A Diachronic Approach on Heterochronic Urban Space

ITU A|Z • Vol 12 No 3 • November 2015 • 159-173 A diachronic approach on heterochronic urban space İlgi TOPRAK1, Alper ÜNLÜ2 1 [email protected] • Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey 2 [email protected] • Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey Received: May 2015 Final Acceptance: October 2015 Abstract As the fourth principle of heterotopias defned in Foucault’s controversial yet inspiring text named “Of Other Spaces”, heterochronies defne places that accu- mulate time, as well as temporary spatial formations. Tis study interprets urban spaces with historical backgrounds, which can accommodate both the accumulation of time and the temporariness, as heterochronic urban spaces. Tis study aims to evaluate the refection of socio-cultural background of historical neighbourhoods on the morphological and semantic change of their heterochronic elements throughout history. Te deconstructive methodology of the study consists of a diachronic research involving three parts: deconstructing, analysing and reconstructing history. By “deconstructing history” through a multi-layered “timeline” developed with important historical thresholds and a “zoning”, morphological or socio-cultural changes and “situations” are defned. “Analysing deconstructed history” involves the syntactic analyses of these “situations” in terms of historically persistent elements and temporary formations, to grasp the morphological and socio-cultural evolution of the heterochronic urban space. “Reconstructing history”, as a synthesis, semantically interprets syntactic fndings signalizing accumulations, discontinuities, shifs or losses of meaning. Te case study is Kuzguncuk neighbourhood, a heterochronic urban space on the Asian side of Istanbul, an old Bosphorus village, which mainly used to consist mostly of a welcoming and peaceful residential area co-inhabited by Jews, Chris- tians and Muslims, later by Black Sea migrants. Te area is gentrifed within the last thirty years. Te fndings of the case study show that Kuzguncuk is one of the heterochronic urban spaces, as well as a palimpsest where a majority of meanings perish, leading to fake re-valuation. Keywords Diachronic research, Heterochrony, Kuzguncuk, Space syntax. 160 1. Introduction a heterochronic urban space. As the f- Heterochronies, as in Foucault’s nal step of the three-fold methodology, fourth principle of heterotopias, defne this holistic interpretation attempts to multiple temporalities in a single place. do a synthesis of the case study. Besides architectural interpretations such as libraries and museums, heter- 2. Heterochrony: Temporality in ochronies can also defne urban spaces Foucault’s heterotopias and its trans- in smaller or bigger scales, collecting lation into urban spaces various morphological and socio-cul- Heterotopias are closely linked to tural traces of time. In fact, so-called concerns about time, notably time “heterotopic urban spaces” construct intervals, breaks, accumulations and a perpetual time accumulation and be- transitions. Between the eternal and come timeless. the temporary, heterotopic spaces re- Te frst section of this paper aims fer to temporal formations in diferent to discuss how temporality is handled contexts. Among the principles of het- in Foucault’s heterotopias in “Of Other erotopias in Foucault’s highly contro- Spaces” and defne what heterochrony versial text “Of Other Spaces”, it is indi- means as a spatio-temporal notion in- cated that there is not a universal form terpreting similar and following studies of heterotopia; functions of heteroto- mainly about architectural and urban pias are variable, and that heterotopias heterochronic spaces, notably the ones can gather multiple incompatible spac- of Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, es together. Tey have an opening-clos- and Rossi. Tis part of the work con- ing system, and are generally not freely centrates in theoretically describing accessible like public spaces. Tey al- “heterochronic urban space”. ways have a function relating to exter- Te second section explains the nal spaces (Foucault, 1986). According deconstructive methodology that is to the fourth principle of heterotopias, adopted in this study to examine het- which is the main concern of this pa- erochronic urban space in depth. Te per, heterotopias linked to “slices of methodology consists of three parts: time” named as “heterochronies”. Het- deconstructing, analysing and recon- erotopias are working at full capacity in structing history. Tis methodology case of rupture of the traditional time aims to uncover the history by decon- for humans, as in the case of a ceme- structing and layering historical data tery, an intersection of loss of