Islands of Otherness: Archipelago Istanbul

124 Pages·2016·12.32 MB·English

by  Ivo Pekec

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AFFIDAVIT
I declare that I have authored this thesis independently, that I have not used other
than the declared sources/resources, and that I have explicitly indicated all ma-
terial which has been quoted either literally or by content from the sources used.
The text document uploaded to TUGRAZonline is identical to the present master‘s
thesis dissertation.
Date Signature
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Abstract
T
he thesis Islands of Otherness: Archipelago Istanbul intends to research how a
confrontation with Otherness results in spatial manifestations within the urban
fabric and architecture of Istanbul. The initial starting point lies in defi ning the term
Otherness, as everything that is dissimilar to the Self, and how it applies to space, cities
and the particular case study of Istanbul. Istanbul forms the ideal city for a study of
this kind, as manifestations of Otherness and the dichotomy between the Self and
the Other are prevalent, starting from its position at a geographical crossroads with
inherently implied divisions to its turbulent history that leads to many shifts as to what
is considered the Other. The present reality of Istanbul, with its many borderlines and
edges, be they implied or physical, visible or invisible, leads to inequitable segregation.
The observable examples of spatial manifestations of Otherness in Istanbul will be
studied thoroughly. This thesis forms the speculative and theoretical hypothesis that
the city of Istanbul is, paradoxically, de-urbanising itself in the wake of its extreme
growth. What it is increasingly becoming is less a city but an ensemble of independent
urban islands that form a city that resembles an archipelago. By reading these urban
islands under the speculative assumption that they are, above all, consequences of
Otherness, this thesis aims to answer how Otherness is spatialized, how it manifests in
different spaces of Istanbul, and how it consequently affects the structure of the city.
Keywords: Istanbul, the Other, alterity, stranger, postmodern city, urban
identity, urban fragmentation, morphology, urban islands
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Table of Contents
Introduction 11
I Being Other 17
1.1. Introduction 17
1.2. Defi nitions of Otherness 18
1.3. Globalized Otherness 21
1.4 Otherness and Postmodernity 22
1.5. Othering and Order 24
1.6. Otherness and Identity 26
1.7. The Stranger as the Other 28
1.7.1. The Simmelian Stranger 28
1.7.2. The Postmodern Stranger 29
1.7.3. The Stranger as the Absolute Other 30
1.8. Conclusion 32
II Islands of Otherness 35
2.1. Introduction 35
2.2. Localizing Otherness in Istanbul 36
2.3. Spatiality of Otherness 40
2.4. Primordial Urban Otherness 43
2.4.1. Conquest of Nature 44
2.4.2. Walls of Constantinople 48
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2.5. Topography of Urban Otherness 50
2.5.1. Shifts of Center and Periphery 51
2.6. Borders of Urban Otherness 54
2.6.1. The Surveilled Public 55
2.6.2. Walls of Affl uence - Gated Communities 57
2.6.3. Into the Void - Tarlabaşı 61
2.7. Narratives of Urban Otherness 63
2.7.1. Vanished Cosmopolitanism 64
2.7.2. Dichotomies - Istanbul and Ankara 67
2.7.3. Contesting Otherness - Taksim 69
2.7.4. Layers of Otherness - Gecekondus 72
2.7.5. Alienating Nostalgia 74
2.7.6. The Totality of Miniatürk 77
2.8. Conclusion 79
III From Islands to Archipelago 83
3.1. Introduction 83
3.2. Ordering in the City 84
3.2.1. Innate Othering - Mahalle 85
3.3. Reordering in the City 86
3.3.1. Cleansing the Other - Sulukule 88
3.3.2. Limbo and Paradise - Tarlabaşı and Cihangir 91
3.3.3. Spaces of Banishment - TOKI 95
3.4. The Morphology of the Archipelago 98
Conclusion 103
Bibliography 107
List of Figures 117
Acknowledgments 123
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