Wandering in the Void... The Story of Architectural Space

Sema Soygeniş's new book, Wandering in the Void... The Story of Architectural Space, which conveys the journey of architectural space design from nature to city, from buildings to interiors, has been published by YEM Yayın.

Prof. Dr. Sema Soygeniş, as an architect who is both a designer and has taught design, aims to explain the architectural space design process by focusing on specific themes, and to help find the intersections of nature, city, and interior space by examining, and experiencing them, in the journey of architectural design from nature to interior space.

The book is a continuation of her previous book, Thinking and Dreaming Architecture, also published by YEM Yayın. Sema Soygeniş, who discussed what architecture is through specific themes in Thinking and Dreaming Architecture and aimed to encourage readers to think and dream about architecture, describes the content of her new book as follows:

“... In this book, I focused on discussing design through the main themes that need to be researched, thought about, and interpreted at the initial stage of the design process, and on the processes of expressing design. With the thought of being able to shed some light on the struggles experienced during this process and to be guiding in order to be creative and productive in the design process; under the headings of Nature, City, Interface, Space, Tectonics, Architectural Expression, I try to convey the story of void and space by questioning and discussing it through many buildings I have visited and experienced throughout my professional life. In the act of design, nature is one of the primary topics to be examined concerning context. In the book, a framework has been considered to see data and potentials related to the context from nature to the city and urban spaces, to understand and make sense of the boundary, interface, and wall that form the limits and quality of the space, to enrich the perception of space along with its functionality, to imagine space through perception and tectonics, and how design will be constructed and presented through these concepts. In the Architectural Expression section, I tried to explain the graphic expression of the design process and thought with selected graphics from a design project. The contribution of graphic expression, along with verbal expression, which allows the act of architectural design to develop as a back-and-forth process, should not be overlooked to crystallize the main idea. This also makes it possible to understand and explain design in its intellectual dimension. In this context, I want to emphasize the importance of the graphic expression of thought, which is an effective language in the designer's communication with themselves as well as with the client and other actors in this process.

Design can be based on various scientific data, but the act of design is personal. Various researches are being conducted on how to design and design education, and there are various experience sharing and academic publications. Design education encompasses not only the stage of a person's architectural education but also the experience and individuality of the educator. The extent to which architecture has changed over the centuries can be debated. This change can also be seen in different dimensions in architectural education. It is beneficial to remember that 'questioning', 'making one question', 'broadening horizons', and 'creating awareness' can be effective as keywords in architectural design education, and that the story and fiction created by the designer as a result of various researches and evaluations in the creative act of design is a topic that should be focused on. The design approach and method, like the evaluation of the product, may contain differences and individuality. In the education process, the aim is to experience different design approaches and methods and to reach an original individual approach. It is possible to experience the existence of social and technological developments and changes that will be reflected in architecture even during an architect's professional life. In this context, I believe that it will be meaningful for designers to question architecture and evaluate their design approaches, being sensitive to current and future developments, in order to keep up with the changing world and to catch up with the present. It should not be forgotten that those who leave a mark in architecture are among those who look to the future, perceive the past and their present era within a broad perspective, and are not afraid of innovations and experimentation.

Characterizing architectural design as the intersection of function and context will be a meaningful definition in itself. How the designer interprets this definition requires research, evaluation, and creativity. In the design process, the first stage usually begins with an analysis study. The analysis study includes information and findings related to location, in other words, context and function, at macro and micro levels. The aim of this information process is for the designer to evaluate the information obtained from relevant research topics and to obtain various clues. In this process, which includes examining similar examples related to function, the relationships such as structure, envelope system, public, private space relations, geometry, mass, and void are examined by dissecting the systems that make up architecture. These relationships can differ as internal and external architectural issues. It can be nourished by different fields such as form, structure, film, painting, nature, and biological behaviors. The analysis study is based on scientific data, observations, and determinations; conceptualizing and abstracting them forms the most challenging part of this process. Collecting, expressing, and relating historical, social, political, climatic, topographical, natural, and man-made physical environment data related to a place is called mapping, and thus the obtained data is expressed graphically. The principles, upper and lower scale decisions to be put forward in line with this data play an important role in the design process. Design concept; can be defined as the decisions, principles, and foresight that emerge from this data in the context of contemporary architectural trends and technological possibilities. The formation and graphic expression of these decisions can be expressed as diagramming and the shaping of design ideas. The designer can graphically express the design decisions and principles in two and three dimensions, and can create a three-dimensional model analogously and digitally. Perhaps the weakest point in the design process is the rapid conversion of principles or decisions into form and their imprisonment by form. Care should be taken to produce this process, defined as mapping, diagramming, and concept sketches, in a way that is open to re-evaluation and new developments. In order to preserve the ability of the design product to convey new ideas, messages, and dreams, it is important to create a process that allows the development of design at both lower and upper scales.

The main themes and headings in the book; Nature, City, Interface, Space, Tectonics, Architectural Expression, as themes open to evaluation in the design process, seem to remain on the architectural agenda for some time in our rapidly changing world. Therefore, I believe that examining these themes as an approach to understanding the design process will be beneficial to consider and evaluate.

Design begins with serious and detailed analysis, evaluation of data, creative interpretation and abstraction and development of main decisions, and most importantly, feeling the excitement of design.”

CONTENTS

• NATURE
  Interaction between Nature and Architecture
  Nature in Architectural Literature
  Nature and Architecture: Contemporary Approaches
  Architecture that Does Not Exclude Nature
• CITY
  Urban Space and Humans
  Historical Development of Urban Space
  Urban Spaces Integrated with Public Buildings
  Squares as Activity Areas of the City
  Urban Experience Spaces
  Interface
  The Wall as a Separating and Simple Element
  Design of Voids
  Movable Wall Elements
  The Wall Element Perceived in Three Dimensions
• SPACE
  Parallax
  Promenade at Urban Scale
  Promenade at Building Scale
• TECTONICS
  Material and Detail
  Context and Place
• ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION
  Analysis and Mapping
  Diagramming
  Architectural Concept