Open AccessOeuvre vs. Abstract Space: Appropriation of Gezi Park in Istanbul
Author(s) -
Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of contemporary urban affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2475-6164
pISSN - 2475-6156
DOI - 10.25034/ijcua.2017.3643
Subject(s) - appropriation , politics , public space , government (linguistics) , democracy , political science , space (punctuation) , media studies , political economy , sociology , aesthetics , law , art , engineering , architectural engineering , epistemology , philosophy , linguistics
The Gezi Park incidents of summer 2013 in Istanbul have marked a turning point in the political life and democracy in Turkey. The peaceful environmentalist protestations in central Gezi Park have turned into a countrywide upheaval against the neo-liberal and conservative policies of the government, pouring millions of people into streets in different cities. It was a time that Turkey witnessed the formation of a new type of public sphere that encompasses a variety of counter publics, and its spatial incarnation –the Gezi Commune-, reclaimed, created, shaped and inhabited by the free will of people. This was the instant creation of oeuvre through the appropriation of the urban space, and a spatial manifestation of reclaiming the right to the city. This article is a reflection on the possibility of creation of oeuvre in contemporary society, and a new way of architectural thinking and practice that can pave the way for it.