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A Philosophy of Void: Ankara Hippodrome and After A PHILOSOPHY OF VOID: ANKARA HIPPODROME AND AFTER A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MEHMET SANER IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING SEPTEMBER 2014 Approval of the thesis: A PHILOSOPHY OF VOID: ANKARA HIPPODROME AND AFTER submitted by MEHMET SANER in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning Department, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen ___________________ Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences Prof. Dr. Melih Ersoy ___________________ Head of the Department, City and Regional Planning Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay ___________________ Supervisor, City and Regional Planning Dept., METU Examining Committee Members: Prof. Dr. Adnan Barlas ___________________ City and Regional Planning Dept., METU Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay ___________________ City and Regional Planning Dept., METU Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın ___________________ Architecture Dept., METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe ___________________ City and Regional Planning Dept., METU Assist. Prof. Dr. Bilge İmamoğlu ___________________ Architecture Dept., TED University Date: ___________________ 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, Last name : Mehmet Saner Signature : iv ABSTRACT A PHILOSOPHY OF VOID: ANKARA HIPPODROME AND AFTER Saner, Mehmet Ph.D., Department of City and Regional Planning Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay September 2014, 182 pages Void is a concept introduced by Greek philosophers to define utterly empty spaces. It has been subject to a number of texts in philosophy, assumptions and studies in sciences, particularly in physics, and exercises in spatial design education. However, once its use in architecture and urban design is replaced with that of space, it is hardly referred to define spaces of any quality. This study aims at exploring the use of void in various realms, and then at reintroducing the term to understand and treat unintentional voids emerging in urban patterns, where spatial terminology and the tools and methods of design fail to develop satisfactory explanations and appropriate approaches. The case to be studied here is Ankara Hippodrome, which is recorded as the First Division of Atatürk Cultural Center Areas today. It is proposed analyzing the area in three consecutive phases: first as a void, which may as well be described as a proto-space with some potential in Ankara in the early 20th century, second as void becoming space, which was used as the hippodrome of the capital city with all spatial qualities as integrated into daily life, and finally as an unintentional void lacking spatial qualities despite the planning decisions and architectural projects to retain its spatiality. v Ankara Hippodrome is an unintentional void today. Lacking established spatial relationships, and being detached from the everyday urban experiences, it is no longer a space, but a void that is constantly desired to fill. Yet, neither trying to fill the void is the appropriate method, nor just establishing spatial relationships is enough to turn the void into space. Therefore, before utilizing the tools and methods of spatial design, the ways to make it engage with everyday urban experiences must be sought after so to make the void social as space again. Keywords: Void, Spatial Relationships, Everyday Urban Experiences, Ankara Hippodrome, Atatürk Cultural Center vi ÖZ BOŞLUĞUN BİR FELSEFESİ: ANKARA HİPODROMU VE SONRASI Saner, Mehmet Doktora, Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay Eylül 2014, 182 sayfa Boşluk, Yunan filozofları tarafından tamamen boş olanı tanımlamak üzere öne sürülmüş bir kavramdır. Kavram, pek çok felsefi metne, fizik başta olmak üzere bilimsel varsayımlara ve çalışmalara ve mekan tasarımı eğitimindeki alıştırmalara konu olmuştur. Ancak, mimarlık ve kentsel tasarımda, boşluk yerine mekân kavramı kullanılmaya başladığında, herhangi bir nitelikteki mekânı tanımlamak üzere boşluk kavramında başvurulduğunu söylemek güçtür. Bu çalışmada öncelikle boşluk kavramının farklı alanlardaki kullanımını araştırmak ve sonrasında mekâna ilişkin terminolojinin ve tasarım araç ve yöntemlerinin tatmin edici açıklamalar getiremediği ve uygun yaklaşımlar geliştiremediği, kentsel dokuda istemsiz ortaya çıkan boşlukları anlamak ve ele almak üzere, boşluk kavramı yeniden ön plana çıkarmak amaçlanmaktadır. Çalışmada incelenecek