Within and Against Urban Regeneration: The Case of TED Ankara College as a Representation of Modern Heritage


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Yabacı A. E., Irmak I., Ataç E.

Urbanistica Informazioni, cilt.272, ss.476-480, 2017 (Hakemli Dergi)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 272
  • Basım Tarihi: 2017
  • Dergi Adı: Urbanistica Informazioni
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.476-480
  • TED Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The first half of the 20th century has been a critical turn for the Turkish architecture and planning history. The shift from traditional to modern discourse in the production of built environment was governed by the ideals of constructing modern Republic with the aid of respective reforms in the social, economic, and administrative domains. The milieu for such grand political vision and socio-spatial utopia has been Ankara necessitating an array of spatial plans and institutional programs to be developed.

 

Planning the spatial formation of an education quartier as the pillars of the modern republican program was considered vital in this context. Hermann Jansen, amongst the connoisseurs who contributed to the spatial formation of capital, reflected the significance of establishing an education complex on the periphery of the urban core of Ankara as an impetus for a modern environment in his 1932 dated urban plan. This spatial strategy anchored one of the leading modern institutions the Turkish Education Association and TED[1] Ankara College Foundation School: the milieu for the civic educational activities pursued for nearly a century and an integral part of modern cultural heritage.

 

In the current state of the Turkish architecture and planning practice, on the other hand, modern heritage structures and sites are on the verge of transformation. Although current transformation approaches do not depict a promising future for the conservation of modern environment, the regeneration of TED Ankara College Foundation School complex into a university campus challenges the current notion and suggests an appealing case to visit in terms of protecting the modern cultural heritage, and sustaining the identity and memory of place. 

 

The paper will initially introduce the reader to the spatial formation of a modern educational nuclei at the core of the Turkish capital through a retrospective study of maps, plans, and photographs. Thereafter, it will explore how the aforementioned site of education generated an identity for the surrounding neighborhood. Subsequently, the paper will discuss the regeneration process which pursued the character of the area as well as economic and social vitality of the urban environment that surrounds the TED University Campus. By doing this, the paper aims to present an alternative look within the limits of an urban regeneration program, but against the ill-effects of current transformation approaches that potentially hinder the conservation of the modern cultural heritage in Ankara.



[1] Abbreviation of Turkish Education Association