CONSTRUCTION OF “PHYSICAL” AND “DREAM” SPACES THROUGH THINGS/OBJECTS IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF GEORGES PEREC AND ORHAN PAMUK A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MÜGE ÖZMEN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE IN ARCHITECTURE SEPTEMBER 2014 Approval of the thesis: CONSTRUCTION OF “PHYSICAL” AND “DREAM” SPACES THROUGH THINGS/OBJECTS IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF GEORGES PEREC AND ORHAN PAMUK submitted by MÜGE ÖZMEN in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in Architecture Department, 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, Architecture Assist. Prof. Dr. Sevil Enginsoy Ekinci _____________________ Supervisor, Architecture Dept., METU Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş _____________________ Co-Supervisor, Architecture Dept., METU Examining Committee Members: Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan _____________________ Architecture Dept., METU Assist. Prof. Dr. Sevil Enginsoy Ekinci _____________________ Architecture Dept., METU Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş _____________________ Architecture Dept., METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esin Boyacıoğlu _____________________ Architecture Dept., Gazi University Inst. Dr. Haluk Zelef _____________________ Architecture Dept., METU Date: 05.09.2014 I hereby declare that all information in this thesis document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as reqıired 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: Müge Özmen Signature: iv ABSTRACT CONSTRUCTION OF “PHYSICAL” AND “DREAM” SPACES THROUGH THINGS/OBJECTS IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF GEORGES PEREC AND ORHAN PAMUK Özmen, Müge M.Arch., Department of Architecture Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Sevil Enginsoy Ekinci Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş September 2014, 187 pages This thesis is an attempt to examine the construction of “physical” and “dream” spaces through things/objects of daily life belonging to the past and the present. As an interdisciplinary study, it focuses on Things by Georges Perec (1965) and The Museum of Innocence (novel/2008), The Museum of Innocence (museum/2012) and The Innocence of Objects (catalogue of the museum/2012) by Orhan Pamuk and looks comparatively into the dynamics between “physical” and “dream” spaces in these works, and the roles played by things/objects in the architectural/literary production of spaces. Accordingly, it argues that while Perec scrutinizes things/objects in relation to the concept of desire, Pamuk explores their power of evoking memories. Keywords: Thing/Object, “Physical” Space, “Dream” Space, Desire, Memory v ÖZ GEORGE PEREC VE ORHAN PAMUK’ UN SEÇİLMİŞ ÇALIŞMALARINDA ŞEYLER/NESNELER YOLUYLA “FİZİKSEL” VE “HAYALİ” MEKANLARIN KURULMASI Özmen, Müge Yüksek Lisans, Mimarlık Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Sevil Enginsoy Ekinci Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş Eylül 2014, 187 sayfa Bu tez, geçmişte ve şimdiki zamandaki gündelik yaşama ait şeyler/nesneler üzerinden kurulan “fiziksel” ve “hayali” mekânları disiplinler arası bir yaklaşımla incelemeyi amaçlar. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma, Georges Perec’in Şeyler (1965) ve Orhan Pamuk’un Masumiyet Müzesi (kitap/2008), Masumiyet Müzesi (müze/2012) ve Şeylerin Masumiyeti (müze kataloğu/2012) eserlerine odaklanarak, bu eserlerdeki “fiziksel” ve “hayali” mekân dinamiklerini karşılaştırmalı olarak inceler ve şeylerin/nesnelerin mimari/edebi mekân üretimindeki rollerini göstermeyi hedefler. Şeyleri/nesneleri, Perec’te arzu kavramıyla ilişkilendirerek tartışırken, Pamuk’ta anıları canlandırmadaki güçleri yoluyla irdeler. Anahtar Kelimeler: Şey/Nesne, “Fiziksel” Mekân, “Hayali” Mekân, Arzu, Anı vi To Onur Özmen and To the memory of Hazar Topalan vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to present my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Sevil Enginsoy Ekinci for her encouragement, advise and constructive criticism throughout my research. It would be impossible to finish this work without her caring, patience and moral support. Besides, I would like to thank my co- supervisor, Prof. Dr. Ayşen Savaş for guiding my research and her valuable suggestions. I would like to thank the members of my examining committee, Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan for his constructive comments and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esin Boyacıoğlu for her helpful suggestions. I would also like to thank Inst. Dr. Haluk Zelef, not only for his excellent criticism and valuable comments during the examination but also for his special care throughout the whole process. Moreover, I would like to thank Figen Işık for her valuable comments and suggestions. Besides, I am indebted to my friend, Serap Ayyüzlü for her strong belief in me and patient friendship throughout the work. The last but not the least, I would like to thank my family. Special thanks to my parents, Gülay and Yahya Mansuroğlu for their care and love they shared, and to my spouse, for being with me during the hardest time in my life and his moral support and encouragement throughout my thesis project. It would not be possible to achieve this work without his support and trust in me. