Browsing by Author "Gurel, Meltem O."

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A Spatial Reflection of Social Transformation: Taksim Municipal Gazino 1939
(ISTANBUL UNIV RESEARCH INST TURKOLOGY DEPT ART HISTORY, 2024) Begum Sena Onal Ozmalatyalilar; Meltem O. Gurel; Gurel, Meltem O.; Önal, Begüm Sena; Ozmalatyalilar, Begum Sena Onal; Gürel, Havva Meltem; Önal Özmalatyalilar, Begüm Sena
Taksim Municipal Gazino which hosted its visitors inside the Inonu Promenade between 1939 and 1967 was one of the leading examples of gazinos (an entertainment venue) built with the support of the state in the early republican era in Turkey. Designed by the municipality architect Ruknettin Guney within the scope of French city planner Henri Prost's Istanbul Master Plan the edifice was a quintessential example of modern architecture that epitomized the state's Westernization ideology. This article examines the gazino practice as a spatial reflection of social transformation by presenting a historical and spatial reading of the Taksim Municipal Gazino. The study analyzes the gazino structure as a power mechanism that produces secular identities by focusing on the dialectic between the spaces in the building and the experiences of its patrons. The analysis of architectural drawings photographs and literary works associated with the building on the one hand reveals how the architect operating as a cultural leader utilized architectural creation to present the Western lifestyle to society. On the other hand it indicates that Taksim Municipal Gazino served as a platform for individuals to display their modernity. Moreover the study propounds that the building contributed to the modernization process of the newly established nation-state and it has served as a spatial tool that notably strengthened the position of female regulars in the public sphere.
Citation - WoS: 4
Citation - Scopus: 3
Migrants as agents in placemaking: A socio-spatial analysis of Basmane area in Izmir- Turkiye
(ELSEVIER, 2024) Ayselin Yildiz; Aylin Gurel; Meltem O. Gurel; Yildiz, Ayselin; Gurel, Meltem O.; Gurel, Aylin
This article explores the place-making practices of displaced Syrian refugees living in Basmane area of Izmir's historic Konak district. By examining everyday spaces the spatio-material and socio-relational outcomes of Syrians' placemaking practices the study positions refugees as active agents of placemaking. Through empirical fieldwork it underscores the spatio-material consequences and socio-relational wellbeing outcomes of Syrians' placemaking practices illustrating how these are shaped and constrained by multi-scale configurations of Turkiye's refugee policies and the perceptions of the local population towards migrants.
Citation - WoS: 4
Citation - Scopus: 5
Protracted displacement and housing systems in intermediary cities: the case of Syrians in Torbalı Türkiye
(Routledge, 2025) Dolf J.H. te Lintelo; Ayselin Gözde Yildiz; Meltem Ö. Gürel; Selin Siviş; Perin Çün; Sadaf Sultan Khan; Robert Mull; Khan, Sadaf; Cun, Perin; te Lintelo, Dolf J. H.; Sivis, Selin; Yildiz, Ayselin; Gurel, Meltem O.; Mull, Robert
This article investigates the dynamics of complex housing systems within the context of large-scale protracted displacement in Turkey/Türkiye. It presents new empirical findings from a qualitative study conducted in Torbalı a rapidly growing intermediate city with a significant population of Syrian displaced people. Drawing on theoretical and conceptual insights from housing studies urban studies and migration studies the article assesses the ways in which displacement materialises in place through housing and contributes to city-making and urbanisation processes informally incrementally and in locally and historically contingent manners. We argue that the forms and dynamics of emerging housing exhibit both continuity but most markedly significant disjuncture from past housing trajectories in Torbalı. This challenges the implicit assumption of legal uniformity of self-builders common in incremental housing debates and suggests that the notion of incremental housing has limited relevance in contexts of protracted urban displacement. Furthermore findings underline the significance of legal dimensions in energising housing informalities, in grading socio-legal statuses of resident populations, in bounding displaced people’s mobilities, in demarcating labour flows, in moulding rental markets, and in directing the flows of housing materials. These in turn shape current and future urban built environments and mould the ways in which the urbanisation of refuge manifests. © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
READING ANKARA APARTMENT BALCONY BALUSTRADES (1950-75) AS MATERIAL CULTURE AND THEIR DIGITAL DOCUMENTATION
(MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIV, 2023) Zeynep Tuna Ultav; Daniele Savasta; Meltem O. Gurel; Savasta, Daniele; Gurel, Meltem O.; Ultav, Zeynep Tuna
This paper considers the underexplored potential of wrought iron balcony balustrades as material culture providing significant clues about a design community of a certain time and society at large. Exploring the wrought iron balcony balustrades of apartment buildings constructed in Ankara between 1950 and 1975 the study potentially contributes to widening the scope of the field of modern architectural culture in Turkey while underscoring the significance of documenting and preserving these items as material evidence of this culture. Data on balcony balustrades were obtained through a scientific research project focused on 1850 apartment buildings in Ankara's cankaya District. In particular the study analyzes the balustrades' authenticity and technological aspect and their role in shedding light on the relationships among various actors of the construction process. To provide a broader perspective the study situates the issue within the wider context by conducting a literature review on material culture and the preservation of modern architectural heritage. Furthermore the research incorporates an analysis of data from semi -structured interviews and an extensive collection of fieldwork photographs. The study concludes with a proposal for digital documentation methods to allow further light to be shed on the period and to preserve their memory through a multi-layered reading of wrought iron balcony balustrades.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 2
Social Housing as Paradoxical Space: Migrant Women's Spatial Tactics Inside Toki Uzundere Blocks
(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2022) Meltem Eranil; Meltem O. Gurel; Eranil, Meltem; Gurel, Meltem O.
This study focuses on migrant women's experiences in TOKI Uzundere a housing settlement built in Izmir (2009) by the Mass Housing Administration of Turkey (TOKI). It problematizes the incompatibility between the apartments' standardized layouts and the residents' spatial practices. The study argues that these interiors have become paradoxical spaces with the potential to be transformed by women struggling to fit them to their daily routines and social and physical needs by applying certain spatial tactics. These tactics were charted through in-depth interviews with women observations inside their apartments schematic drawings and photography. Our analysis demonstrates how women's everyday practices and spatial tactics challenge and reconfigure the assumed uses of the interiors in these social housing units.