There is a slight chance that my girlfriend will attend studies in Istanbul next year. So as an Architect from Denmark I was wondering how it is to work there? I hear all these amazing things about the city and its rich culture.. but how is it to really live there? Is the salary ok for architects? me myself with a 3 year professional background . And what firms would you recommend? I have currently been able to find these firms;
Orhan: "I really feel Superpool is the microcosm of the new and inventive practices will be seeing more of and that eventually will host the change in profession everybody talks about."
it would be interesting to know now (after 3.5 years) whether your feeling for change has been substantiated or is in the process thereof :o)
tammuz, I think globally the changes I was visualizing is still in their development, in the process as you called it. No doubt they were mainly triggered by the economic downturn forcing young practices develop by the way of discourse rather than commerce bend profession. They can be summarized as finding alliances, platforms of sorts, advocative stances for contentious positions surrounding the urban issues, an architecture of socio-political bend. I admit I don't follow Selva and Gregers' Superpool closely but from what I get from browsing Turkish scene and occasionally writing for Arkitera, their practice is starting to bear fruits from this type of platform based existence. I often see them involved with local biennales, exhibitions, installations and such. These type of practices are definitely needed and appreciated in Istanbul. As George Brugmans of IABR put out the word that Istanbul is one of the fastest developing megalopolises in the world, one of the oldest and the newest in the same time.
Certainly there are tons of building architects and their developer clients but in my opinion critical practices are more needed to keep things in line.
I don't really know the answer to your question per se but certainly platform based and activist practices have arrived to a critical momentum in Turkey where there are no shortages of urban engagement from all directions and things to fight for, lose or win. Very different context and drive than North America with dozens of national newspapers and news hubs, political and social parties, communities, economic interests and voices circulating the cities which are in the process of transformation and the rules are made dynamically. As frustrating as it might be there for the fights lost, battle is not concluded and far from it. Exciting place to be an architect and I think they know it..
Thank you for the links, I actually read them before I posted this thread and of course they gave me a good picture of the current scene in Istanbul and I find it very exciting. But since I haven´t found any practical information anywhere about salary, visa, apartment rent etc I thought someone in here could help me since I have no idea whatsoever about these things. Is there even any chance of getting a job if you don´t speak Turkish and are offices hiring at the moment? I read somwhere that the salary is from 1000 to 6000 turkish lira?
So if you could provide me information about salary, working conditions and housing I would be very appreciative.
I have only been to Istanbul once and found it a very energetic and robust city..and very crowded but, in spite of that, to my eyes it is not on the verge of possible chaos as suggested by George Brugman in your interview . i'm no scholar but i suspect he's looking at it from a generically biased viewpoint. but this need not of course contradict the need to expand intelligently and sustainably. he could, maybe should not have crossed the sustainability boundary. (who knows, perhaps Nigeria is a much more sustainable country than UAE. they recycle material, no? anyway, was it not such western-centric satellites who inculcated rubrics of modernism to outposts around the world that were not ready for such an assimilation and choked up these systems? )
in fact, what is rather suprising about Istanbul for me is how it could be so robustly held together given that density of population. it belies a certain sense of discipline (or at least persistence) that i find in many other aspects, say for instance in the crafts industry.
the reason why i asked the question is that i find that your article on Supercool contains a contradiction of sorts and it would be interesting to see which side (at least, short term) history sided on. on one hand, you suggested that such start-ups are conducive (and therefore, to y mind, normative) to the (3.5 year dated) present scheme of things turkish..and on the other, that such startups are promises of some change to the architectural practice yet to come.
i suspect the first suggestion is more valid and the latter is a bit of literary hyperbole :o)
such multi-culti/young start-ups were starting to be common in the UK and Holland and elsewhere in europe and elsewhere well before the crisis. perhaps it is , more specifically,the contrast with the US scene that you are/were taken aback by? with all my respect, i find other possible places of contradiction that puzzle me. you had subliminally expressed your criticism of OMA (as a memory stick) and yet you do not levy this same criticism against their (in fact, you condone them) turko-danish outgrowth/x-students who actually seem to practice in pretty much the same unabashed modernist way - seeing the site opportunistically and not traditionally or historically (i am not criticizing this outlook in itself but rather puzzled by yours). in fact, you seem to revel at the prospect of this being the future.
