Architecture and Planning Practice Over the Last 50 Years Through Memories

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Alkan's new book, published by YEM Yayın, draws attention to the mistakes he encountered or witnessed during his almost 50-year professional life in various capacities such as a freelance architect-urban planner, manager, contractor, faculty member, mayoral advisor, member of parliament, mayoral candidate, and party founder.

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Alkan, who defines dreaming as the most productive source that nourishes his identity as an architect, is a practitioner who sees producing architectural projects as the meaning of life, draws throughout his life, and builds whenever he has the opportunity; a teacher... However, in this work, Ahmet Alkan goes beyond a chronological presentation of his architectural projects or urban-scale planning efforts and draws attention to the mistakes he encountered or witnessed during his almost 50-year professional life, stating the following:

“Knowing, discussing, and preventing these is the first and foremost of the indispensables for the future of our country and our children, or it is our duty to them...

The fact that a significant portion of the experiences that directly concern public administration and fall within the framework of moral and ethical values, but can only be discussed and resolved within the norms of an effective "rule of law," involve living individuals, and the impossibility of documenting events, most of which occurred between two people, could have created significant legal problems. However, not telling these events, which reveal the significant consequences of whether "public justice" and freedom of enterprise exist in a country, would mean condoning the continuation of the same distorted and unfair system. So, what should I have done?

I was able to answer this question without excluding "what I drew," which should also be at the core of the work, as follows: This work should contain "lesson-like" memories and events that I found important from my professional life. The scale of the project was not important. By doing this, I would have provided clues about what I drew and also kindly remembered my friends who contributed positively to this process and became part of it. Using real names in these sections was also a gesture of appreciation.

By sharing the stories of the beginning, design, continuation, or termination of projects I considered important, I thought I could help my colleagues and students draw a roadmap for a career path in the profession. As the elders say, "To try what has been tried is foolishness." Or, "A Muslim is not bitten twice from the same snake hole..." There was no problem in using real names in these sections, which prioritize experiences, both good and bad.

I also did not hesitate to record events that could be inferred from the event-place-time triangle, without naming individuals, in cases where documentation could be based on archive records. In fact, one of the primary purposes of this work should have been to record such events.

In the few events that occurred between two people and which I firmly believed I had to narrate, I chose not to use real names and to make innocent (!) or necessary distortions, making it impossible to identify names from the event-place-time analysis, as much as possible. I accepted this as a responsibility incumbent upon me by my position, to write about certain examples that younger generations might encounter.

I hope that these experiences, for which heavy prices have been paid, will make a small but positive contribution to my esteemed colleagues who come after me and to all people. This will be the greatest source of happiness that will give meaning to my life.”

TABLE OF CONTENTS

009 Foreword

013 Presentation

A Young Man at the Beginning of the Road

021 First Project

022 Master X; Our Lesson is Trust

024 An Office in Osmanbey

026 A Real Architecture Office

029 Return

032 A New Lane

Academic Life and...

038 Law No. 775 and the Period of Cooperatives

042 Implementation Project in Four Hours (!)

044 Building One's Own House or Father's House

046 Uncle's House Concurrent with Father's House

048 Year of Coup and Illnesses

051 I am also a Cooperative Member

055 New Era

056 First Experience in Revolving Fund

058 Reflections of Opening Up to the World

062 Üçler Planning-Construction is Established

066 Man at the Crossroads

068 Continuing Academic Life

Period of Intensity and Fatigue

073 OBA Project

074 SS Hayat Housing Cooperative

079 Konya Treasury Building

085 Bidding Process or What You Feared…

086 Construction Phase

091 Great Wheat Market

095 Landlocked Man's Sea Adventure

100 Serik / Holiday Villages

Problems in the Exercise of Authority are Growing

105 Exercise of Authority Deviates from its Purpose

106 First Example from Konya

110 Ring Road Adventure

118 Ankara Experience

119 Yaşamkent

125 Darling of the New Capital Class

127 Yaşamkent Land

129 Beytepe Project

134 Konya-Safir Construction Period

135 Yeşilköy and Çamlıca Housing Cooperatives

138 End of a Success Story

University Campuses

143 Architecture in the Footsteps of Crisis or…

144 Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

144 Honeymoon

146 Dream Campus Overlooking the Lake

152 Every Dean Has A Faculty!

156 Burdur Second Act: MAKÜ Mosque

162 Ardahan University

162 Site Selection

166 Planning Process

170 The Architect Rector Is Here Again

173 Gümüşhane University

174 Faculties on the Goat Path!

175 The Expected End

177 Konya University

Final Period

185 Dilovası Small Industrial Site

185 Old Friend…

187 …New Project

193 The Table Is Changing

199 YEBAM-YEBAV

200 Two Buddy Architects

206 The City's Dreams / My Dreams

208 Mevlana and Shams

208 13th Century Konya as a Plateau and Tourism City

209 Mevlana Again

210 A Strange Contract

211 Core Staff

212 Site Selection

214 Agreed Principles

215 Planning Studies

221 Conclusion

AHMET ALKAN

Born in Ahırlı, Konya in 1954. Master architect and urban planner. Scientist and politician. At the same time, a practitioner who considers architectural project production as the meaning of life, drawing in every period and constructing whenever he finds an opportunity. In his academic career, which began in 1978, he published numerous papers and articles, participated in seminars and conferences, and organized national and international symposiums. He also prepared the journal (ICONARP) for publication and led the establishment of the Selçuk University Faculty of Architecture, where he served as founding dean (2012-2018), and making it institutionally identifiable was among the important goals of his life. Ahmet Alkan, who sees dreaming as the most fertile source nurturing his architectural identity, has also engaged in poetry and literature.

Other books by the author:

Principles of Historical Environment Planning