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………..v ÖZ……………………………………………………………………………………vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………….viii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….....ix LIST OF FIGURES…………………….….………………………………………...xi CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………1 1.1 Aim and Scope of the Thesis……………………………………………..1 1.1.1 Georges Perec/Things: A Story of the Sixties and Orhan Pamuk/The Museum of Innocence/The Museum of Innocence/The Innocence of Objects………………………………………………….2 1.2 Methodological/Theoretical Framework of the Study……………………6 1.2.1 “The Mutual Constitutiveness” of Things/Objects and Space………………………………………………………………….6 1.2.2 “Apartment” vs. “House” or “Home”…………………………10 1.3 Literature Review………………………………………………………..11 1.4 Structure of the Thesis…………………………………………………..17 2. GEORGES PEREC/THINGS: A STORY OF THE SIXTIES……………………..19 2.1 Paris……………………………………………………………………...19 2.1.1 The Apartment………………………………………………...22 2.1.1.1 The ‘Physical Apartment’/ Number 7, Rue de Quatrefages, Paris, France, Europe, World, Universe………26 2.1.1.1.1 Narrative Style and Characters…………….27 2.1.1.1.2 Interior of the ‘Physical Apartment’……….36 2.1.1.2 The ‘Dream Apartment’……………………………..38 ix 2.1.2 The City……………………………………………………….50 2.2 Sfax……………………………………………………………………..65 2.2.1 ‘In-Between’ Sfax and Paris…………………………………..66 2.2.2 The ‘Physical Apartment’……………………………………..68 2.2.3 The City…………………………………………………….....71 2.3 Epilogue: To Bordeaux………………………………………………….75 3. ORHAN PAMUK/THE MUSEUM OF INNOCENCE/THE MUSEUM OF INNOCENCE/THE INNOCENCE OF OBJECTS…………………………………..79 3.1 İstanbul…………………………………………………………………..80 3.1.1 The Novel of Innocent Objects: The Museum of Innocence......82 3.1.1.1 ‘The Spaces of Happiness’…………………………..86 3.1.1.2 ‘The Spaces of Melancholy’/ ‘In-Between’ Spaces…92 3.1.1.3 ‘The Spaces of Innocence’…………………………..98 3.1.2 The ‘Novel-Apartment’: The Museum of Innocence………...115 3.1.3 The Story of Innocent Objects: The Innocence of Objects…...137 4. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….145 4.1 Autobiography…………………………………………………………145 4.2 Narrative Style…………………………………………………………146 4.3 Characters………………………………………………………………148 4.4 Everyday Life/Space…………………………………………………...150 4.5 Memory/Desire/Space………………………………………………….151 4.6 Time/Space……………………………………………………………..153 4.7 Letter/Page/Space………………………………………………………157 4.8 Visuality………………………………………………………………..161 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………….179 x LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES Figure 1 Cover of Things, 1990, designed by Stephen Raw.........................................4 Figure 2 Cover of The Museum of Innocence, 2009, designed by Faber……………..4 Figure 3 Postcard of the museum which shows the ground floor, photographed by Refik Anadol………………………………………………………………………….5 Figure 4 Cover of The Innocence of Objects, photographed by Refik Anadol………………………………………………………………………………...5 Figure 5 Georges Perec in the Café de la mairie in Saint Sulpice, Paris, photographed by Pierre Getzler in October, 1974…………………………. ……………………...51 Figure 6 Perec on the Paris streets for his experimental study, photographed by Pierre Getzler in October, 1974…………………………………………………………….53 Figure 7 Perec on the Paris streets for his experimental study, photographed by Pierre Getzler in October, 1974………………………………………………………….....54 Figure 8 Circulation map of Jerome and Sylvie in Paris……………………………63 Figure 9 Spaces representing the sensations of Kemal and also corresponding to the vitrines displayed in the museum ………………..………………………………….85 Figure 10 Circulation map of Kemal in İstanbul……………………………………93 Figure 11 Map of spaces which remind Kemal of Füsun showing the streets in red, orange and yellow colors……………………………………………………………95 Figure 12 Basement and ground floors plan of ‘Keskins’ Apartment’…………….100 Figure 13 First and second floors and the penthouse plans of ‘Keskins’ Apartment’…………………………………………………………………………101 Figure 14 Map showing the location of the Museum of Innocence, prepared by Miray Özkan ……………………………………………………………………………...113 Figure 15 Map showing the location of the Museum of Innocence.........................113 Figure 16 Stamps for the free admission to the Museum of Innocence …………...114 Figure 17 Logo of