ESRA
AKCAN
Architect
(METU-Ankara)
PhD (
Assistant
Professor (UIC-Chicago)
esraakcan@gmail.com
eakcan@uic.edu
EDUCATION
PH.D. :
Graduate
M.PHIL.
:
Graduate
B &
M.ARCH. :
Faculty of
Architecture
LANGUAGES :
English, Turkish, German (advanced reading and intermediate speaking), French
(intermediate), Italian (elementary).
TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
: 2007-, Assistant Professor,
: 2005-2007, Postdoctoral Lecturer,
: 1999-2006, Adjunct
Instructor and Preceptor at Columbia University, New School-Parsons School of
Design, Pratt Institute, New York, NY
Courses
- “Architecture of the Cosmopolis” Graduate
Seminar at
- “East by East-West. Globalization and
Architecture” Graduate Seminar at
- “Theory
of Architectural Form”, Graduate Seminar at New School Parsons School of Design, New
School, New York, Spring 2002,
Spring 2003, Fall 2004, Fall 2005.
- “Architectural Theory 3 – ‘Non-Western’
Architecture”, Graduate Seminar at Pratt Institute,
- “Geographical
‘Other’ and Architecture” Graduate Seminar at
Fall 1999, Spring 2001, Spring 2002
: 1997 –
2003, Teaching Fellow and Section Leader at
Courses
- A4229x - Studies in
Tectonic Culture (Kenneth Frampton)
- A4348x - Architecture History 1 (Mary McLeod)
- A4348y - Architecture History 2 (Kenneth Frampton)
- A4341y – American
Architecture (Gwendolyn Wright)
- A4469x – History of
Architectural Theory (Mark Wigley)
: Guest Critic for Numerous Reviews at Columbia
University, Parsons School of Design, Barnard College, Pratt Institute, CUNY,
NJIT (2000-2004)
: 1993 –
1997, Teaching Assistant at METU,
Faculty of Architecture,
Courses:
- ARCH 201 - Architectural Design (2nd year)
- ARCH 202 – Architectural and Urban Design
(2nd year)
- ARCH 291 - Landscape Design 1 (2nd year)
- ARCH 292 - Landscape Design 2 (2nd year)
- ARCH 190 - Summer Practice in Building Construction (September 1994)
: 1996-1997, Architect for “
:
1990-1993, Intern for “Urban Renewal Project for Hacıbayram District in
(Urban Planner: Raci Bademli, Main Architect: Abdi Güzer), built,
: 1989-1990,
Intern in Architectural Offices: P. André Marendaz, Arıkök-Gagliardi,
AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
: Canadian
Center for Architecture (CCA) Research Grant (Fall 2009)
: Getty Research Institute Postdoctoral Grant (2008-2009)
: Columbia University Postdoctoral Fellowship at the
Core Program (2005-2007)
: Aga Khan Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT (Offered for
2005-2006)
: Finalist, Society of Fellows, Princeton University,
2005
: Columbia
University GSAPP Scholarship for Ph.D. 1997-2005
: GRAHAM Foundation, Carter Manny Award, Citation of
Special Recognition, 2003
: MELLON
Foundation Scholarship for Comparative Literature, 2002
: DAAD
Fellowship for Dissertation Research, 2001-2002
: KINNE Travel Grant, 2002
:
KRESS/ARIT Fellowship for Dissertation Research, 2000
: Columbia
University GSAPP, Distinction for M.Phil exam, 2000.
: “Cem
Culture House for Alevis” Competition, Special Mention, (with Mualla
Erkılıç), Turkey, 1996
: “Memorial
for Artists Burned in Sivas” Competition, Honorarium, Turkey, 1994
PUBLICATIONS
Books:
: Çeviride Modern Olan. Şehir ve Konutta Türk-Alman
İlişkileri, Istanbul: YKY Publishing, in Turkish (forthcoming
in 2008)
: Modern Architecture in Turkey: From the First World War to the
Present, co-author: Sibel Bozdoğan, London: Reaktion Books, in English (forthcoming in
2008-9)
: “Modernity in Translation: Early
20th Century German-Turkish Exchanges
in Land
Settlement and Residential Culture,” Doctoral
Dissertation, GSAPP, Columbia University, New York, October 2005.
