Gökhan Karakuş writes on Turkish architecture history. In below extract Gökhan sums up the 2010s - we are happy to be among the mentioned!
The 2010s
Today, a new generation of young architects has started to raise the level of architecture through an interest in discourse and information. The likes of Nilüfer Kozikoğlu, Alexis and Murat Şanal, Superpool, and Boğaçhan Dündaralp represent a generation that understands that architecture has to be produced with a distinct technical, ideological or architectonic rationale that is explicit and documented. Each of these groups has come to produce architecture based on their studied methodologies and is likely to extend their building practice and knowledge base in pursuing an intelligence and discursive driven architecture. Their vision is firmly locked in the optimization of the possibilities of the information age. It is interesting to note that they are joined in the increasing specialization of architecture in Turkey by architects emerging from interior design, specifically Autoban and Tanju Özelgin, who bring sophisticated understanding of craft, local building techniques and computer assisted visualization to produce advanced design. This group, along with continuing efforts of advanced architects such as Sayın, Arolat, Tümertekin, Pekin, and Çinici, promise that Turkey’s contemporary architecture will start to develop based on its own dynamics, yet with a widened eye attuned to universal progress. As Turkey asserts its position in the center of the newly forming geopolitics of Europe and Asia, the regional leadership provided by these architects will be important in setting standards for how architecture can balance the needs of the modern world and the pragmatic approach required at the local level.