Orhan, I don't mean to offend, I hope thats clear. but it would be interesting to iron some ideas out.
Istanbul is one of the coolest cities you can ever visit. Culture - amazing, people - amazing, architecture - amazing, food - amazing, everything, amazing! :D
You're moving in with your GF??? lol - just kidding.
eldvatn, I am sorry but I would be no accurate information value to you on those questions. There are a lot of architects in Turkey, I would think the job market is very competitive but they are building a lot as well.
tammuz, such practices invest in educational areas. And, that translates to influencing a whole generation of younger architects. I don't really see superpool as a multi culti generalization but as a normal couple.
I don't have the higher degrees of perplexity you usually seem to have. My ideas and opinions on things are reasonably changeable and I take advantage from that kind of elastic and developmental thinking and visualizing. But don't make me go back and read the interview again.;.)) If I am seemingly contradictory, it might be based on the different context or background. So be it. I am critical of things case by case but that does not mean I haven't some defining positions. I don't like to write in an ultra careful state of mind to be correct but in series of thought streams to remain excited and alive..
Okay, that's enough. This is getting into writing about how I write, trade talk etc..
Btw, I am not offended at all. Even you get sloppy sometimes and I can call out some of your funny contradictions in italics but I will go listen some Turkish jazz music in you tube now, forgive me.;.)
Hey Orhan, I am not sure If you were aware of this but the february issue of A+U covered 30 Architectural studios in Istanbul! check this link out, great peice of information and great projects!
Istanbul
There is a slight chance that my girlfriend will attend studies in Istanbul next year. So as an Architect from Denmark I was wondering how it is to work there? I hear all these amazing things about the city and its rich culture.. but how is it to really live there? Is the salary ok for architects? me myself with a 3 year professional background . And what firms would you recommend? I have currently been able to find these firms;
EMRE AROLAT ARCHITECTS
Uras×Dilekci
Tabanlioglu Architects
Erginoğlu & Çalışlar Architects
Superpool
GAD
TEGET
and Henning Larsen just opened an office there in November last year.
Thanks and hope anyone can help me out,
your archinect search for istanbul resulted in 293 matches.
More specifically:
UpStarts: SUPERPOOL
ISTANBUL ISTANBUL
Orhan: "I really feel Superpool is the microcosm of the new and inventive practices will be seeing more of and that eventually will host the change in profession everybody talks about."
it would be interesting to know now (after 3.5 years) whether your feeling for change has been substantiated or is in the process thereof :o)
tammuz, I think globally the changes I was visualizing is still in their development, in the process as you called it. No doubt they were mainly triggered by the economic downturn forcing young practices develop by the way of discourse rather than commerce bend profession. They can be summarized as finding alliances, platforms of sorts, advocative stances for contentious positions surrounding the urban issues, an architecture of socio-political bend. I admit I don't follow Selva and Gregers' Superpool closely but from what I get from browsing Turkish scene and occasionally writing for Arkitera, their practice is starting to bear fruits from this type of platform based existence. I often see them involved with local biennales, exhibitions, installations and such. These type of practices are definitely needed and appreciated in Istanbul. As George Brugmans of IABR put out the word that Istanbul is one of the fastest developing megalopolises in the world, one of the oldest and the newest in the same time.
Certainly there are tons of building architects and their developer clients but in my opinion critical practices are more needed to keep things in line.
I don't really know the answer to your question per se but certainly platform based and activist practices have arrived to a critical momentum in Turkey where there are no shortages of urban engagement from all directions and things to fight for, lose or win. Very different context and drive than North America with dozens of national newspapers and news hubs, political and social parties, communities, economic interests and voices circulating the cities which are in the process of transformation and the rules are made dynamically. As frustrating as it might be there for the fights lost, battle is not concluded and far from it. Exciting place to be an architect and I think they know it..