: (Land)Fill İstanbul. Twelve Scenarios for a
Global City, Istanbul:
124/3 Publishing, 2004, in English and Turkish
Press
Reviews and Interviews on the Book:
: Radikal,
July 10, 2004 (Interview and Review by Deniz Alayat)
: Sanat
Dünyamız, August-September 2004 (Inteview by Mine Haydaroğlu)
: Arredamento
Mimarlık, September 2004, (Book Review)
: XXI, October 2004, (Interview
by Bülent Tanju)
: Guest Editor of Special Issue “Intertwined Histories.
Turkey and Central Europe,” CENTROPA, Vol.7, No.2, in English, 2007.
Contributors:
Esra Akcan, Can Bilsel, Zeynep Çelik, Bernd
Nicolai, Yavuz Sezer,
: Guest Editor of Special Issue “Other’ Geographies
Under Globalization” Domus m, Feb-March 2001. in Turkish with
English summaries
Contributions:
e-forum organized by Esra Akcan: Andreas
Huyssen, Bülent Tanju, Grahame Shane, Gülsüm B. Nalbantoğlu, Gwendolyn
Wright, İhsan Bilgin, Kenneth Frampton, Meyda Yeğenoğlu,
Reinhold Martin.
Articles: Emel
Aközer, John Biln, Cana Bilsel, Sibel Bozdoğan, Christopher Chee-Wai Chew,
Lucy Creagh, Mustafa Dikeç, Mualla Erkılıç, Berin Gür, John Loomis,
Joan Ockman, Uğur Tanyeli, Ioanna Theocharopoulou, Shingo Tsuji
Projects:
Hariri and Hariri, Christos Papoulias, Andreas Angelidakis, Harikleia
and Joyce Haris, William Lim, Kerry Hill, Tan Hock Beng, Glen Murcutt, Peter
Stuchbury, SOM, Enrique Norten, Clorindo
Testa, GGMPU
: Contributions as a member in the Editorial Board: Cogito
(3-monthly journal on theory and literary criticism)
Articles in Journals and Books:
In English:
: “Reading Generic City: Retroactive Manifestoes
for Global Cities of the Twenty-first century,” Perspecta 41 (forthcoming in 2008)
: “War and Memory Transference: Daniel Libeskind in
Berlin and New York" New German Critique (in
process) (peer-review)
: “The Modern Rational Kitchen in Turkey and
Margarete Schütte Lihotzky” Ruth Oldenziel (ed.) (forthcoming from MIT Press)
: “Nomads and Migrants: A Comparative Reading of Sedad
Eldem’s and Le Corbusier’s Travel Diaries,” Travel Space and
Architecture, Jilly Traganou, Miodrag Mitrasinovic and Samer Akkach
(eds.) (forthcoming from Ashgate)
:“Desert
Storm” (Original Title: “Does the Future Start in Dubai?”) Architect’s Newspaper (NY Edition) 03 (02. 20. 2008), p. 28
: “Reciprocal Translations of Garden City Housing” CENTROPA, Vol.
7. No.2, May 2007
: “Towards a Cosmopolitan Ethics in Architecture: Bruno Taut’s
Translations out of Germany,” New German Critique 99, Vol. 33, No.3
Special Issue on “Modernism after Postmodernism” Fall 2006. (peer-review)
: “Melancholies of
Istanbul and Orhan Pamuk,” World Literature Today, Vol. 80, No.6,
November-December 2006
: “Built at Night” PIN-UP Magazine, No.2, Summer 2007
: “Ambiguities of Transparency and Privacy In Seyfi Arkan’s
Houses for the New State,” METU Journal of Architecture, Ankara, Spring
2006 (peer-review)
: “Melancholy and the ‘Other’” Eurozine Cultural Journals
(www.eurozine.com).
Also translated into Swedish for Glanta, January 2006
: “The Siedlung and the Mahalle. Intertwined Histories
of Neighborhood” Eurozine Cultural Journals (www.eurozine.com).
