Metinden diyagrama mimarlık kuramı:Delirious New York ve yes is more
Architectural theory from text to diagram: Delirious NewYork and yes is more
Yazar: FATMA ZEYNEP ALTINBAŞLI
Danışman: DR. ÖĞR. ÜYESİ HALE GÖNÜL
Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimari Tasarım Sorunları Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2019
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture

Özet:
Kuramsal etkinliğin, diğer bir deyişle mimarlık üzerine düşünme ve yazma tarihinin, mimarlık tarihi kadar eski olduğu görülmektedir. İnsanoğlu inşa etmeye başladığından beri, mimarlık nesnesi salt fiziksel nesne oluşunun ötesinde, her zaman bir anlamın taşıyıcısı olmuştur. Mimarlığın ise bu anlamı bulmak ile ilgili arayışı hiç bitmemiştir. Kuramsal içeriğin üretimi ve bu üretimin en pratik aracı olarak yazma eylemi, düşünce akışlarını hizalayan; bu akışları birbirleri arasında örgütleyen bir süreç başlatmakla birlikte, aynı zamanda reel düzlemde görülemeyenlerin, geriye çekilerek görülebilir kılındığı; haliyle sorgulamanın ve eleştirel yaklaşımın geliştiği yeni bir uzam açmaktadır. Bununla birlikte mimarlık nesnesinin üretim biçimleri, çağın üretim sistemleri ve toplumsal yapısı bağlamında sürekli değişirken, kurama dair kavrayışla birlikte doğal olarak kuramsal metnin biçim ve içeriği de sürekli olarak yeniden yapılandırılmaktadır.

21. yüzyıl eşiğinde mimarlık söylemindeki son tartışma, 70'ler ve 80'lerin mimarlık, dilbilim arakesitinde gerçekleşen ''aşırı kavramsallaştırma'' ve ''soyut aklın hegomanyası'' düzenine karşı, gezegenin halihazırdaki gerçeklikleriyle yüzleşmek için pragmatik ve pratik eğilimli hareketlere doğru bir yön değişikliği yapılmasına dair olmuştur. Bu bağlamda 90'lı yıllar itibariyle ve özellikle bir eşik olarak 2000 yılında, mimarlık söylemine post-eleştirel (post-critical), ya da teori-sonrası (after theory) olarak tanımlanan düşünce dahil olmaya başlamıştır. 

Post-eleştirel söylemin en önemli iddiası 70'ler ve 80'ler arasındaki süreçte post yapısalcı öğretiler ve dilbilimsel terminolojilerle, mimarlık disiplininde sadece ''anlam'' üretimine odaklanıldığı ve bu anlamın temel nesnesinin reel mimarlık nesnesinden çok metin olduğu yönündedir.  Dolayısıyla kuramsal etkinlik için önemli bir araç olan geleneksel dizimsel metin ve pratik arasındaki ilişkiyi birbirine yakınlaştıracak bir araç olarak diyagram önerilmiş; 90'lar ile 2000'lerin düşünce ekseni de Derridacı yapı sökümden, Deleuze'e ve onun ''soyut makineleri'' olarak diyagrama doğru bir dönüşüm sürecine girmiştir. Diyagramın mimarlık disiplinindeki çalışma mantığı en basit anlamıyla, kentten edinilen bilginin kuramsal bir etkinlik haline dönüştürülerek, mimarlık pratiğine aktarılmasıdır. Bununla birlikte, diyagram post-eleştirel söylemin bir keşfi değil, 80'lerdeki kullanımına dair yeniden bir ele alıştır. Dolayısıyla diyagram kavramı kuramsal anlamda bir geri dönüştür. Bu geri dönüşün arka planındaki en önemli figür ise Rem Koolhaas olarak gösterilmiştir. Nitekim Koolhaas'ın kuramsal ve pratik etkinliği, 2000 öncesi mimarlık söyleminde güçlü bir etkiye sahip olmakla birlikte, 21. yüzyılın pragmatik stratejilerinin (post-eleştirel söylem) kuramsal bir düzleme yerleştirilmesinde de kritik bir model haline gelmiştir.

Bu bağlamda, hem bugünün post-eleştirel söylem ekseninde çerçevelenen kuram ve pratiğinin, hem de bu bağlamda ortaya çıkan diyagram kavramının anlaşılmasında Koolhaas'ın mimarlığı ele alış biçiminin kavranması önemlidir. Bu ele alışın temellendiği yer ve Koolhaas'ın söyleminin temel nesnesi ise Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1978) kitabıdır. Delirious New York, hem modern mimarlığın ve şehircilik kodlarının yeniden yorumlandığı, hem de geleneksel anlamdaki kuramsal metnin ve mimarlık hakkında yazma eyleminin diyagram mefhumu ile yeni biçim kazandığı önemli ve öncü bir kuramsal metindir.  

