Urban parasites : re-appropriation of interstitial spaces in architecture through the act of graffiti

Download
2013
Yıldırım, Senem
This thesis focuses on parasitic spaces as areas of re-appropriation displaying radical stands against sterility of urban environment.The aim is to search for the potential of the formation and spread of urban parasites in the city for a new method in designing architectural environment.Urban parasites are indicated in study as areas of individual intervention formed in interstitial spaces of city.They form alternative zones within the urban fabric that emerge from spatial and symbolic connection of individually transformed interstices sharing the same context.As a unique form of urban parasites,the study grounds on the act of graffiti,since it forms an architectural discourse on reconstruction of interstices,and encourages alternative spatial configurations.Referred as observers of city,graffiti artists are studied as creators of urban scenes and intervenors of new foregrounds for alternative territories.The process of choosing graffiti spots is researched as a way of recognizing and interacting with interstices of city,through the act of walking.While choosing spots,graffiti artists provide the continuity of parasitic zones by spatially and symbolically referring to other spots.To trace back the development of interstitial spaces,parallel with the heritage of graffiti forming them,this thesis focuses on the city of Berlin as a significant case.To observe urban parasites formed by connection of graffiti spots and examine the changing identity of interstices in different contexts,the graffiti map of Berlin is reinterpreted along the route from Mitte,center of former East Berlin,to Friedrichshain,housing district of former East Berlin.By producing maps based on personal observations and comparing them with other available maps,the study traced the continuity of urban parasites overlapping with graffiti spots in Mitte and Friedricshain,while documenting the changing identity of interstitial nodes by observing Kunsthaus Tacheles in Mitte and Yaam in Friedrichshain.

Suggestions

Urban fissure: reconceptualization of the land walls within the urban milieu of İstanbul
Baş Bütüner, Funda; Günay, Baykan; Erkal, Namık Günay; Department of City and Regional Planning (2010)
The major intention of this thesis is to introduce a new concept –urban fissure- to discuss the positionality and spatiality of city walls within contemporary urban milieus. Besides being an architectural defense structure, covering a considerable amount of land in cities, city walls have always been an important urban component. Land Walls has been a unique example of city walls that have existed for 15 centuries as an untouchable object in a metropolitan city like İstanbul. After the Ottoman Conquest in 1...
Increasing walkability in public spaces of city centres: the case of Tunali Hilmi Street, Ankara
Ghadimkhani, Parisa; Akkar Ercan, Zübeyde Müge; Department of City and Regional Planning (2011)
Liveability and walkability have recently become one of the major policy topics in the agenda of many cities all over the world because of the negative effects of car-oriented urban developments that have impoverished physical, social, cultural, economic and environmental values of cities. In Ankara, however, the urban development policies based on the decentralization of the city centre and inner city, the impoverished public transportation services and infrastructure, the increasing car-dependent developm...
Emergence of art galleries in Ankara : a case study of three pionerring galleries in the 1950s
Önsal, Başak; Nalbantoğlu, Hasan Ünal; Department of Media and Cultural Studies (2006)
This thesis attempts to analyze the emergence of private art galleries in Turkey by focusing on specifically the three art galleries, namely Gallery Milar, Helikon Society’s Gallery, and Society of Artlovers’ Gallery that were opened in Ankara during 1950s. To this aim, both the artistic movements and governmental policies regarding the artistic field are mentioned from a historical point of view. Interviews, analysis of relevant literature, examining periodical magazines, and daily newspapers constitute th...
Urban compactness : a study of Ankara urban form
Çalışkan, Olgu; Günay, Baykan; Urban Design in City and Regional Planning Department (2003)
Sustainable urban development is mentioned together with the concept of urban form in contemporary planning literature. The main reason behind this is a need for determining an ideal physical development scheme and its main principles of urban future in a broad term. Besides, the operational side of urban planning requires a concrete set of design codes in order to transform urban space in both macro and mezzo scale. At this point, the concept of urban compactness and the idea of Compact City have come into...
Understanding perceptions regarding the aesthetics of urban public space: Tunalı Hilmi Street, Ankara
Pehlivanoğlu, Yonca; Akkar Ercan, Zübeyde Müge; Department of City and Regional Planning (2011)
Urban aesthetics has been the concern of many academic researches, and there have been now more than hundred definitions of urban aesthetics. It is crucial to understand that aesthetics is more than just about the form and physical qualities of a place. Likewise, urban aesthetics is not only the concerns of academics, but also the concern of urbanites of cities and daily users of urban space. It is therefore important to understand what daily users of cities understand from the concept of urban aesthetics a...
Citation Formats
S. Yıldırım, “Urban parasites : re-appropriation of interstitial spaces in architecture through the act of graffiti,” M.Arch. - Master of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, 2013.