#OccupyGezi Architecture by Herkes Icin Mimarlik

The protests in Istanbul indicated one simple thing for architects (designers?): We need new definitions for architecture in situations when architecture is removed from architects.

Turkish architects are creating line drawings of protest shelters and structures following the recent occupation of Istanbul’s Gezi Park.

Thousands of citizens took to the streets earlier this month to join one of Turkey’s largest anti-government demonstrations in decades and non-profit organisation Herkes Icin Mimarlik – which translates as Architecture For All – has since initiated an archive of photographs and drawings, documenting the makeshift shelters, tents, and other temporary structures that have been constructed.

“The protests in Istanbul indicated one simple thing for architects,” writes organisation co-founder Yelta Köm on the Tumblr page for the project. “We need new definitions for architecture in situations when architecture is removed from architects.”

He continues: “Each unique structure that we encounter in the streets and Gezi Park has its own in-situ design and implementation process. Documentation of these temporary structures is of huge importance for further examination, considering their limited life-cycle.”

“We really want to document as much as possible,” says the team. “While we are drawing what we could find, we are also open to contribution from everyone.”

First published in DEZEEN Magazine

Facebook site of Herkes Icin Mimarlik

see also Transformation of Taksim Square at Sense of Time