Çağın yeni kuramsal aktivitesi,  diyagram yoluyla ampirik bilginin hızlı bir şekilde mimarlık nesnesini koşullayan bir süreç başlatması üzerine kurulmaya başlamıştır.  Nitekim diyagram, en başta mimarlık hakkında düşünme ve inşa eylemi için yeni bir özgürlük alanı açmış olmakla birlikte, özellikle son on beş yıllık süreçte, stratejik bir manipülasyon aracı olarak kullanımı söz konusudur. Bu da mimarlık ediminin salt araçsallığa hapsedilmesi, yerle ilişkinin kopması, mimarlık üzerine düşünme mekanizmasının felce uğraması ve eleştirel kuramın kaybı gibi problemler ortaya çıkartmıştır. Bu problemin ve diyagramatik düşüncedeki sapmanın en okunaklı olduğu güncel model ise hem mimarlık metnini hem de inşa etme edimini diyagram ile stratejik bir eyleme dönüştüren Bjarke Ingels (BIG) mimarlığı ve BIG pratik ve söyleminin bir manifestosu olan Yes is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution (2009) adlı monografdır.  

Bu çalışmada, öncelikle kuramsal ve pratik etkinlikte yön değişikliğine sebep olan önemli kırılma anlarından ve tarihsel izleklerden geçilerek diyagramı koşullayan arka plan araştırılmış, daha sonra ise çağdaş mimarlığın iki metni (Delirious New York ve Yes is More) üzerinden diyagramın ikili durumuna dair bir okuma yapılmıştır.