life and of a heterochronic urban space within eternal rest. Te frst signifcant type of a “timeline”, analyse layered historical heterochrony is indefnite time accu- components using Space Syntax, and mulation as for libraries and museums. fnally holistically reconstruct history, It is an endless gathering of things, ac- as today’s reality, with a synthesis of cumulating and archiving in a specifc syntactic fndings and their semantic place, a place that becomes itself out interpretation. of time. Another type of heterotopias Te third chapter concentrates on stands out as quite the opposite of the the case study. Te case study involves previous one, defning spaces as tem- the historical evolution of the Kuzgun- porary structures, fugacious and fnite cuk neighbourhood, an old Bosphorus occurrences. Tese heterochronies are village on the Asian side of Istanbul strictly temporal and can be translat- using Space Syntax, diachronically ed to many architectural and spatial analysing changing syntactic values of experiences such as fairgrounds, vaca- heterochronies: historically persistent tion villages or Olympic villages. Tese elements as “heterochronic constants”, two entirely opposite sides of heter- gatherings and “situations” as “heterochronies refect the eternal and the ochronic variables” between the years temporary at the same time (Foucault, 1932 and 2014. 1986). Finally, the conclusion of the study Can urban spaces really be studied focuses on the semantic interpretation as heterochronies? Mc Leod (1996) of the current state of the neighbour- criticizes Foucault for having forsak- hood to answer the question to what en the “messy and in-between ur- extents Kuzguncuk can be defned as ban spaces” such as the residence, the ITU A|Z • Vol 12 No 3 • November 2015 • İ. Toprak, A. Ünlü 161 workplace, the street and many others. “situation” such as Sartre and Mer- Te limited illustration and descrip- leau-Ponty who primarily investigat- tion of spaces depicted as heterotopias ed the anthropological depth and the in “Of Other Spaces” seem to restrain conception of embodiment of “situa- the boundaries of the concept, refer- tion” (Ha, n.d.), according importance encing pre-defned spaces. However, to personal and sociological insights the idea of heterochrony itself can be of what embodies the self. However subject to defne a double-sided reality Heidegger diferentiated the concep- of permanence and transience of the tion of “situation” from the general actual urban pattern. It can be assumed situation depicting inauthentic spatial- that heterochronies create a bridge be- ity of the “Tey” (das Man) therefore, tween time and space. Te combina- “situation” has a more socio-cultural tion of accumulation of time and fu- potential (Heidegger, 1996; Ha, n.d.). gitive experiences form them, and like Each situation has its own characteris- in every heterotopic case, they show tics and cultural phenomena related to several inconsistencies. Heterochronic it, defning moments and slices of lived urban spaces refect continuity and it- spaces. In architectural thought, “sit- eration, depicting history and present uation” might be equivalently studied at the same time. Everyday experiences with the idea of “urban artefact” (Ros- actualize together in urban spaces with si, 1982). An urban artefact can appear references to the past. In that way ur- as a square, a building or a street that ban space as heterochrony, can verify signifes a certain moment in history, Foucault’s argument that urban spaces in a constantly changing urban pattern as heterochronies are sources of imme- (Rossi, 1982). Urban artefacts coexist diate knowledge. Like museums and and therefore form a city, which brings libraries, they ofer fnite, compiled back the argument of the Collage City and quick information. However, the (Koetter & Rowe, 1978) suggesting a everydayness of heterochronic envi- theory of urban fragmentation. An- ronments is not to be undermined. other conception, “palimpsest” that Because places such as library, a muse- means writing, erasing and rewriting um, a fairground or a farmers’ market on parchment; describes a “non-con- welcome everyday strollers, readers, temporaneity with itself of the living contemplators, chatters and shoppers. present” in Derrida’s words (Derrida, Two-sided experience of the urban 1994). Its urban interpretation “urban space as heterochrony, constructs a palimpsest” (Huyssen, 2003; Bjur&Az- bridge between accumulation/deletion imzadeh, 2007) explains the multi-lay- of historical traces through time and ered and diachronic attributes of urban everyday “situations” involving cultur- environments, and especially the need al, social changes, not in a way that a to explore present

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