Morphology in Design: Utilization and (Re)Production of Morphological Knowledge Through Urban Design Competitions

Date

2023-9-7

Author

Demirezen, Selen

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The relationship between urban morphology and urban design, especially the significance of studying urban morphology for better design practice, has been a substantial matter of discussion with the rise of the post-modernist approach in urbanism. The debate on how to study urban form and successfully guide urban design has led to the creation of different theories and methodologies over the last 50 years. Despite these efforts, the desired reconciliation between the two fields could not be achieved. Two main reasons were pointed out for this discrepancy: the lack of a theoretical link between the two fields and the conception of urban morphology as an obsolete discipline that is inadequate for the vision and style of the contemporary. The dissertation proposes to front these problems by taking on a new perspective and exposing the morphological attitude of contemporary design in form production. As opposed to the established viewpoint toward the built fabric in morphological studies, the research aims to reveal the morphological knowledge propounded in the design process, which could help build the missing theoretical link between design and morphology. As an instrument for urban design practice, urban design competitions grow on a daily basis and have a more and more significant part in the future of cities. When we look at the fourty years of urban design competition history in Turkey, there has been a considerable increase in competitions held in the last two decades. It is a platform that assembles different disciplines, promotes creativity, and generates accumulative knowledge by providing various solutions to a specific problem. By contemplating the benefits to administrative institutions as well, it is plausible to expect this acceleration to continue. This situation turns urban design competitions into a valuable, potent field not only for the practical impact they had or will have but also for the insight they can provide to the literature of urbanism. Realizing the potential of urban design competitions in contemporary urbanism, this dissertation brings them into the discussion between urban morphology and urban design. Through the medium of competitions, the research aims to analyze the morphological knowledge put forth by design practice considering the conventional knowledge sets provided so far by canonical morphological studies. The methodology of the research is design analysis, and particular projects from the prominent competitions held in Turkey over the last decade will be analyzed from conceptual and methodological aspects. Apart from the analysis of presentation boards, project reports will also be investigated for a comprehensive picture of the design process and form production. Such a design analysis made within the context of competitions will not only help us to conceive the capacity of urban design to use and produce morphological knowledge but, more importantly, it will define a new framework in the literature, providing an additional perspective toward analyzing the role of morphology in contemporary design, that could stimulate and guide future research that will consolidate the relationship between the two fields.

Subject Keywords

Urban Design, Urban Morphology, Urban Design Competitions, Design Analysis, Design Thinking, Morphological Knowledge

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/105541

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis