METU talks Architectural History Lectures

METU Graduate Program in Architectural History organizes a series of talks on architectural history. The lectures aim to provide a ground of knowledge and discussion about current research on different study fields of architectural history. 

82. Senem Yıldırım "The Communal Room as a Zone of Artistic Experimentation: On Soviet Communal Housing and Moscow Nonconformist Art Scene Between 1975-1991" on 27th June 2022 @ Zoom.

81. Daira Nocera "Domitianic Architecture and traffic flow: the case studies of the Porticus Absidata and the Imperial Palace" on 23rd May 2022 @ Zoom.

80. Semra Horuz "From Empirical to Historical: Perception of Architecture in Late Ottoman Travelouges (1850-1910)" on 25th April 2022 @ Zoom.  

79. Onur Öztürk "Deconstructing the Myths of Islamic Art" on 7 March 2022 @ Zoom. 

78. Luka Zavagno "'The Visible City': History of Byzantine urbanism between 600 and 1204" on 24 January 2022 @ Zoom.

77. Görkem Kökdemir "Vitruvius ve Pseudodipteros Planlı Tapınaklar" on 10 January 2022 @ Zoom.

76. Irvin Cemil Shick "Space, Place, and Gender: A Framework for Studying the Harem" on 6 December 2021 @ Zoom.

75. Ceren Abi "Cultural Heritage during the First World War in the Ottoman Empire, a Multinational Perspective (1914-1918)" on 21 June 2021 @ Zoom.

74. Firuzan Melike Sümertaş "From Antiquarianism to Urban Archaeology:  "Old" Istanbul in the Nineteenth Century" on 31 May 2021 @ Zoom.

73. Selin Küçük and Tolga Uyar "Early Byzantine Secular Architecture at Mokissos (Viranşehir) and Building Traditions across the Anatolian Plateau" on 3 May 2021 @ Zoom.

72. Ömür Harmanşah, Alev Erkmen and Namık Erkal "Anıt, Tarih, Bellek" on 19 April 2021 @ Zoom.

71. Burak Erdim from NC State College of Design "The METU Revolution: Landed Internationals and the World Order" on 29 March 2021 @ Zoom.

70. Gizem Tongo from British Institute at Ankara “The Shadow of War: Memory, Identity, and the Great War in Turkey” on 8 March 2021 @ Zoom.

69. Suna Çağaptay from University of Cambridge “Becoming Bursa: The First Ottoman Capital Revisited” on 25 Jan 2021 @ Zoom.

68. Ufuk Soyöz from Kadir Has University “Once upon a time in Pergamon: Reality and Representation in the Hellenistic City” on 4 Jan 2021 @ Zoom.

67. Nilay Özlü from University of Oxford “Constructed, Demolished, and Forgotten: The Police Stations at the Topkapı Palace” on 14 Dec 2020 @ Zoom.

66. Ahmet Erdem Tozoğlu from AGU “Locals, Foreigners and the State: Contesting Interests of Agents in the Public Space of Dedeağaç Port during the Late Ottoman Period” on 9 Jan 2020 in Kubbealtı (DOME).

65. Nathan Leidholm from Bilkent University “ Persian King in Constantinople? Emperor Basil I and the Historical Memory of Ancient Persia in Byzantium” on 31 Oct 2019 in Kubbealtı (DOME).

64. Jorge Correia from University of Minho  “History, Heritage and Design: Urban Tales from El Jadida, Morocco” on 21 March 2019 in Kubbealtı (DOME).

63. Özge Yıldız from Harvard University “Music and Architecture in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: Caʿfer Efendi and His Risāle-i Mi‘māriyye” on 11 Dec 2018 in Kubbealtı (DOME).

62. Banu Pekol and Çağla Parlak from Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage “Architectural Heritage at Risk in Turkey” on 27 Nov 2018 in Kubbealtı (DOME).

61. İdil Üçer Karababa from İstanbul Bilgi University “Integration and Alienation of Nature in the Space Conception of Ancient Greek and Roman Sanctuaries” on 5 Nov 2018 in Kubbealtı (DOME).

