Turkey’s changemakers: 'Architecture is for All'
Sabancı Foundation Turkey’s Changemakers Program continues in its 6th season to share the unique stories of extraordinary people who contribute to social development. The fourth Changemaker of the 6th season is Architecture for All Association. The Architecture for All Association was established in 2011 for creating architectural and design solutions for socio-cultural problems in Turkey.
The Architecture for All Association, which was established by fresh graduate architects and architecture students, is working to transform idle buildings for society’s use in various regions of Turkey. Besides buildings, the association is conducting projects on renovating school libraries and fishing ports and redesigning squares. There are 60 architecture members of the association, as well as 20 members from different professional backgrounds.
The main project of the association is the Idle Village Schools Project. It is about the transformation of the idle village schools by the members of the Architecture for All Association for the use of the society in accordance with their needs. The members stay in the villages for several months and complete the construction together with the villagers. Working together with the villagers and integrating them with the project are the main pillars of the projects.
The association continues its journey through discovering idle buildings and transforming them for the use of society. While doing this, it carries the architecture students from theory to practice and also opens the magical doors of architecture to people in different professions. The projects that were completed by the association are constructing a lodging building for teachers in the village of Hacıibrahimusağı of Kahramanmaraş, design of the square of Kabakdağı Village of Fatsa District of Ordu, renovation of the fishing ports in Gülburnu Village of Giresun, renovation of the primary school in Kargı Village of Ordu and the development of the project for a vocational school for children with mental disabilities in İzmir Ovakent in the context of “Idle Village Schools Project,” producing ideas and design for the urban transformation areas of Istanbul and renovating the children’s reading room in Çorum City Library.
The Architecture for All Association has completed eight projects so far and has four projects in progress. The association has a participatory perspective for architecture and it designs the projects after discussing with all of the stakeholders and understanding their problems and needs. The association carried the architecture profession from the offices to the villages and created a big difference in the hearts of the villagers through the projects they have completed. They have also made a difference by creating a new perspective toward the profession of architecture.
