Urban Parasites: Re-Appropriation of Interstitial Spaces in Architecture Through the Act of Graffiti
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URBAN PARASITES: RE-APPROPRIATION OF INTERSTITIAL SPACES IN ARCHITECTURE THROUGH THE ACT OF GRAFFITI A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SENEM YILDIRIM IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE IN ARCHITECTURE SEPTEMBER 2013 URBAN PARASITES: RE-APPROPRIATION OF INTERSTITIAL SPACES IN ARCHITECTURE THROUGH THE ACT OF GRAFFITI submitted by SENEM YILDIRIM in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen _____________________ Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın _____________________ Head of Department, Department of Architecture Prof. Dr. Aydan Balamir _____________________ Supervisor, Department of Architecture, METU Examining Committee Members: Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın, _____________________ Department of Architecture, METU Prof. Dr. Aydan Balamir, _____________________ Department of Architecture, METU Prof. Dr. Abdi Güzer, _____________________ Department of Architecture, METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan, _____________________ Department of City and Regional Planning, METU Prof. Dr. Zeynep Uludağ, _____________________ Department of Architecture, Gazi 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. Senem Yıldırım iv ABSTRACT URBAN PARASITES: RE-APPROPRIATION OF INTERSTITIAL SPACES IN ARCHITECTURE THROUGH THE ACT OF GRAFFITI Yıldırım, Senem M.Arch., Department of Architecture Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Aydan Balamir September 2013, 161 pages 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 the 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 on the subject. 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, the center of former East Berlin, to Friedrichshain, the 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 before and after Berlin Wall, while documenting the changing identity of interstitial nodes by observing Kunsthaus Tacheles in Mitte and Yaam in Friedrichshain. Keywords: Urban Parasites, Interstitial Spaces in Architecture, Re-Appropriation of Space, the Act of Graffiti, Berlin v ÖZ KENT PARAZİTLERİ: MİMARİDE ARA MEKANLARIN GRAFİTİ MÜDAHALESİ İLE YENİDEN SAHİPLENİLMESİ Yıldırım, Senem Yüksek Lisans, Mimarlık Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Aydan Balamir Eylül 2013, 161 sayfa Bu tez, yeniden sahiplenme alanları olan ve varolan kentsel çevrenin sterilliğine karşı radikal duruşlar sergileyen parazit mekanlara odaklanmaktadır. Tezin amacı, kent parazitlerinin biçimlenişi ve kent içinde yayılmasının mimari çevrenin tasarlanması için yeni bir method olma potansiyelini araştırmaktır. Kent paraziti kavramı tezde kentin ara mekanlarında şekillenen bireysel müdahale alanlarını işaret etmektedir. Kent parazitleri, aynı bağlamı paylaşan dönüştürülmüş ara-mekanların, mekansal ve sembolik olarak birbirine bağlanmasıyla oluşan, kent dokusu içinde alternatif bölgeler oluşturur. Dikkate değer bir kent paraziti örneği olarak grafiti, ara-mekanların yeniden tasarlanması üzerine mimari bir söylem ileri sürdüğü ve alternatif mekansal biçimlenmeleri teşvik ettiği için, çalışmanın temelini oluşturmaktadır. Tezde kent gözlemcileri olarak anılan grafiti sanatçıları, kent görünümünün yaratıcıları ve alternatif mekanların oluşabilmesi için yeni zeminler hazırlayan kent müdahalecileri olarak incelenmiştir. Potansiyel grafiti noktalarının seçimi, yürüme eylemini kullanarak kent mekanını gözlemleme ve onunla etkileşmenin bir metodu olarak araştırıldı. Grafiti sanatçısı, grafiti noktalarını seçerken, mekansal ve sembolik olarak diğer noktalara referans vererek kent parazitlerinin sürekliliğini sağlar. Çalışma, ara-mekanların, onları şekillendiren grafiti mirasına paralel olarak, farklı zaman aralıklarında gelişiminin izini sürmek için, bu konuda önemli bir örnek olan Berlin şehrine odaklandı. Ara mekanların farklı bağlamlara göre değişen kimliklerini incelemek ve grafiti noktalarının birleşmesi ile şekillenen kent parazitlerini gözlemlemek için; eski Doğu Berlin merkezi Mitte’den eski Doğu Berlin’in toplu konut bölgesi Friedrichshain’e uzanan rota üzerinde Berlin grafiti haritası yeniden çizildi. Kişisel gözlemlere dayanarak hazırlanan ve mevcut diğer görsellerle karşılaştırılan haritalar aracılığıyla, tez, Berlin Duvarı ve sonrası Mitte ve Friedrichshain’de grafiti noktalarıyla kesişen kent parazitlerinin devamlılığının izini sürdü, bu sayede, ara mekanların düğüm noktaları oluşturduğu Mitte’de Kunsthaus Tacheles ve Friedrichshain’de Yaam’ı gözlemleyerek, parazitlerin bağlamlarına göre değişen kimliklerini belgeledi. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kent Parazitleri, Mimaride Ara Mekan Kavramı, Mekanın Yeniden Örgütlenmesi, Grafiti, Berlin vi To My Family vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Prof. Dr. Aydan Balamir for all her incredible supports, guidance and patience throughout this research. I would also like to thank the examining committee, Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın, Prof Dr. Abdi Güzer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan, and Prof. Dr. Zeynep Uludağ for their guidance all through my undergraduate and graduate years and also for their valuable suggestions and comments for the thesis. I owe special thanks first and foremost to Erkan Kerti for his support, help and caring throughout this difficult process, without him I wouldn’t be able to finish this thesis. I would like to offer my special thanks to all my professors at Middle East Technical University and Gazi University, and my colleagues at Gazi University for their supports throughout my thesis studies. I will always be grateful; to Su Ertürkmen, Beril Kapusuz and Oya Memlük who has always accompanied me with such patience. I would also like to thank Marli King for all her contributions to this thesis whom I have taken advice throughout the whole process, and all others whom I forget to name for their contributions to this thesis but also for their moral support. Last but upmost I would like to express my appreciation to my family for all their love and support: To my brother Ahmet Yıldırım for being so caring and supportive, my father Mustafa Yıldırım, my mother Zeynep Yıldırım and my aunt Neriman Yıldırım for always helping me out and taking care of me. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………….……………………………………………………….……….. v ÖZ ………………………………………………………………………………………….. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………..……….. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………….………. ix LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………..……………... xii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………… 1 1.1. Definition of the Problem …………………………………………….. 1 1.2. Aim and Scope of the Thesis …………………………………………. 2 1.3. Method of the Study ……………………………….………………….. 4 2. OF INTERSTITIAL SPACES …………………………………..……………... 11 2.1. Conditions of Space: Placing the Place-less Individual in the Post- Modern City Space ……………………………………………………..… 11 2.2. Intervention to Architectural Space: Re-Appropriating Urban Space ………………………………………………………………..….… 15 2.2.1. Do-It-Yourself Urbanism ……………………………….. 17 2.2.2. Minor Geographies …………...…………………………. 18 2.3. Parasitic Spaces: A Reading of Interstitial Spaces for the Creation of the Re-Appropriated Spaces in the Existing Architectural Fabric …………… 19 2.3.1. Architectural Parallax ………………………………...…. 21 2.3.2. The Fold ……………………………...………………….. 23 2.3.3. Heterotopias …………………………...………………… 24 2.4. Interconnections in Architectural Space: Binding Urban Parasites: A semiological search of urban parasites in the city space …………………. 26 2.4.1. The Cell .......................................................................….