ITU A|Z
VOL: 10 NO: 1 37-50 2013-1
N a z l ý T AR AZ
Izmir Institute of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Ýzmir, TURKEY
Received: August 2012 Final Acceptance: February 2013
Abstract
Abstract
The Japanese philosophy Wabi regards beauty as the results of imperfections and changes of daily life, and Sabi teaching supports this attitude by advocating the idea that life experiences and accumulation of years are important factors increasing beauty. From the viewpoint of Wabi- Sabi, urban transformation is an inevitable and imperfect activity that, nevertheless, always progresses to beauty. In this article, the Wabi-Sabi philosophy will be related to the event’s theme “imperfection” and life experiences to analyze Istanbul as “the palimpsest city”. The discussion will be carried out step by step from the first urban settlement at the Historic Peninsula and the following transformations in the light of Wabi-Sabi philosophy, by tracing the continuities and changes at the civic heart of the city.
The geographical location of Istanbul has always provided a productive living
environment that
was preferred by
communities due to its vital superiorities. As a result, the town has always
remained as a
populated, though changing and transforming area throughout the history. When
the traces of
these transformations are analyzed, the Megaran colonies of Byzantion and
Chalcedon, which
introduced an urban way of living into the region, appear as urban textures
consisting of
temples and sacred areas as outcomes of the commercial ports and Pagan
traditions. As a
result of the passing years, the increasing beauty of these sacred areas, whose
locations were
determined according to the topographical characteristics, resulted in their
being
handled as references
for the later transformations of the town. For example, the juxtaposition
of the sacred
area Athena Ekbassia and the contemporary Topkapý Palace at the same location
highlight the
palimpsest aspect of Istanbul. Similarly, the co-existence of the Pagan
traditions
with Christian
buildings shows the associated relationship of two different urban languages in
the capital of
the Eastern Roman Empire. This situation is an indicator to the deletion of “the
palimpsest town”
Byzantium and writing of Constantinople gradually by inevitable
transformations
in the town texture.
Likewise, the public and ceremonial centers of the first settlement show
parallelism with
contemporary Istanbul
with regards to the positioning of today’s buildings in the town. The
direction of
this continual deletion and re-writings of the town has progressed from the
highest
point of the Acropolis
towards the east from the Antiquity onwards, and all civilizations have
created their
own centers by protecting or transforming the pre-existing spaces of urban
experience. The
Sultanahmet Square over the Hippodrome appears as the beauty of earlier
experiences in
uppermost writing of today.
From the viewpoint of “imperfections”, as a result of the increase in population, the city walls of Byzantion were extended, creating space in the middle of the town. This area was transformed into the Augusteion Square, which became the construction site of the Hagia Sophia, later. With the reign of the Ottoman Empire, this monumental building, whose importance increased with life experiences and passing years, became an “imperfect” building that continually necessitated intervention to the degree of giving up the religious functions, and the building become a museum for today.
When the continual transformations of Istanbul are evaluated with the Wabi-Sabi
understanding, while the speed of re-writings of
Istanbul increase with the socio-cultural, political and
technological dynamics; the opportunity of erasing, changing
or transforming diminishes synchronously with every
intervention. This is reminiscent that after erasing a paper repeatedly,
soon after, it becomes unreadable and non-erasable.
The essence of this article is the increasing beauty of the Historic Peninsula
by virtue of life experiences and passing years,
despite all the “imperfections” that affect the course of daily life,
as reveals in the light of Wabi-Sabi philosophy.
Keywords: Life experience, Wabi-Sabi philosophy, history of town, palimpsest town, Historic Peninsula