60. Martina Becker from University of Michigan lectured on “The First National Style and the Contours of Art in the Late Ottoman Empire” on 3 April 2018 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

59. Yasemin İnce Güney from Balıkesir University lectured on “Language Paradigm in Architecture: Is it still on? Or, is it time for a new one?” on 26 Dec 2017 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

58. Bilge İmamoğlu from TED University lectured on “Architectural History and Architectural Education: The Profession and the Disciplinary Field” on 29 Nov 2017 Wednesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

57. Özge Öztekin from Hacettepe University lectured on “Şiir ve Mimari (II): XIX. Yüzyılda Yazılmış Divanlardaki Tarih Manzumelerinde Devrin Mimari Yapılarının İşlenişi” on 16 May 2017 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

56. Çağla Caner Yüksel from Başkent University lectured on “A Tale of Two Port Cities: Ayasoluk and Balat in the Principalities Period” on 9 May 2017 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

55. Nevzat Çevik from Akdeniz University lectured on “Likya Mimarlığının Ayak İzleri” on 4 May 2017 Thursday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

54. Muzaffer Özgüleş from Gaziantep University lectured on “Gülnuş Emetullah Sultan'ın İmar Faaliyetleri” on 3 May 2017 Wednesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

53. Ezgi Yavuz from Cyprus International University lectured on “Transcending the Uneven: Istanbul Complex of Retail Shops and the Collaboration of Arts & Architecture” on 18 April 2017 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

52. Ceren Katipoğlu from Çankaya University lectured on “Re-thinking 19th Century Ottoman Architecture through Ottoman Provincial Mosques” on 4 April 2017 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

51. Marco Bruno from Middle East Technical University lectured on “The Third Time” on 21 March 2017 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

50. Ekin Pınar, from Middle East Technical University lectured on “Between the Spectacular Site and Institutional Critique: Tacita Dean’s FILM (2011) at the Tate Modern” on 27 December 2016 Tuesday in Kubbealtı (DOME).

44. Cecilia Olovsdotter, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (May 03, 2016)  “Architecture in Late Roman and Early Byzantine Art (c. 300-800): Forms, Functions and Meanings”

43. Oya Şenyurt, Kocaeli Üniversitesi (April, 04, 2016) “Osmanlı Mimarisinin Temel İlkeleri: Resim ve İnşâ‘ Üzerinden Geliştirilen Farklı Bir Yaklaşım” 

42. Ufuk Soyöz, Istanbul Kemerburgaz Üniversitesi (March 24, 2016) “Teatrâl Önyargı: Eski Roma’da Kalıcı Tiyatro Binası İnşa Yasağı”

41. Şule Kılıç Yıldız, METU (March 22, 2016)  “The Former Shape of Konstantiniyye: The Byzantine Heritage of İstanbul Through the Eyes of Ottoman Intellectuals”

40. Ünal Araç, Hacettepe Üniversitesi (March 09, 2016) “Muşkara'dan Nevşehir'e: Bir Osmanlı Yerleşiminin Dâmâd İbrâhim Paşa’nın Bânîliğinde Kuruluş Öyküsü (1718-1730)”

39. Cinzia Tavernari, Abdullah Gül Üniversitesi (April, 16, 2015) "On the Road: Travel Architecture in the Near East from Late Antiquity to the End of the Middle Ages"

Spreading throughout the Mediterranean world, wayside inns have functioned for many centuries as sheltered stopovers that provided lodging and security to pilgrims, merchants and wanderers alike. The impressive diffusion of this institution clearly shows that wayside inns for several centuries have fulfilled a key role in society in relation to travel. Starting from the Byzantine period, the lecture will explore the development of the wayside inns in the Near East until the beginning of the XVI century, particularly focusing on the changes that the institutions experienced passing from the Byzantine to the Islamic period. Few examples of Byzantine or Early Islamic wayside inns have been preserved and, from the architectural point of view, the analysis will mainly take into consideration inns from the Ayyubid (1174-1260) and Mamluk (1260-1517) period. The lecture aims at investigating all the aspects dealing with the inns as buildings, from their function and facilities to their architectural characteristics and building techniques. These last two issues have been explored mainly employing the methods of building archaeology. These methods and their contri- bution to the study of travel architecture will also be presented. Building archaeology is a field of study at the intersection of different disciplines that has developed an advanced set of tools able to provide useful information to reconstruct the history of an edifice and that can benefit the conservation/restoration project.

38. Ji Suk Jung, F. Ö. Güven Ulusoy, Cemile F. Şengün, Buket E. Kocailli, Başak Şimşek, Berfu N. Demirbuga, Tomas Hartman, Elif Kaymaz, Gizem Güner, Burcu Tuncel, Fatma Kolsal (November, 25, 2015) "Students Talk on Architectural Historians"

37. Nigel Westbrook, University of Western Australia (March 26, 2013) "Reconstructing the Lost Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors at Constantinople"

36. Oya Atalay Franck, ZHAW, Switzerland (December 27, 2012) "Ernst Egli: Modernity and the Vernacular"

35. Can Bilsel, University of San Diego (November 8, 2012) "Antiquity on Display Regimes of the Authentic in Berlin's Pergamon Museum"

34. Paola Ardizzola, Antalya International University (December 9, 2013) "The Historiographical Methodology of Bruno Zevi"

