Relief-Spaces: Trans-Positions in Display Environments
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RELIEF-SPACES: TRANS-POSITIONS IN DISPLAY ENVIRONMENTS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SEZİN SARICA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE IN ARCHITECTURE JULY 2019 Approval of the thesis: RELIEF-SPACES: TRANS-POSITIONS IN DISPLAY ENVIRONMENTS submitted by SEZİN SARICA in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in Architecture Department, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Halil Kalıpçılar Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences Prof. Dr. F. Cânâ Bilsel Head of Department, Architecture Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş Supervisor, Architecture, METU Examining Committee Members: Prof. Dr. Esin Boyacıoğlu Architecture, Gazi University Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş Architecture, METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Haluk Zelef Architecture, METU Assist. Prof. Dr. Pelin Yoncacı Arslan Architecture, METU Assist. Prof. Dr. Umut Şumnu Interior Architecture, Başkent University Date: 16.07.2019 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Surname: Sezin Sarıca Signature: iv ABSTRACT RELIEF-SPACES: TRANS-POSITIONS IN DISPLAY ENVIRONMENTS Sarıca, Sezin Master of Architecture, Architecture Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş July 2019, 166 pages The aim of this study is to redefine the relationship between the exhibition space and the object on display. With the recognition that architecture of exhibition space has been a renowned problematic in the architectural discourse, this study specifically focuses on the spatial integrity of both the container, the exhibition space, and the content, the object on display. The inquiry is into the possibility of using the visual field of artistic production, “relief”, as a decoder, in order to be able to define a new way of seeing the visual field of exhibition space. Relief is reintroduced as a scaleless surface and space formation. Therefore, it becomes a seeing/reading tool that can magnify the environments superimposed in one immersive medium. Space and the surface are read together as a display environment. The aim is to look into the term and condition “expansion” that surface defines while creating a relief-space as a display space. Relief-space is defined as an architectural condition, which is conceptualized through a collocated textual ground of both architecture and art. The discussion questions both the conventional singularity of museum and galleries as “the” exhibition space and the conventional stability of architecture, which has been accepted only as the “container”. Keywords: Relief-space, display environments, exhibition, museums v vi ÖZ RÖLYEF-MEKÂNLAR: SERGİ ORTAMLARINDA YER DEĞİŞTİRMELER Sarıca, Sezin Yüksek Lisans, Mimarlık Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş Temmuz 2019, 166 sayfa Bu çalışmanın amacı, sergi mekânı ile sergilenen nesne arasındaki ilişkiyi yeniden tanımlamaktır. Sergi mimarlığının mimari söylemde çokça çalışılmış olan bir araştırma konusu olduğu kabul edilerek, bu çalışma, özellikle sergi mekânının ve sergilenen nesnenin hacimsel bütünlüğüne odaklanmaktadır. Araştırma, bir sanat ürünü ve temsil yöntemi olan rölyefi, bir görme biçimi olarak tanımlayarak sergi mekânını yeniden anlamayı amaçlar. Çalışmada rölyef, ölçeksiz bir yüzey ve mekân oluşumu olarak tanıtılmıştır. Bu nedenle, bir görme / okuma aracı haline gelir. Mekân ve yüzey bütün bir ilişki olarak birlikte okunur. Amaç, mimari yüzeyin, sergi mekânı olarak bir rölyef-mekân yaratırken tanımladığı “genişleme” terimini ve durumunu incelemektir. Rölyef-mekân, ya da kabaran-mekân, mimarlığın ve sanatın ortak zemini ile kavramsallaştırılan bir mimari durum olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Tartışma, müzelerin ve galerilerin sergi mekânı olmaya koşullanmış tekilliğini ve mimarlığın sergi mekânında sadece bir çeper olarak kabul edildiği sabit durumu sorgular. Anahtar Kelimeler: Rölyef-mekân, sergi ortamları, sergileme, müzeler vii To my family & To the memory of my father. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I owe my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş for her contributions, enlightening comments and questions throughout this study. I am glad for having the opportunity to work with her and to discuss and share ideas together in an academic environment. I hope her deep insight and knowledge will accompany me. Besides, I would like to thank to the examining committee members, Prof. Dr. Esin Boyacıoğlu, Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Haluk Zelef, Assist. Prof. Dr. Pelin Yoncacı Arslan and Assist. Prof. Dr. Umut Şumnu, for their stimulating comments and discussions throughout the process. I would like to thank to Assist. Prof. Dr. Umut Şumnu, specifically for his suggestion of the term “kabaran-mekân”, which enhances the Turkish translation of the term “relief- space”. I am thankful to my friends and colleagues, Bengisu Derebaşı and F.Serra İnan, who accompanied me while fulfilling the difficult tasks of being a research assistant. I would also like to express my gratitude to my best friends whom I had the chance to know thanks to this department and faculty, Cemre Önertürk, Ekin Sancak, Gizem Yetiş, Zeynep Şahin, Coşan Karadeniz, Ege Çakır, Anıl Gülmez, Levent Küçükkaya and Doğancan Yılmaz. I have always been blessed with my second family, my best friends since my childhood, Gökçem Yiğit, Zeynep Şengil, Asu Erkoç, Ali Bakan and Deniz Aslan, and their endless support although they sometimes get bored of my architect-comments. Last but not least, this thesis would have never been accomplished without the support of my family. Special thanks to my mother, Özlem Sarıca, for her strong, generous and warm personality that taught me a lot in my entire life and I am deeply grateful for her care, encouragement and love. I also owe many thanks to my grandparents, Erdem and Sevinç Saracoğlu, for their endless love, support and sympathy. My gratitude never ends. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ v ÖZ ............................................................................................................................ vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. xiii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 2. RELIEF: EXPANDED SURFACE ................................................................... 17 2.3.1. Space of Relief: Expanded Surface ......................................................... 39 2.3.2. Text of Relief: Expanded Vocabulary ...................................................... 56 2.3.3. Quasi-ness: Expanded Scale ..................................................................... 61 3. DISPLAY ENVIRONMENTS: EXPANDED SPACE ..................................... 65 4. RELIEF AS A WAY OF SEEING THE DISPLAY ENVIRONMENTS ........ 81 x 4.4.1. Relief-Space I: Sir John Soane Museum ................................................ 102 4.4.2. Relief-Space II: Pergamonmuseum ........................................................ 111 4.4.3. Relief-Space III: Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum .................... 116 4.5.1. Malraux’s Wall: Physical Absence of the Wall as a Conceptual Space . 121 4.5.2. Krauss’ Wall: Locating “Museum without Walls” in an Architectural Frame ................................................................................................................ 124 4.5.3. Celant’s Wall: Wall as a Spatial Entity at the Intersection of Art and Architecture ...................................................................................................... 127 4.5.4. Wall Surface to Display Space ............................................................... 130 4.5.4.1. Wall as a Surface: Layered Relief-Space ......................................... 131 4.5.4.2. Wall as an Absence: Embedded Relief-Space ................................. 135 4.5.4.3. Wall as Space: Supplanted Relief-Space ......................................... 144 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 153 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 159 xi xii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES Figure 1. The Acropolis of Athens plan. ...................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Ruins of the Greek temple Erectheion. ........................................................ 4 Figure 3. Plan of the Greek temple Erectheion. ........................................................... 4 Figure 4(a,b,c,d). Diagrams created from Erechtheion plan, with different surface and space relationships, drawn by the author. .................................................................... 6 Figure 5. Diagrammatical zoom-in drawings of column flutes, drawn by the author. 7 Figure 6. Examples from Archipenko, Domela and Rodchenko. ............................