Mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımların antroposen kavramı bağlamında tartışılması
Discussion of environmental approaches in architecture with the context of anthropocene
Yazar: CAN BOYACIOĞLU
Danışman: PROF. DR. GÜLÇİN PULAT GÖKMEN ; PROF. DR. NEZİH AYIRAN
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimari Tasarım Bilim Dalı
Derece: Doktora, 2017
Konu: Felsefe = Philosophy ; Mimarlık = Architecture
Dizin: Doğa felsefesi = Nature philosophy ; Ekolojik mimari = Ecological architecture ; Modern mimari = Modern architecture ; Postmodern mimari = Postmodern architecture ; Sürdürülebilir mimari = Sustainable architecture ; Çağdaş felsefe =   ; Çağdaş mimari = Postmodern architecture ; Çevre felsefesi = Environmental philosophy

Özet:
Mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımlar, mimarlık kuramında doğa bağlamının tartışılması ile ilişkilidirler. Bu nedenle, Crutzen ve Stoermer'in ortaya attığı ve önce coğrafya kuramında sonra da felsefede doğa kavramının yeniden sorgulanmasına yol açan Antroposen kavramı mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımları da değiştirme potansiyeline sahiptir. İnsanın, yaşadığı Dünya üzerinde mutlak etkileyici güç haline gelmesi ve insan etkisi dışında doğa olarak tanımlanabilecek bir sistemin tanımlanamaması anlamına gelen Antroposen, coğrafya kuramı içerisinde Antroposenik bir uzam tanımına yol açmaktadır. Kavram, Zizek ve Latour gibi filozofların kuramsal yaklaşımlarında ise şekil değiştirerek insan ve doğa arasında muğlaklaşmış sınırlar, insanın dünya üzerindeki özgürlüğü ve hatta modern insanın sürdürülebilirliğine uzanan bir perspektifte incelenmektedir. Tez, coğrafya – felsefe ara düzleminde oluşmuş bu kuramsal altyapı ile mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımların kuramsal altyapısı arasında ortak bir zemin oluşturmak hedefindedir. Bu ortak zeminin oluşturulması için tezde Antroposen kavramının mimarlık kuramında doğa kavramına bakış açısını değiştirme potansiyeli irdelenmiştir. Bu irdeleme ile oluşan bakış açısı ile mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımların doğa kavramına bakış açıları üzerinden bir model oluşturulmuş, mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımlar bu model kapsamında değerlendirilerek Antroposen bağlamında mimarlar, yapılar ve kuramsal yaklaşımlar üzerinden tartışılmıştır. 
Model kapsamında çevreci yaklaşımlar "doğanın tasarımın ana ekseninde olması", "doğa-insan birlikteliği" ve "doğadan kopuş: yapısalcı yaklaşımlar" olarak üç gruba ayrılmaktadır. Bu üç gruptan ilki olan "doğanın tasarımın ana ekseninde olması" mimarlığın ancak yalın bir doğa tanımı ve bu tanım bağlamında oluşturulmuş bir insan doğası betimlemesi ile yapılabileceği yönündeki mimari yaklaşımları tanımlamaktadır. İkinci grup olan "doğa-insan birlikteliği" ise modern insanın doğa ile birlikte yaşaması tartışmasına odaklanmış mimari yaklaşımları tanımlamaktadır. Öte yandan üçüncü grup olan "doğadan kopuş: yapısalcı yaklaşımlar" ilk iki yaklaşımda görülebilen doğa ile ilişki kurma hedefinden vazgeçerek, insan kültürünün sürdürülebilirliğini ön plana almış teknolojik ve yapısalcı mimari yaklaşımları kümelemektedir. Tez kapsamında bu üç grupta tartışılmakta olan mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımların Antroposen tartışması içerisindeki kavramsal yerleri, kuramsal bir haritalama ile birlikte betimlenmektedir.
Çalışma kapsamında görülmektedir ki mimarlıkta çevreci yaklaşımların doğa bağlamı üzerindeki kavramsal tartışmaları, Antroposen kavramının tanımlanmasından çok daha erken dönemlere dayanmaktadır. Bu nedenle çevreci mimarlık yaklaşımlarının doğa kavramı üzerinden oluşturulmuş kavramsal haritalaması, çağdaş mimarlığa Antroposenik bir dünya tanımlaması için kuramsal bir kaynak oluşturmaktadır. Bu kuramsal kaynak dahilinde mimarlığın ve insanın ontolojik özgürlüğü ön plana çıkmakta, Antroposenik bir gelecek tanımlamasında bu kuramsal özgürlük hali bir soru işareti haline gelmektedir. Bu çerçevede tez, insan-doğa ilişkisindeki Antroposenik dönüşümü önlemeye yönelik oluşturulmuş kuramsal çerçeveleri, sürdürülebilirlik kapsamında tanımlanmış pragmatik çevreci yaklaşımlara karşı önermektedir.

