This text written at May, 2012.

“However, this morning the sun was the most provacative situation by not to rise. It was obvious that today is going to be tough.”

Is there an architecture everyone takes part in leaving their egos behind?

Even if we notice it or not, architecture gets involved in the city and in our lives. It turns into a phenomenon that assumes power on us. Architecture and a considerable part of the architects embody a power, and create an egocentric atmosphere around us. It establishes its own rules, develops its own language. Architecture; a practice one can get through to first hand if (S)he needs, and not recognized by 90% who are not aware of their needs of it.

People in architecture as a profession see the outside world as a place that should be put in order because despite the precious exceptions, doctrines are communicated as ironclad rules. Thus the ego boosts, they forget for whom they design, to whom they serve and prevent the others from participating by excluding them. Is architecture really this sacred and untouchable?

As we build our own realities, this power is a result of a building process too, it is an illusion balloon that the architecture and architects always keep inflated with their breath. We can fit everything in this balloon and justify it.  Such as, the construction of the governments their eminence through architecture, someone’s crazy decisions about the environment , who lives the “spirit” of architecture or the romantic discussions after the demolished buildings… In fact, wouldn’t the architecture be better by participation and the common mind?

"I know the best" quote of architecture, decides how people should live and what they should do. However the city changes everytime, as people do. How accurate can be to approach to the city by rational hard science methods? But  this kind of methods are favourite hobbies of architects with small pens relative to their own size.

Nowadays new projects are borning, building and speculating all around Istanbul. Some rebuild the old ones and raise public buildings emulating Seljuqi architecture. Some materialize a Venice illusion and go for public housing around a forgotten region of the city.  Architecture or architecture wannabe figures manifest themselves around or at the center of Haydarpasa Terminal or Emek movie theater or other buildings with similar properties. The city is in a dynamism all the time. Even we can see its physical borders on the map, the mental borders always changing and “the human” is getting the most important parameter in this change. Here, “the human” is not able to participate to the atmosphere of architectural spirit, s(he) becomes an inefficient actor, somewhere over there .

Even the people are the primary determinators in this dynamism, they are wanted away from the processes. Someone comes and tells “this spot is problematic” “we will regenerate this neighborhood” “we are demolishing here” or “you will move there”. Nobody asking questions. This silence without questions is going to be a perfect silence and it is supported by the people also the decision-makers. Anyone asks “how would you like to see here?”. On the other hand, a demanding argument is rarely occurring against to this.

To demolish this egocentric aura of architecture, everybody should ask questions, not only the architects, planners o decision-makers. We should demand responses, create new fractures and reveal the alternative ways. So we can discuss and criticize the wide boulevards of power,  erections of personal egos and the poorly built skyscrapers. Sometimes even though the architects act bona fide, the ego of this profession does not easily let go of them. If we could fight with this, beat ourselves and defeat that illusionary balloon, wouldn’t tomorrow morning  be more beautiful ?