örnek, bugün Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Alanları Birinci Bölge olarak kayıtlara geçen Ankara Hipodromu’dur. Alanın birbirini izleyen üç safhada incelenmesi önerilmektedir: ilk olarak, öncül-mekân da denebilecek, erken 20. yüzyıl Ankara’sında bazı potansiyellere sahip bir boşluk olarak, ikinci olarak tüm mekânsal nitelikleriyle gündelik hayatın bir parçası haline gelen, başkentin hipodromu olarak kullanılan, böylece mekânlaşan boşluk olarak ve son vii olarak da mekânsallığını korumaya yönelik planlama kararları ve mimari projelere rağmen bu niteliğini kaybetmiş, istemsiz bir boşluk olarak. Ankara Hipodromu bugün istemsiz bir boşluktur. Kurulu mekânsal ilişkilerden yoksun ve günlük kentsel deneyimlerden ayrılmış haliyle artık bir mekân değil, sürekli doldurulmaya çalışılan bir boşluktur. Ancak ne boşluğu doldurmak uygun yöntemdir, ne de sadece mekânsal ilişkileri kurmak boşluğu mekân haline getirmek için yeterlidir. Bu yüzden, mekân tasarımı araç ve yöntemlerini kullanmaya başlamadan önce, boşluğu yeniden günlük kentsel deneyimlerin bir parçası haline getirmenin ve böylece boşluğu mekân olarak toplumsallaştırmanın yolları aranmalıdır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Boşluk, Mekânsal İlişkiler, Günlük Kentsel Deneyimler, Ankara Hipodromu, Atatürk Kültür Merkezi viii To Prof. Dr. Yüksel Öztan (1933-2010) who wished the void to be filled with plants ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay for his guidance, and encouragement throughout the study. I also would like to thank members of my dissertation committee Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Adnan Barlas for their continuous support, and other members of the examining committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe, and Assist. Prof. Dr. Bilge İmamoğlu for their constructive comments. I will always be thankful to Prof. Dr. Yüksel Öztan for shedding light on a relatively unknown period of the studied case by providing documents from his personal archive; may he rest in peace. I also would like to thank Prof. Dr. Halim Perçin, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özcan Altaban, Kadri Atabaş, Semra and Özcan Uygur, Coşkun Erkal, and Özgür Ecevit for sharing valuable documents related to Atatürk Cultural Center projects. I am grateful to my colleagues in Abant İzzet Baysal University, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Leyla Alpagut, and Inst. M. Ümit Meterelliyoz for providing me an undisturbed environment especially at the final period of writing down this dissertation, and also to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nusret Karakaya for the invaluable stimuli that made me focus on my work again. I would also like to thank other few yet real friends in Bolu, who made this city a second home for me for the past seven years. Finally, thanks to Burcu, for her liveliness, sympathy, and confidence in me, but especially for her endless patience. x TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ v ÖZ ......................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... x TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. xiii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION: WHY VOID? ...................................................................... 1 2. WHAT IS VOID? ................................................................................................ 9 2.1 The Concept of Void in Western Philosophy ............................................. 9 2.2 The Concept of Void in Sciences ............................................................. 19 2.3 The Concept of Void in Design ................................................................ 27 2.3.1 Deliberate Voids ................................................................................... 29 2.3.1.1 Solid-Void Concepts in Basic Design Education .......................... 29 2.3.1.2 Solid-Void Concepts in Practice: Architecture ............................. 39 2.3.1.3 Solid-Void Concepts in Practice: Urbanism ................................. 48 2.3.2 Unintentional Voids ............................................................................. 65 2.4 Void and Space ......................................................................................... 80 3. ANKARA HIPPODROME AND AFTER........................................................ 91 3.1 A Void in Ankara as Proto-Space ............................................................ 93 3.1.1 1892-1924: A Period of Spontaneous Development:
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