33. B. Deniz Çalış, Bilgi University (October 15, 2012) "Italian and Ottoman Landscapes of Love and Imagination in the Early Modern Renaissance"

32. Davide Deriu, Westminster University (April 26, 2011) “The Journey to Ankara: ‘New Turkey’ in Western Imagination”

31. Paola Ardizzola, MusAA Museo Architettura Arte (October 21, 2011) “Bruno Taut’s Anti-Dogmatism in Turkey: The Path toward a Reconciliation between Tradition and Modernity)

30. Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu, Boğaziçi University (May 13, 2011) “Urban Imaginaries in the Early Modern Ottoman World: History and Spatiality in Representations of Istanbul”

29. Ömür Harmanşah, Brown University (April 19, 2011) “The Cultural Life of Caves: On Place and Performance at the Source of the Tigris”

28. Zeynep Kezer, Newcastle University (January 6, 2011) “Ankara at the Nexus: A Spatial History of International Politics”

27. Elif Keser-Kayaalp, Research Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford University (October 26, 2010) "Transition from Byzantium to Early Islam: Monasteries of Late Antique Northern Mesopotamia"

26. Ela Kaçel, Bahçesehir Üniversitesi (December 14, 2009) "This is not an American House:Practices and Criticisms of Common Sense Modernism in 1950s Turkey"

25. Göksun Akyürek, Gebze Yuksek Teknoloji Enstitusu, (November 17, 2009) "Reconstructing Knowledge: New Architectural Practices from Istanbul throughout the Tanzimat Era"

24. Burcu Erciyas, Emine Sökmen (April 17, 2009) "An Overview of Byzantine Period Settlements around Komana Pontika in North-Central Turkey"

23. Irene Giviashvili (April 1, 2009) "Introduction to Medieval Giorgian Architecture: Chronology and Typology"

22. Carmen Popescu, National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania (February 17, 2009) "Being Specific: Homo Balkanicus and the Revenge of the Good Savage"

21. Tugba Tanyeri-Erdemir, METU (December 17, 2008) “The Temple and The King: Urartian Ritual Spaces and Their Role in Royal Ideology“

20. Dieter Marcos, Koblenz University (November 25, 2008) “Revolving Modernity: Tradition and Novelty in Seljuk and Ottoman Architecture”

19. Alev Erkmen, Yildiz Technical University (November 21, 2008) “The (Architectural) Politics of Commemoration: Building Abdulhamid II's Silver Jubilee”

18. Matthias Schirren, Technische Universitat Kaiserslautern (October 17, 2008), “Architecture as Symbolic Form: Life and Work of Hans Poelzig”

17. Ufuk Serin (May 16, 2008), “Byzantine Ankara and the Transformation of the Temple of Rome and Augustus”

16. Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım (May 9, 2008), “The Ottoman Imperial Museum’s Excavation of an Islamic Site in Syria”

15. Mehmet Ali Ataç (April 28, 2008), “The ‘Edges of the Earth’ in Assyrian Imperial Monuments”

14. Meltem Gürel (April 14, 2008), “Bathroom as a Modern Space”

13. Burak Erdim (March24, 2008) “From Empire to Republic: Continuities of Ottoman Socio-Spatial Practices in the Modern Capital of the Early Turkish Republic”

12. Paolo Girardelli (May 14, 2007) “The Space of Diplomacy: Architecture and Power Balances in İstanbul, 1774-1919”

11. Paul Beelitz (March 20, 2007) “How a 19th Century System Benefits a 21st Century System at the American Museum of Natural History”

10. Ahmet Ersoy, Boğaziçi University (February 20, 2006) “In and Out of the Orientalist Genre: The Reconstruction of History in Osman Hamdi Bey’s Paintings”

9. Nancy Stieber (January 5, 2006) “The City Viewed from Above and Below”

8. Davide Deriu, METU (December 16, 2005) “‘Another and More Modern World’: The London Underground between History and Myth”

7. Hugh Elton (December 5, 2005) “Göksu Archeological Project 2002-2005”

6. Zeynep Yürekli Görkay (November 21, 2005) “Spolia in Ottoman Architecture: A Trademark of the Ghazis”

5. Nicholas Cahill (November 15, 2005) “Imperial temples and Worship in Sardis”

4. Cana Bilsel, METU (October 10, 2005) “Impressions from two Minoan Sites in Crete: Knossos and Phaistos”

3. Scott Redford (March 7, 2005) “Medieval Anatolia: ‘Christian’ and ‘Muslim’ in Konya”

2. Veronica Kalas, METU (February 25, 2005) “Rock-Cut Architecture from Byzantine Cappadocia: Mansions or Monasteries?”

1. Bülent Batuman, Binghamton University (December 15, 2004) “Subjects of Monumentality: Making Bourgeios Identity in Early Republican Ankara”