: “The Global Housing Question,” Architect’s Newspaper 18,
11.2.2005.
: “World, Open City?” Architectural
Design (AD), Special Issue on Islam
and Architecture, Sabiha Foster (ed). November 2004.
: “Cosmopolitan Memorials. Projections on the Ground-Zero,” 9/11.
NY- Istanbul. Feride Çiçekoğlu
(ed.) Istanbul: Homer Pub. 2003.
: “Manfredo Tafuri’s Theory of Architectural Avant-Garde” Journal of Architecture, Summer 2002. (peer-review)
: “Critical Practice in the Global Era. Question Concerning ‘Other’
Geographies,” Architectural Theory
Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2002. (peer-review)
: “Golden Lion Goes to Africa, via Belgium,” Architect’s
Newspaper, No.16, 10.5.2004
: “One Woman’s Place: Book Review of Mary McLeod (ed), Charlotte
Perriand,” Architect’s Newspaper, No.13, 7.27.2004.
: “Book Review: Sibel Bozdoğan, Modernism and Nation Building,” International
Journal of Middle East Studies 36, 2004.
:“Kenneth Frampton - Esra Akcan” (Interview with Kenneth Frampton), Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1997/11,
pp.42-48.
: “Americanization
and Anxiety. Istanbul Hilton Hotel by SOM and Eldem,” Proceedings for 2001 ACSA International Conference, Istanbul,
June 15-19, 2001.
: “Orientalism and Melancholy. Bruno Taut in the East,”
Proceedings for 2000 ACSA National
Meeting, Los Angeles, March 11-14, 2000.
: “Glass Symbolism, Experiential
Transparency and Privacy in Maison de
Verre,” Proceedings for 2000 ACSA
National Meeting, Los Angeles, March 11-14, 2000 and 1999 ACSA West Central
Regional Meeting, Fargo, September 24-26, 1999.
: “Letter to A-NY-Time”, (with Ş.
Yalınay), AnyTime, ed. C.
Davidson. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999.
: “Theory and Practice of Architectural Design”, with Mualla
Erkılıç, Stüdyolar,
1993-1994, pp.30-42.
: “The Aga Khan Architectural Mission and Demir Houses,” with C.
Çinici, Selections from International
Press, The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1993.
: “Çoğunluğun Zulmu,
Farklılık ve Gökdelen Amerikanizmi” (Tyranny of Majority, Difference
and Skyscraper Americanism) Arredamento
Mimarlık, April 2008
: “Metafiziğin Kalesi Hakkında Düşünmek” (Thinking
about the Fortress of Metaphysics) Cogito Special Issue on Derrida, 46,
Summer 2006.
: “’Doğayla İç İçe Yaşamak’” (Living with Nature)
Varlık, August 2006.
: “Neden Dubai?” (Why Dubai?) Arredamento Mimarlik, 2006/5.
: “Konut ve Isyan” (Housing and Protest) Cogito 44, Fall 2005
: “Modern Komşuluğun İçiçe
Geçmiş Tarihleri” (Intertwined Histories of Modern Residential
Neighborhoods) Trans. Kaan Atakay, Varlık, Winter
2005.
: “Melankoli ve Öteki”
(Melancholy and the Other) Trans. Efe Çakmak,
Cogito 43, Summer 2005.
: “Temsil Politikası ve 9. Venedik
Mimarlık Bienali” (Politics of Representation and the 9th Architectural
Biennial of Venice) Sanat Dünyamız, Fall 2004.
: “Öteki Columbia” (The Other Columbia) Arredamento Mimarlık, April 2004.
: “Dünya Açık Şehir. Küresel Kent Üzerine Pasajlar“ (World,
Open City. Passages on Global Cities),
Arredamento Mimarlık, November 2003.
: “C,” XXI, December 2003.
: “Urban Flashes İstanbul,” XXI,
October 2003.
: “Kalıcı Savaşın Beton Belgeleri. NY Dünya Ticaret Merkezi Arazisi
İçin Mimari Proje Yarışması” (Concrete Documents of
Perpetual War. Architectural Competition for the NY WTC Site). XXI, June
2003.
