The accelerating technological, social, economic, and cultural transformations we are experiencing—along with shifting priorities that arise from these changes—are profoundly and multidimensionally impacting many areas of life, including architecture.
In countries like Turkey, where the urbanization process is still ongoing and there is a significant demand and pressure for the renewal of the urban building stock, these transformations are felt even more intensely. Beyond the observed changes in the modes of architectural production and consumption, the disciplinary boundaries themselves are acquiring new and different meanings.
Understanding these changes in boundaries and meanings—within the contexts that give rise to them—is of vital importance for architecture and for its representational domains: buildings and cities.
Within the scope of this ongoing discussion, the Chamber of Architects Antalya Branch has chosen the theme of the 2015 edition of its International Biennial, which it has been organizing for two consecutive terms, as “Rethinking the Future in Architecture.”
This theme represents a framework that includes numerous subtopics and debates, ranging from contextual problems at the heart of these transformations to the evolving priorities of the architectural discipline; from the assessment of the physical state of the built environment to the priorities shaped within cultural contexts. It offers a platform that concerns diverse stakeholder groups—from academics to artists, from politicians to architects.
It is expected that each of these stakeholders will share their future-oriented issues and solution priorities within the context of their own fields, and that instead of a definitive roadmap, the outcome of the discussions and events will be the identification of key debate priorities.
In this regard, the theme of “Thinking the Future” will be approached not as a topic limited to the biennial itself, but as a sustainable and ongoing discourse.