Hi Orhan,
Thank you for the links, I actually read them before I posted this thread and of course they gave me a good picture of the current scene in Istanbul and I find it very exciting. But since I haven´t found any practical information anywhere about salary, visa, apartment rent etc I thought someone in here could help me since I have no idea whatsoever about these things. Is there even any chance of getting a job if you don´t speak Turkish and are offices hiring at the moment? I read somwhere that the salary is from 1000 to 6000 turkish lira?
So if you could provide me information about salary, working conditions and housing I would be very appreciative.
Thankyou again.
thanks for answering Orhan.
I have only been to Istanbul once and found it a very energetic and robust city..and very crowded but, in spite of that, to my eyes it is not on the verge of possible chaos as suggested by George Brugman in your interview . i'm no scholar but i suspect he's looking at it from a generically biased viewpoint. but this need not of course contradict the need to expand intelligently and sustainably. he could, maybe should not have crossed the sustainability boundary. (who knows, perhaps Nigeria is a much more sustainable country than UAE. they recycle material, no? anyway, was it not such western-centric satellites who inculcated rubrics of modernism to outposts around the world that were not ready for such an assimilation and choked up these systems? )
in fact, what is rather suprising about Istanbul for me is how it could be so robustly held together given that density of population. it belies a certain sense of discipline (or at least persistence) that i find in many other aspects, say for instance in the crafts industry.
the reason why i asked the question is that i find that your article on Supercool contains a contradiction of sorts and it would be interesting to see which side (at least, short term) history sided on. on one hand, you suggested that such start-ups are conducive (and therefore, to y mind, normative) to the (3.5 year dated) present scheme of things turkish..and on the other, that such startups are promises of some change to the architectural practice yet to come.
i suspect the first suggestion is more valid and the latter is a bit of literary hyperbole :o)
such multi-culti/young start-ups were starting to be common in the UK and Holland and elsewhere in europe and elsewhere well before the crisis. perhaps it is , more specifically,the contrast with the US scene that you are/were taken aback by? with all my respect, i find other possible places of contradiction that puzzle me. you had subliminally expressed your criticism of OMA (as a memory stick) and yet you do not levy this same criticism against their (in fact, you condone them) turko-danish outgrowth/x-students who actually seem to practice in pretty much the same unabashed modernist way - seeing the site opportunistically and not traditionally or historically (i am not criticizing this outlook in itself but rather puzzled by yours). in fact, you seem to revel at the prospect of this being the future.
Orhan, I don't mean to offend, I hope thats clear. but it would be interesting to iron some ideas out.
Istanbul is one of the coolest cities you can ever visit. Culture - amazing, people - amazing, architecture - amazing, food - amazing, everything, amazing! :D
You're moving in with your GF??? lol - just kidding.
Istanbul is not Constantinople. Or so I'm told.
eldvatn, I am sorry but I would be no accurate information value to you on those questions. There are a lot of architects in Turkey, I would think the job market is very competitive but they are building a lot as well.
tammuz, such practices invest in educational areas. And, that translates to influencing a whole generation of younger architects. I don't really see superpool as a multi culti generalization but as a normal couple.
I don't have the higher degrees of perplexity you usually seem to have. My ideas and opinions on things are reasonably changeable and I take advantage from that kind of elastic and developmental thinking and visualizing. But don't make me go back and read the interview again.;.)) If I am seemingly contradictory, it might be based on the different context or background. So be it. I am critical of things case by case but that does not mean I haven't some defining positions. I don't like to write in an ultra careful state of mind to be correct but in series of thought streams to remain excited and alive..
Okay, that's enough. This is getting into writing about how I write, trade talk etc..
Btw, I am not offended at all. Even you get sloppy sometimes and I can call out some of your funny contradictions in italics but I will go listen some Turkish jazz music in you tube now, forgive me.;.)
Thankyou Orhan, and also for an interesting discussion, @gwharton, haha yeah with my awesome g friend ;)
Hey Orhan, I am not sure If you were aware of this but the february issue of A+U covered 30 Architectural studios in Istanbul! check this link out, great peice of information and great projects!
https://www.japlusu.com/shop/product/au-201303
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