: “Kağıt
Mimarlığı. Boran Ekinci’nin Hayal Evleri” (Paper Architecture.
Houses of Boran Ekinci). Arredamento
Mimarlık, June 2003.
: “Soruşturma 2003”
(Questionnaire 2003: 20 Turkish Masterpieces of 20th Century) Mimarlık 312,
June-July 2003.
: “Küresel Çağda
Eleştirellik. ‘Öteki Coğrafyalar Sorunsalı,” (Criticism in
Global Times. “Other’ Geographies) Trans. Alev Erkmen, Arredamento Mimarlık, February 2002
: “Amerikanlaşma ve
Endişe. İstanbul Hilton Oteli,” (“Americanization and
Anxiety. Istanbul Hilton Hotel”) Arredamento
Mimarlık, November 2001, pp.112-119.
: “Öteki’ Dünyanın
Melankolisi. Bruno Taut’un Doğu Deneyimi” (The Melancholy of the ‘Other’
World. Bruno Taut in the East), Domus m, Feb-March
2001
: “Duvarlar Ona Geri Bakar. Walter
Benjamin, Modern Aura ve Şiirsel
Düşünce,” (Walls Look Back to Him. Walter Benjamin, Modern Aura
and Poetical Thinking”), Studio. Gift to
Kemal Aran, ed. E. Aközer, M.
Erkılıç, N. Öğüt,
Ankara, METU Architectural Press.
: “Stalker,” Domus
m, October-November 2000.
: “Cam: Cinsel Kimlik: Makina. Maison de Verre, 1. Bölüm. Cam
Sembolizmi ve Deneyimsel Saydamlık” (Glass:Gender:Machine. Glass Symbolism and Experiential
Transparency in Maison de Verre. Part
1). Domus m, 4, Spring 2000.
: “Rasyonalizm,” “Bofill, Ricardo,” “Botta, Mario,” “ Hollein,
Hans,” “ Kleihues, Josef Paul,” “ Ungers, Oswald Mathias,” items for Eczacıbaşı Sanat Sözlüğü
(Eczacıbaşı Art Dictionary), 2000.
: “Herhangi ya da bir New York Zamanı” (A-NY-TIME) Arredamento Mimarlık, 1998/09,
pp.110-113.
: “Mimari Hafıza ve Yalman Evi” (Architectural
Memory and Yalman House), Arredamento
Mimarlık, 1998/09, pp.118-119.
: “Kenneth Frampton - Esra Akcan” (Interview with Kenneth
Frampton), Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1997/11,
pp.42-48. (also in English)
: “John Hejduk Esra Akcan’la Konuşuyor” (Interview with John
Hejduk), Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1997/06,
pp. 70-73.
: “Kayıp Yüzler, Ağlayan Melekler - John Hejduk” (Lost
Faces, Crying Angels - John Hejduk), Arredamento
Dekorasyon, 1997/06, pp. 66-69.
: Partial Editing of Identity
Legitimation Ethics, Proceedings of the Second Symposium of Architecture in
Turkey, October, 7-9, 1993, Ankara: Chamber of Architects, 1997.
: “Mimarlığımızda Yer-Kimlik Ilişkisi ve
Içerik Sorunu” (Place and Content in Contemporary Turkish Architecture), Kimlik Meşruiyet Etik (Identity
Legitimation Ethics), Proceedings of the Second Symposium of Architecture
in Turkey, October
7-9, 1993, Ankara: Chamber of Architects,
1997.
: “Saklı Figürden Aleni Figüre. Disneyland’in
Öğrettikleri” (From Hidden to Literal Figure. Learning From Disneyland), Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1996/12, pp.
73-80.
: “Dekonstrüksiyon ve Mimarlık” (Deconstruction and
Architecture), 70 Sonrası
Mimarlık - Tartışmalar (Post
-70 Architecture - Discussions), Ed. Abdi Güzer, Ankara: Mimarlar
Derneği Yayınları, 1996, pp45-52.
: “Habitat II’ye Türkiye’den Bakmak - Söyleşi” (Looking at
Habitatt II from Turkey - Discussion), Arredamento
Dekorasyon, 1996/4, pp.88-96.