Abstract:
In Notre Dame de Paris, Hugo identifies architecture as the art of words and says "This will kill that (Ceci Tuera Cela)", meaning the book, "ceci", will kill the edifice, "cela". Prior to the era of printing press, the abstract reflection of myths, beliefs and cosmos was sought merely in form and numbers, in other words, the object of architecture. Before there was writing, the physical reality of architectural objects has been the castles of memory to keep and tell the story of symbols and collective reminiscence. Alberti's (1443) attempt to write about architecture has created two aspects of architecture; writing (architecture as the subject) and constructing (architecture as the object). And there it began the never- ending tag game between writing and constructing, both trying to approach one another.  
The history of architectural theory, that is the thinking on and the writing about architecture, is just as ancient as the history of architecture itself. Ever since mankind started building, architecture has been a meaningful manifestation rather than a simple physical object. The quest of architecture to find this meaning has never ceased. And so, architecture includes thinking as much as constructing, two actions in a constant pursuit of catching up to one another and sometimes merging into one action.  That being said, it is not construction but writing that has been the most practical means to construct, build and solidify thoughts in all paths of life. Thus building thoughts on words has always been more preferable and convenient than literal construction. 
While the means of construction, forms of architectural production, evolved through contemporary production systems and social constructs, writing also continuosly refreshed and restructured itself. Once the boundaries of perception on the construction of physical environment matched the boundaries of contemporary means of production, futuristic design required going beyond these boundaries contemplating on production methods yet to be discovered in order to build the design. Then came the new forms of writing, utopias and ideal city designs that can be traced back to 15th century, conceived while looking for answers as to "how it should be" and "how to design the good place"  Therefore, writing should not be considered as the mere verbal expression of thoughts worded in accordance with grammar rules. There are many ways of contemplating and imagining the future. 
As the cities and the concept of "citizen" emerged in Renaissance, city has been the keystone of theoretical knowledge, or simply of contemplating architecture. And yet, contemplating about the city was not exclusive to architecture. With the takeover of industrial society in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the idea of ideal cities and the concept of metropolis shaped by the new system triggered a sudden expansion of physical environment, the state of metropolitan, that eventually created an existential problem. This incident caused many of the classical sociologists and philosophers including Nietzsche, Lukács, Simmel and Benjamin to consider the concept of city as a data source and a phenomenon in the perception of modernism. Indeed, while philosophy and sociology in early 20th century considered city as an inconstant, dynamic and socio-psychological phenomena, architecture highly influenced by Cartesian school of thought took city as a constant and stable phenomena to build the modern society and to embody the dream of a homogeneous society; the theoretical-practical activities were then built on these ideas.
Writing on architecture comes with a brand new point of view where physical achievements are questioned and critical thinking is improved. Until the postmodern era, or until the switch from epistemology to ontology when constructivist and post-constructivist theories as well as Derrida's deconstruction practices were introduced into the practical aspect of architecture, the criticism of city and architecture was limited to sociological and ideal -utopian or textual- aspects. Before the ontological questions of "what is meaning?" and "what is the meaning of architecture?" were directed and semantics were introduced, architecture and city remained theoretically and practically single layered, monolithic, oriented towards a single purpose, and with all existing gaps filled without much space for the new. 
Once the phenomenological research was introduced into the constructing level, the practical aspect of architecture and urban production in the last quarter of 20th century under the influence of post-constructivist thinking, the strict modern hierarchies and the schools of thought ruled by the mind all began to weaken, changing entire meaning and content of theory and text. As of '70s, both the post-constructivist doctrines and deconstruction practices became a theoretical and practical model in architecture, thus leading a radical and reversed change in the architecture theory. Previously considered to shape and mold the city, architecture was then regarded, on the quite contrary, as a concept defined by the city. Overall process and trends during this period tended to harmonize practice and theory as much as possible to create a new praxis for the discipline. 
While deconstruction practices may seem like a compromise of theoretical and practical aspects of architecture, thus far considered as a readable text, it also condemns architecture to a merely read and analyzed concept. Because during this period, architecture constructs not only the architectural object, but also the subject to read it. However, as it is a hypothetical subject, it is not obliged to have the perception skills needed to understand the abstract implications in the architectural object. 
The most recent argument in architecture just before 21st century considered a shift towards pragmatic and practical actions to face the planet's realities against the "over abstraction" and the "hegemony of the abstract mind" in architectural and philological intersections of 70's and 80's. Within this context, new concepts such as post-critical and after theory have been introduced into architectural approach in the 90's. The main idea of post-critical approach suggests not to entirely abandon theory, but to adjust and to restructure the theory to be more instrumental and performative to catch up with this new information era and image culture where everything comes and goes too fast. 
So, approaching and harmonizing the architecture and urban planning were reshaped.  As the expansion in construction size and speed added to the planet's existing problems, architectural approach as of 90's began to orbit pragmatism. Following post-critical approach's suggestion that theory should gain an instrumental quality, diagram became 21st century's new means of writing. Within the same context, the pillar of architectural theory began to shift from Derrida's deconstruction to Deleuze and to diagrams he calls "abstract machines" in the post-critical atmosphere of 90's and 2000's. In the most simple terms, the concept of diagram is to obtain information from the city and to transform this knowledge into theoretical activity before being interpreting it to architectural practice.  Diagram indeed paved a new path of freedom for thought and action in architecture and yet, over the last ten years, it has also been used as a means of manipulation that may be called diagrammatic reductionism. However, this approach soon resulted in a number of issues such as the limitation of architecture within instrumentality alone and the paralysis of architectural thinking mechanism, thus leading to a loss in critical theory.
That said, born with the post critical approach, diagram is not an invention, but on the contrary, a return. And Koolhaas is considered as the most significant figure behind this return. Koolhaas was considered a significant figure in post critical and pragmatic strategies and played an essential role in architectural approach both during and prior to the 2000's. It is therefore essential to understand Koolhaas' approach to architecture in order to comprehend the theory and practice of current post critical approach and to understand the diagram as the new means of writing. Now this approach stems from and Koolhaas' attitude lays on Delirious New York: a Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1978). Delirious New York is a significant and leading theoretical text as it not only reinterprets the codes of modern architecture and urban planning but also restructures traditional theoretical text and architecture through the means of a diagram. 
Yet there has been a deviation particularly over the past ten years from the original mechanism of diagram considered as a way of writing and a new school of thought. Diagram has changed into a visual strategy and manipulation tool within the image-oriented culture. The era's modern theoretical activity is evolved to rapidly transform empiric knowledge into knowledge through diagrams while architecture morphed itself into a research-oriented work. 
The deformation of the original mechanism of diagram through diagrammatic reductionism in architectural projects is most evident in the pop culture manifest monograph Yes is More (2009) by Bjarke Ingels (BIG), the brand new star architect who gained substantial global success over the past ten years. This study discusses the background and context of diagram as a new means of writing through analyzing significant breaking points and historical moments resulting in direction changes in theoretical and practical activities which all began with and shaped by looking over the city. Then it examines the two poles of the concept of diagram, namely diagram as a school of thought and reductionist diagram, through two contemporary architecture texts (Delirious New York ve Yes is More).