Critiquing Architecture

21st-century architecture is diverse and polyphonic. Within this multiplicity, each architectural product is shaped by its unique content and dynamics. How adequate are critical approaches, built upon the legacy of past centuries and often adapted from different disciplines, in understanding and interpreting contemporary products that possess distinct characteristics? To what extent can traditional criticisms, which generally relate to architectural history, albeit to a relatively lesser degree, be effective in understanding all the dynamics of architecture, both old and new, and the unique components of the architectural product that develop in relation to these dynamics?

"Criticizing Architecture" was written based on doubts about the aforementioned adequacy and effectiveness. The book proposes its own approach to how products can be viewed to better understand and interpret contemporary architectural products; it exemplifies and analyzes critical essays (short films) produced in the context of its proposal. It does not exclude theory and history, which hold significant places in the tradition of criticism; instead, it places the components of architecture and design (place, thought, existence, and actors) at the center of its proposal. It argues that comprehending the dynamics that shape contemporary architectural products is as necessary – and even more so – than knowing the theory/concept claimed to be behind the products or interpreting individual products in conjunction with past products with which they might have a continuity relationship. It prioritizes being a critic focused on the architectural product itself and its components, rather than a critic who speaks through the intensive terminology and deep specialized knowledge following the path of theory and/or history. It sees being a critic as a prerequisite for being a critic.

Architecture is an art with the power to enrich not only our visual perception but also our existence in the world. Every designer whose field of endeavor is space plays an active role in the lives of those who will experience it. For a designer to be a critic, to think systematically and effectively about what their contemporaries are doing and how they are doing it, in ways that go beyond and differ from what history and theory have taught, and thereby to question/renew themselves about what they should do and how they should do it, is important not only for their own development but also for the positive contribution that the spaces they create will make to our existence. Contemporary architectural products are as instructive as theory and history; they are tools for understanding the age and humanity. I present the approach I propose for understanding and interpreting these products, each of which is a candidate to stand out with its unique originality, to the attention of all architecture enthusiasts and invite them to try this approach. With the hope that the book "Criticizing Architecture" will contribute to our country's architectural culture…