: “Geçmişte Kaldığı Çağda Sanat. Bir
Heidegger Yorumu” (Art in an Age of its Own Oblivion. An Interpretation on
Heidegger), Defter, 25, 1995,
pp.65-87.
Reprınted
in: Stüdyolar, July 1996, pp.18-27.
: “Imgenin Iki Yüzü” (Two Faces of the Image), Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1995/7-8,
pp.73-77.
: “Sanat ve Anıyeri. Ikinci Yıl
Çalışması” (Art and Memorial. Second Year Studio Work), Stüdyolar, 1994-1995, pp.62-71.
: “Iletişim ve Tüketim Toplumunda Mekansal
Farklılığa Ait Çelişkiler” (Contradictions on Spatial
Difference in the Information and Consumer Society), Toplum Bilim, 64, 1994, pp.39-53.
: “Tange Üzerine Yazışmalar”
(Correspondences on Tange), with Ş. Yalınay, Berin Gür, Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1994/11, pp.
69-73.
: “Nedenselliğin Mimarlığı” (Architecture of
Reasonability), with H. Zelef, Arredamento
Dekorasyon, 1994/6, pp.79-81.
: “Sanatın ve Mimarlığın Göreli
Özerkliği/Özgürlüğü Üzerine” (On the Relative Autonomy/Freedom of Art
and Architecture), Mimarlık,
257, 1994, pp.21-22.
: “Yorum: Moore” (Commentary: Moore), Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1994/4,
pp.95-96.
: “Dışavurumculuk ve Ötesi” (Expressionism and Beyond), Arredamento Dekorasyon, 1994/2,
pp.88-93.
: “Yorum: Sempozyumdan Aksedenler” (Commentary: Reflections from
the Symposium), Mimarlık, 255,
1993, pp.35-6.
: “Ağa Han Mimarlık Misyonu ve Demir Evler” (Aga Khan
Architectural Mission and Demir Houses), with C. Çinici, Mimarlık, 252, pp.50-51.
English
Version Published in Selections from
International Press, The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1993.
: “Yayın Tanıtma: Mimarlar Yarışıyor”
(Book Review: Architects in Competition), Mimarlık,
251, 1993, pp.38-42.
EXHIBITIONS
: 1st Architectural Festival of
İstanbul, Darphane, October 2004, İstanbul.
Invited Architect: “(Land)Fill İstanbul: Twelve
Scenarios for a Global City”
: Official Invitee of the German Pavilion
for the 9th International Architecture Biennale of Venice, September
12, 2004 – November 7, 2004.
: Urban
Flashes-Istanbul Exhibition. Garanti Galeri, June-July 2004, İstanbul.
Invited Artist: “(Land)Fill İstanbul: Twelve
Scenarios for a Global City”
: Cem
Culture House for Alevis Architectural Competition, Exhibition of Winning
Entries, İstanbul, 1996.
Winning Entry with Mualla Erkılıç (Special Mention)
: Memorial
for Artists Burned in Sivas Competition,
Exhibition of Entries with Honorarium, Ankara 1994
: "Visual Representation for
Historical Research. Perspectives from Art and Architecture," Paper
presentation and round table participation in EUWOL Symposium, January 23-26,
2008, Tours, France.
: “Bahçelievler” Keynote address at Middle East Technical University Doctoral Research Symposium, December 24, 2007, Ankara, Turkey.
: “Spaces, Words, Traces: War and Memory
Transference," Cold War Culture Symposium, May 4-5, 2007, Columbia
University, New York.
: Organization of “Core Education in the
Twenty-First Century” March 23-24, 2007, Columbia University, New York.
: “Manfredo
Tafuri and Critical Practice in Weimar Germany,” Society of Architectural Historians, Annual Meeting, April 26-29, 2006, Savannah.
: “Melancholy as Object: Orhan Pamuk’s
Istanbul,” World Literature Today, Puterbaugh Conferences, University of
Oklohoma, April 18-22, 2006, Norman
: “Distant Istanbul (dir.
