a source for the ones that are interested in the subject,
also. Academicians, architects and experts from different disciplines with different opinions, with the
support of the audience have ensured that the subject is handled with all dimensions in these meetings.

Some topics from the arkiteraplatform panels

2002
• The Changing Face of Architectural
Offices
• The Changing Face of Residential Areas
• The Changing Face of Employers
• The Changing Face of Architectural
Education
2004-2005
• Where does Architecture stand within
Urbanisation?
Arkitera Architecture Center planned to
spread informational exchange to wider
geographies in 2004-2005 period. The
modernizations of Turkish cities in the last
five decades are discussed, in Diyarbakır,
Antalya, Ankara, Bursa, Eskişehir, Trabzon,
İzmir, Adana, and İstanbul.
2003
• Architectural Publication
• Daily Press and Architecture
• Law of Architectural Profession
• Public Dialog on Architecture and NGO’s
• Local Governments and Architecture
• Building Materials and Architecture
• The Earthquake Problem and Architecture
• The Problem of Preservation
• Globalization and Architecture
• The Problem of Imitation in Architecture
2006
New openings for young architects
• Architect as a student of master of architecture
degree
• Openning an architectural office
• Being an architect in real estate industry
• Working with a master
• Architect as the scholar
• Architect as the editor
• Architect as the interdisciplinary artist

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arkiteradiyalog

Arkitera Diyalog which is launched as an online event in 2001, brings together the architects and
designers from all over the Turkey for debates on various topics. The meetings took place in
arkiteraforum as an online discussion where the guests answered the questions that were directed to
them in two weeks period.

Professionals working in the fields of architecture, urbanism, art and design were invited to share their
knowledge and experience in those online meetings, which gave the contributers to interact with the
guest without the restrictions of time and place.

Poster of arkiteradiyalog 2004 online meetings

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Istanbul Architecture Festival

First International Istanbul Architecture Festival was organized in October 2004. The festival which was
curated by Aykut Köksal, took place on 4-9 October 2004 and hosted various architectural meetings,
lectures, exhibitons and workshops and attracted more than 6000 visitors in 6 days.

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International Istanbul Architecture Biennale

First International İstanbul Architecture Festival had a huge impact on the architecture setting in Turkey,
and thus Arkitera Architecture Center decided to transform this event into a biennale that will last for a
longer period of time and attract more visitors both nationally and internationally.

The theme of the first biennale is “Water and Asphalt” and it is curated by İhsan Bilgin and Nevzat Sayın.
Biennale will be realized in fall 2007. Currently 300 participants applied to be a part of the biennale both
from Turkey and abroad. 20,000 visitors are expected during the biennale. The Biennale is also included
in the programme of the 2010 European Capital of Culture.

Radio Programs on Architecture

“Bir Bölü Bir” (One to One) radio programme has been broadcasted in Open Radio (Acik Radio) every
Monday at 15:30 which is prepared and presented by Arkitera Architecture Center. In the programme,
directors of the center have a guest every week for a small conversation on a specific topic on
architecture. The programme has started to be broadcasted in October 2002 and continued for two
years.

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Awards & Competitions

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Arkitera Young Architect Award
Arkitera Young Architect Award was presented for the first time in 2004. The bi-annual award aims to
promote emerging architects with works of a certain quality and to establish a setting to evaluate their
works. The Arkitera Young Architect Award, is the first award rewarded to the architects under 40 years
old in Turkey, where its alikes exist in various countries in the world.

The award is given to the architect by evaluating the overall architectural portfolio of the candidates. The
works of the winning architect(s) are compiled in a book and a travelling exhbition is organized. Arkitera
Architecture Award jury consists of independent architects and the previous winner of the award

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Arkitera Client Award
“Arkitera Client Award” aims to honour the clients who support the production of architectural projects of
certain quality. The first Client Award of Turkey is presented in 2005 and planned to be presented bi-
annualy.

Besides financing the projects, the clients should also take part and responsibility in the evolution of a
healthier environment and should be triggering ideas that lead to good design with their innovative
visions and demands. Well-qualified architectural products result from the collaboration of designer’s
talent and the “demander”. Considering the contribution of the clients to the construction of buildings,
client awards are awarded in several countries for years to support the production of better architectural
projects.

In Turkey, the award is given in two categories: “Private Client” and “Public Client”. The award is
presented to a client, a person or association, on behalf of the projects nominated. The architect of the
building, is also awarded with an honorary plaquette. Buildings, building complexes, engineering
structures, interior design and open space practices are also in the scope of the award. The buildings are
selected by nomination and the Arkitera Client Award Committee decide on the clients who deserve to be
awarded in “public” and “private” sectors. The selection committee is changed in every cycle and it is
formed by well known figures in the architectural community.

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UIA 2005 Istanbul Congress
International Logo Design Competition
The XXII. UIA Congress hosted architects coming from all over the world in Istanbul in July 2005.
In the preperation process of this congress, a logo competition was opened by Turkish Chamber
of Architects with the support of Union of International Architects (UIA) in 2003.

The competition for the logo that would present the identity of such a congress was a “first”in
many aspects. All the process starting from registration to publication of the logos and the jury
votings were held over the internet. The realization of this system, the website design and
programming are organized by Arkitera Architecture Center.

1,758 competitors from all over the world participated to the logo competition which ended on
9 May 2003. A total of 790 logos were submitted.

1st Prize: Andreas Uebele, Graphic Designer, Stuttgart

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Concrete Awards in Architecture
Arkitera Architecture Center, gives consultancy to Turkish Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (THBB) on
producing new projects that will enhance the development of architectural quality. As a result of this
consultancy service, THBB Architecture Awards were developed in order to encourage the profound
usage of concrete.

