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In Istanbul, Temporary Architecture Becomes Lasting Symbol of Resistance

An examination of how architecture—no matter how impermanent—can affect protest, change, and define a movement.

Earlier this month demonstrators took over Istanbul's Gezi Park, speaking out against the state's proposal to turn the green space used by all into a shopping mall. While they protested this, and other abuses of power, temporary structures sprung up overnight in the square: shelters, libraries, stages, communal sitting areas. But when the occupation was eventually driven out by the opposition, little was left of these makeshift interventions. Fortunately, the nonprofit Herkes İçin Mimarlık (which translates to Architecture For All) documented many of these structures in order to examine how architecture—no matter how impermanent—can affect protest, change, and define a movement.

"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. 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," Herkes Icin Mimarlik explain on their Tumblr page.

Their team not only archived photographs of structures seen throughout Gezi Park, but they also created illustrated renderings to act as a sort of mirror image to the photos.



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