Urban-Architecture as a Battleground of Socio-Cultural Struggle

Abstract

Architecture is closely yet paradoxically connected to the two basic and complementary human instincts; to construct and to destruct, in other words to live and to die. Therefore, architecture and urbanism can be considered as the spatial dimensions of an ideological war of different interest groups in cities. Such a war mainly manifests itself as the polarisation between corporate sector and public sector, global and local, modern and traditional. Planning acts as a means of capitalist control over the urban (public) space under a macro-orthodoxy approach despite the public reaction via manipulation of public space through; microurbanism in urban-leftovers and queer-spaces, reclamation of landfills, and ephemeral architecture. A large body of community seem to resist through guerrilla war tactics of architecture against the comprehensive strategic war plans, technoscientific artillery, and devoted and well-trained troops of neo-liberal corporate bodies. Who will survive in such a relentless spatial war depends largely on the development of counter-strategies and accurate calculations based on game theory. The chapter will address the issue of reconstruction and resilience of cities with particular reference to the case of Istanbul, her transformation zones and conservation areas. Hence, the study will focus on urban paradigm shift and complexity of Istanbul as a multi-cultural, multi-layered metropolitan city in a post-modern era. The article intends to develop alternative strategies towards reshaping urban environment via architecture primarily by analysing the morphology of new urban spaces and emergent forms of life. Consequently, architecture of cities is argued as a para-military instrument for the tactical deployment of conflicting ideologies into an ongoing state of socio-cultural battle between opposing parties of the city. © Inter-Disciplinary Press 2016.