Browsing by Author "Buke, Fatma Gul Ozturk"

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The Dead-End of Public Art in Turkey: The Excess of "themed City Sculptures"-City Symbols
(Middle East Technical Univ, 2024) Buke, Fatma Gul Ozturk
In recent years, public art in Turkey has been transformed into a branding tool and reduced to mere decoration to promote cities. Large-scale models of products and values associated with the region are strategically placed at intersections on main roads. Decisions regarding these "themed city sculptures"-city symbols-appear to be solely at the discretion of politicians, with their mechanical production monopolized by a few commercial enterprises. While these city symbols are proudly showcased, they face criticism from artists, architects, and urban planners for their aesthetic shortcomings, and are often ridiculed on social media. The problematic nature of presenting city symbols as public art arises from their isolated location on vehicle roads, hindering interaction with their surroundings and viewers. Despite evoking Pop Art sculptures, with their unusually sized figurative depictions of everyday objects, these symbols, lacking an intellectual and artistic creation process, pose challenges in being accepted as works of art. On the other hand, labelling city symbols as kitsch and the subsequent lack of serious consideration have impeded addressing the root causes of the problem. A comprehensive analysis can only achieve a viable resolution to this deadlock in Turkish public art. Consequently, this article evaluates city symbols within the context of public art, Pop Art and kitsch, aiming to answer the question: What prevents city symbols from being regarded as works of art?
Citation - WoS: 4
Citation - Scopus: 3
Tourism-led adaptive reuse of the built vernacular heritage: A critical assessment of the transformation of historic neighbourhoods in Cappadocia, Turkey
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2023) Buke, Fatma Gul Ozturk
Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, increased tourism in traditional settlements have led to the adaptive reuse of built vernacular heritage to serve the tourism industry. The adaptive reuse of historic buildings is considered a conservation strategy and an alternative to new constructions in historic environments. Nevertheless, the adaptive reuse of built vernacular heritage and its socio-spatial impacts have not yet been sufficiently investigated. To fill the gap, this paper, focuses on Cappadocia, Turkey, where adaptive reuse of individual vernacular houses has recently paved the way for the transformation of an entire neighbourhood, the historic neighbourhood of Kayakapi, into a 'holiday village.' This study argues that traditional settlements and communities in Cappadocia have been subjected to 'gentrification' and so-called 'Disneyfication.' Such historic environments are facing controversial physical interventions, detached from local communities and devoted to a single function, namely tourism, becoming 'stereotypical and depersonalised.' The study further argues that the current situation is incompatible with international heritage and conservation policies. Correspondingly, to reveal the potential conflicts, the recent revitalisation project of the historic neighbourhood of Kayakapi in Cappadocia is examined as a case study.