The contradiction between architecture&rsquo / s &ldquo / autonomy&rdquo / , its existence as an entity
with its own &ldquo / disciplinary specificity&rdquo / - and its social &ldquo / engagement&rdquo / , its
involvement in culture, ideology and economy, has been the subject of
numerous discussions in architectural discourse, initially in Europe and later in
North America. It is argued in this thesis that although &ldquo / autonomy&rdquo / and
&ldquo / engagement&rdquo / seem contradictory to each other, architecture&rsquo / s &ldquo / critical status&rdquo / is
rooted in this contradiction. Autonomy is regarded as one of the essential sides
of architecture&rsquo / s dual position. This suggests that the in-between, or in Stanford
Anderson&rsquo / s terms, &ldquo / quasi-autonomous&rdquo / status of architecture can only be
sustained through its existence as an entity that has a certain degree of
autonomy. Autonomy is an agent for architectural discourse to isolate
architecture from its involvement in the external reality and increase awareness
within the discipline by concentrating on its specific knowledge. Autonomy aids
architecture to pretend to be &ldquo / detached&rdquo / while in reality it is &ldquo / engaged&rdquo / . To
focus on the autonomous dimension of architecture, to search for architecture&rsquo / s
own intrinsic qualities, helps to produce knowledge within the discipline and
provides a &ldquo / critical distance&rdquo / for architecture to resist any &ldquo / external authority&rdquo / .
Thus this thesis intends to explore the potentials of the conceptualization and
problematization of &ldquo / autonomy&rdquo / in architecture and its employment as a critical
tool by architectural discourse to re-assess architectural practice. The private
house projects designed by Boran Ekinci in Turkey are exemplified and utilized
for the re-conceptualization of the term and enable the transfer of the discourse
related with autonomy to the local context where the issue hardly gained a
popularity. By doing so, both the appreciation of autonomy in general and reappreciation
of architecture in Turkey are aimed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605555/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 September 2004 |
| Creators | Gurbuzbalaban, Melis |
| Contributors | Savas, Aysen |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.Arch. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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