N.B.Ceylan),” Lecture at Berkeley University, February 27, 2006, Berkeley
: “Europe and Turkey: only neighbors?”
Presentation and Panel Discussion at 18th European Meeting of
Cultural Journals, November 4-7, 2005, Istanbul.
: “OffCenterS”. Presentation and Panel Discussion at the National Arts Club, with Michael Sorkin,
Andrew Zago, Joshua Bolchover, Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss. Moderated by Kyong Park
and Peter Lang, September 16, 2005, New York.
: “Modernity in Translation and the
Contested Zones of Cultural Exchange,” Society
of Architectural Historians, Annual Meeting, April 6-10, 2005, Vancouver.
: “Traveling Theory: The Garden City Ideal
from London to Ankara,” Lecture at Bryn Mawr College, March 31, 2005,
Philadelphia.
: “Debate: Beyond “non-Western.” Rethinking
the Professional Curriculum,” with Anthony Vidler, Gayatri Spivak, Sandhya
Shukla, Hosted by Reinhold Martin, Columbia University Lecture Series, February
7, 2005, New York.
: “Modernity in Translation,” Lecture at University
of Pennsylvania, January 24, 2005, Philadelphia.
: “(Land)Fill İstanbul. Twelve
Scenarios for a Global City,” Presentation at Center for Architecture,
March 10, 2004, New York, and at Columbia University, April 9, 2004, New
York.
: “Modernity in Translation. Privacy and
Spectacle in the Official Residences of Seyfi Arkan” ARC Lecture Series at
Berkeley University, February 25, 2004.
: “Ten Utopian and Dystopian Scenarios for
Global Istanbul,” Urban Flashes – Istanbul, September 6-11, 2003.
: “Globalization and Translation of the
Avant-Garde,” Columbia University, GSAPP Lecture Series, July 9, 2002
: “Americanization and Anxiety. Istanbul
Hilton Hotel by SOM and Eldem,” ACSA
International Conference, June 15-19, 2001, Istanbul
: “Modernization Melancholy Memory. The
Culture and Politics of Vernacularism,” Society
of Architectural Historians Annual Meeting, April 18-22, 2001, Toronto
: Round table speaker in “Globalization –
Trends in International Real Estate Investment and Development,” Director:
Michael Buckley, The Columbia Real Estate
Round Table, March 20, 2001, Columbia University, New York
: “Orientalism and Melancholy. Bruno Taut
in the East,” 2000 ACSA National Meeting,
Los Angeles, March 11-14, 2000. Also accepted for ACSA International
Meeting in Hong Kong, June 11-14, 2000.
: “Glass Symbolism, Experiential
Transparency and Privacy in Maison de
Verre,” Nominated and Chosen as representative of ACSA Regional Meetings in
2000 ACSA National Meeting, Los
Angeles, March 11-14, 2000.
Originally presented in: 1999 ACSA
West Central Regional Meeting, Fargo, September 24-26, 1999.
: “La
Turquie Kemaliste” State, Architecture and Publicity,” MESA 99 Annual Meeting, Washington, November 19-21, 1999.
:
Organization of 1999 Buell Dissertation
Colloquium, May 15, 1999, Chief Organizer: Joan Ockman.
:
Organization of Last Things Before the
Last? Columbia University, Ph.D. Students
Symposium, with David Rifkind, Ioanna Theocharopoulou, April 3, 1999.
:
“Representation of Counter-Memory. Cem Culture House for Alevis,” Design Thinking Research Symposium at MIT,
Boston, April 23-25, 1999.
:
“Genealogy of Nationalism and the Memory of ‘Turkish House’,” Hypothesis 3, Symposium at Princeton University, Princeton, February 12-13, 1999.
:
“Promoting Orientalism in the Orient. Contemporary Tourism (Entertainment?) in
Turkey,” Noon Lecture at Columbia
University, New York, April 17, 1997.
:
“Dekonstrüksiyon ve Mimarlık” (Deconstruction and Architecture), 70 Sonrası Mimarlık -
Tartışmalar (Post -70
Architecture - Discussions), Lecture Series at Architects’ Association,
Ankara, March 29, 1995.