The award is mainly for concrete buildings, building groups, engineering structures, interior space
applications or urban design. THBB Architecture Award is given to projects, which highlight concrete in
their design and are built in the last 5 years.

The Award Ceremony was held on 10 June 2004 in Concrete Fair 2004.

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Exhibitions

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“Two German Architectures 1949-1989”

One of the most important exhibitions of UIA 2005 İstanbul

Congress, “Two German Architectures 1949-1989” is realized in
collaboration with Istanbul Goethe Institute and IFA.

After the lecture given by the curator Hartmut Frank, the

inauguration of the exhibition took place in the Habitat Hall of
Architecture Faculty of İTÜ. In the exhibition, where it was targeted
to display the architectural products of the era between the Second World War and the unification of the
two German governments, the curators Hartmut Frank and Simone Hein considered the country as a
whole and prepared a retrospective exhibition accordingly.

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“From Futurism to the Possible Future in
Contemporary Italian Architecture”

One of the most comprehensive exhibition in UIA 2005 İstanbul

Congress, the inauguration of the Exhibition of “From Futurism to
the Possible Future in Contemporary Italian Architecture”, was
realized in Tophane-i Amire on 5 July 2005. The exhibition is
realized by Italian Cultural Center, CNAPP (National Council of
Architects, Planners, Landscapists and Curators), Mimar Sinan
Fine Arts University, and Arkitera Architecture Center.

The exhibition targets to show the different aspects and expressions of Italian architecture in the 1900's.
Apart from that it also targets to display Italian culture, lifestyle and thinking methods from the
perspective of architecture.

500 visitors attended the inauguration of the exhibition, including models, a film strip on Italian
landscapes and 65 architectural works.

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“Campo Baeza, Light is More”

As one of the closing events of UIA 2005 İstanbul Congress, the

exhibition of “Campo Baeza, Light is More” is realized by The
Ministry of Housing of Spain, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of
Turkey, and Arkitera Architecture Center. The exhibition is curated
by Manuel Blanco from Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid. The
inaugariton took place in St. Irene Church on 7 July 2005 with the
participation of The Minister of Housing of Spain, Maria Antonia
Trujillo, and The Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Atilla
Koç.

Although the exhibition was about the projects of a single Spanish

architect, it in fact brought a contemporary section of Spanish
architecture into light.

50 visitors who registered online had the chance of attending the guided tour with the curator Manuel
Blanco and the architect Alberto Campo Baeza.

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Young Architect Award 2004

Bogachan Dundaralp, Kerem Erginoglu-Hasan Calislar, and Hilmi Guner-Huseyin Butuner were granted
Young Architect Award in 2004. The architects received their awards on October 4, 2004.

The exhibition consisting of the projects of the architects who were granted the Young Architect Award
was first opened in the First Istanbul Architecture Festival and then traveled to Diyarbakir, Antalya,
Ankara, Bursa, Eskisehir, Trabzon, Izmir, Adana, and Istanbul respectively.

After traveling to 9 cities in a period of 8 months, the exhibition is prepared in English to be on display in
July, 2005 within the events of UIA 2005 Istanbul Congress.

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International Relations

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International Relations

Arkitera Architecture Center is in contact with similar institutions abroad in various international activities.
The international memberships and related institutions of Arkitera are as follows:

• GAUDI Network (Governance, • Center for Architecture, New York

Architecture and Urbanism as
Democratic Interaction) membership
• ICAM membership
• ICAM-med founding member
• EUROPAN secretary of Turkey
• Mies van der Rohe Foundation
• Pritzker Prize – Hyatt Foundation
• Aga Khan Architectural Award
• Netherlands Architecture Institute
• Consulate of Netherlands in Istanbul
• Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
(Foreign Relations Institute of Germany)
• Ministry of Housing of Spain
• Italian Cultural Center of Istanbul
• Goethe Institute Istanbul
• Architektur Zentrum Wien
• DOCOMOMO

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ICAM Membership

Arkitera Architecture Center is a member of ICAM (International Centre for Architectural Musems)
since September 2004. ICAM is an international organization that shelters architecture museums
and related institutions under its roof. The objective of this organization is to establish
international connections and to ensure continuity among them.

As a new member of ICAM, Arkitera Architecture Center participated into the 12th ICAM
Conference that was held on 18-23 September 2004 in Venice and made a presentation about
Arkitera Architecture Center.

ICAM-Med
ICAM Mediterranean is a special working group formed by the members of the ICAM organization who
are located in the Mediterrenean area. ICAM Mediterranean First Regional Meeting , which is organized
by Arkitera Architecture Center with the support of
DARDUS- Universita Politecnica delle Marche, aims to organize a professional network of architectural
archives, centres, museums and schools to share research, exhibitions, publications; to promote
preservation and the better understanding of architectural heritage.

ICAM Mediterranean First Regional Meeting is realized in 06-08 October 2005

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EUROPAN National Secretary of Turkey
EUROPAN's objective is to assist the young architects of Europe in developing their ideas and
disseminating them on strategic sites proposed by municipalities or developers. The general topic of
EUROPAN, European urbanity, answers to a demand of European citizens. “Urbanity” is a common way
of living the city but also a will to reflect upon the heterogeneity of its forms related to the diversity of
uses, and to create public spaces to favour encounters among people in places they share.

After several meetings held with EUROPAN General Secretary in Paris, concrete efforts were made to
initiate Turkey’s membership to EUROPAN Competition. The organization commitee had a consensus
on accepting Turkey’s membership on 11 September 2004.

EUROPAN organization has two representatives on national level and one of them is the national
secretariat. This task is carried out by Arkitera Architecture Center. The national committee which is the
second represantative, is responsible for the decisions made on a national level. Turkey participated into
the Europan 8 competition with 2 sites (Antalya, İstanbul).

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