Browsing by Author "Gürel, Meltem Ö."

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Architectural visions of modernity and exclusion: Mid-century tourism projects for Istanbul's Florya coast
(Taylor and Francis, 2022) Meltem Ö. Gürel; Gürel, Meltem Ö.
[No abstract available]
Citation - WoS: 6
Citation - Scopus: 4
Living Rooms Occupied: Narratives on the Recontextualization of the Museum-Salon Practice in Modern Turkish Domesticity
(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2019) Esra Bici Nasir; Sebnem Timur; Meltem O. Gurel; Timur, S¸ebnem; Gürel, Meltem Ö.; Nasir, Esra Bici
This article discusses the notion of museum-salon and the changes in its perception and practices in the context of Turkish middle-class home cultures. Many authors have discussed the meaning of a prestigious living room allocated for guests only and addressed the existence of this room as an isolated space detached from the household's everyday routines. Constructing these rooms with Western-style furniture and objects has been tied to Turkish modernization and the attempts to create modern civic identities and lifestyles especially following the founding of the Republic of Turkey. This study questioned the role of an iconic living room with unused displays as a means to modern living arguing in fact that the museum-salon both sustained and negotiated traditional domestic practices. Interpretation of the qualitative data gained through fieldwork conducted in Istanbul contributes to the ongoing discussion in which utilization of the living room for everyday life was considered an objectification of modernity and an internalization of individuality. Through the rejection of the isolated living room through use and customization around notions of individuality and anti-communitarianism it traced the changing local notions of modern living. The changes and differences are related to the idea of habitus as discussed by Bourdieu (1984) rather than simply being viewed as generational preferences. Open living rooms that were subservient to everyday life now defined the modern habitus whereas closed ones were associated with being traditional and local. It could be inferred that this is the result of a belated modernity in the context of Turkish living rooms as people cultivate themselves satisfy their everyday needs and use the largest space in their homes according to their autonomies.
Spatial productions of a legendary holiday village: Club Med Foça
(Istanbul Teknik Universitesi Faculty of Architecture, 2023) Gülsüm Baydar; Meltem Ö. Gürel; Baydar, Gülsüm; Gürel, Meltem Ö.
At the time of its appearance on the outskirts of the infrastructurally underdeveloped and culturally conservative village of Foça in 1966 Club Med was already a widely known international holiday village chain promoted as an antidote to civilization. The term legend was commonly attached to it at an international scale to refer both to its stunning localities and the atmosphere of abundance offered within its guarded boundaries. Arguably a sense of Oriental exoticism was also a source of attraction to the Western patrons of Club Med Foça. This article is based on the hypothesis that Club Med had a significant impact on the cultural environment of Foça which exemplified the porousness of spatial boundaries. Hence our aim is to surface the spatio-cultural role of the Club for both Foça residents and the Turkish population at large. Our findings reveal that for Foça residents the Club was both an economic resource and an agent of significant socio-cultural transformation. For the Turkish population it was publicized as a microcosm of Europe and offered a glimpse of a highly desirable modern culture. Generating a small town bourgeoisie of sorts in Foça Club Med introduced unprecedented forms of spaces pleasures and desires. Engaging with archival research on-site spatial analysis and oral histories we explore the mutual production of spatial and cultural boundaries in the historical context of 1960s and 70s Foça vis-à-vis Club Med. © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.