Levent Aksüt = Yaşar Marulyalı | UMO Architecture – USKON – Çelik Yapı

The first book exploring the long-standing professional partnership of Levent Aksüt and Yaşar Marulyalı, founders of UMO Mimarlık, titled Levent Aksüt = Yaşar Marulyalı | UMO Mimarlık – USKON – Çelik Yapı, has been published by Pelin Derviş Yayın Projesi in collaboration with USKON.

Levent Aksüt and Yaşar Marulyalı are two architect partners with a special place in Turkish architecture. Their friendship dates back to their time studying architecture at Istanbul Technical University (1948-1953) and continues to this day. UMO Mimarlık, which they founded in 1955, is still in operation. This long-standing partnership alone is enough to make them special. However, they also hold a special place due to their contributions to the architectural environment in Turkey – particularly in construction technologies. They come from a generation that rejoiced, saying, "Nails are finally being made in Turkey"; despite this, for example, they took an interest in reinforced concrete shells, space frames, and steel structure systems, and went beyond mere interest to pursue the creation of qualified and innovative structures. In 1979, they founded USKON, and in 2000, Çelik Yapı. These companies are also still active. The principles they established for their companies to be both long-lasting and innovative are also of significant importance. Each of them is also a story of institutionalization.

This book, while presenting the architectural journeys of Levent Aksüt and Yaşar Marulyalı, from their university years to the present, woven with personal anecdotes, also reflects the changes that the architecture and construction sectors in Turkey have undergone. The environment in which they received their education, their influences, the principles they acquired, how they transferred these into their own practices, professional organizations, and architectural culture, and what they added to them, constitute the components of the book. The book, which opens with an evaluation article by Doğan Tekeli, one of Turkey's leading architects, is divided into two main sections. In the first section, we begin to get to know Levent Aksüt and Yaşar Marulyalı, learn about the period when they studied architecture, follow their contributions to architectural culture, and discover the activities of UMO Mimarlık, USKON, and Çelik Yapı, which they founded. The second section serves as a catalog with their summary biographies, project indexes, awards, and a selection from their bibliography.