Abstract:
Environmental approaches in architecture are strictly related with the discussion of the nature context in architectural theory. Therefore the Anthropocene concept which was first defined by Crutzen and Stoermer, has the potential of a paradigm shift in environmental approaches in architecture. The concept means that the human effect is becoming the absolute force and no systematical force remains that could be described as nature left on Earth. It was originally defined in theory of geography and then deeply discussed in philosophy. The definition of Anthropocene causes an Anthropogenic spatial perspective in the theory of geography. On the other hand philosophers like Zizek and Latour deepen the concept and rediscuss it with theoretical discussions such as a new occuring philosophical blur in the ontology of human and nature, the ontological autonomy of humanity and even the theoretical sustainability of modern man. 
The dissertation aims to create a common theoretical base between the discussion of the Anthropocene concept which is formed inbetween the theory of geography and philosophy, and the theoretical foundation of environmental approaches in architecture. Consequently, for the creation of this new theoretical structure, the dissertation debates the potential of the Anthropocene concept to change the point of view of the theory of architecture for the idea of nature. The discussion of Anthropocene and the point of views which are formed with the original natural concepts of architectural theories form a theoretical model for the debate. Therefore architectural theories are re-discussed according to this newly formed theoretical model with the help of architects' buildings, views and their similarities in the context of Anthropocene.
In the scope of the model, environmental approaches in architecture are grouped in three conceptual frameworks: "nature as the main axis of design", "nature-human collaboration" and "detaching from nature: constructive approaches". The first of the three "nature as the main axis of design" frames the environmental approaches in architectural theory of those who describe architecture with the originality of the nature and a definition of a nature of human being with the respective originality of nature. The framework has taken its philosophical roots from environmentalist philosophers of the early Industrial Revolution Era such as Thoreau and Emerson or contemporary deep green theoreticians such as Carson and Rifkin. The architects in this framework characterize their architectural approaches with rehabilitating the nature and culture of humanity which have been lost in modern and industrial times in their philosophical inference. The framework includes three theoretical sub-frame: "Organic Architecture", "Ecological Utopian Architecture" and "Vernacular and Regionalist Architecture". 
The main architect of Organic Architecture is Frank Lloyd Wright and his concept of nature becomes an essential reference for the theoretical sub-frame. According to him; nature, landscape and man are becoming a whole and being natural is the goal of the architecture. He refers to "liberty" as the wholeness with the nature. His two Jacobs houses reflect his ideas about the context. The architects who are discussed in the context of Ecological Utopian Architecture are Doxiadis, Soleri and Van der Ryn. Their primary concerns are entropical relations of architecture and they mostly discuss the ecology and nature on urban scale. Examples of this section are Doxiadis's theoretical work Ecumenopolis and Soleri's Archology designs. These utopian city projects could be seen as nature and human collaboration concepts in megastructure – urban scale. The last sub-frame of this section: Vernacular and Regionalist Architecture is discussed with the ideas and designs of Alvar Aalto and Hassan Fathy. Architects theorize the natural concept of architecture with their regional and cultural concerns by their respective works: Villa Mairea and New Gourna urban development.     
The second framework "nature-human collaboration" groups the architectural approaches that focus on mutual life concepts of modern man and nature. The main concern of the framework is making modern life sustainable. Event though both conservation of nature and use of technology are embraced as architectural issues, the "nature-human collaboration" is fundamentally about their respective contemporary architectural point of view, this framework could be seen as the main path of theory and praxis of architecture and its environmental approach. The framework includes four theoretical sub-frame: "Early Modern Architecture", "Modern Avant-Garde Architecture", "Metabolism" and "Postmodern Architecture".
In the dissertation, Early Modern Architecture is discussed with the architectural works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hendrik Petrus Berlage and the theoretical work of Ebenezer Howard. Their point of view strongly influence the development of modern urban life in the sense of nature. In Hill House, Mackintosh designs with the aim of a balance between nature and industrial urban life, while in their respective works of the South Amsterdam Plan and the Garden City conceptual design; Berlage and Howard have theorized the natural urban fabric in the dawn of metropolitan cities. In the second sub-frame of the nature-human collaboration framework,  Modern Avant-garde Architecture includes the theories and works of Walter Gropius, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Ernst May. Their main concern is proofing the harmony between modern architecture and nature as both follow the evolutional progress of nature. The examples of this section are Impington Village College and the Römerstadt Housing Project. The third part of the framework focuses on metabolism movement and especially discusses the nature concept of japaneese modernism in the theories of Kisho Kurokawa, Kiyonori Kikutake and Fumuhiko Maki. In their point of view nature is fluid and matter is temporary. This section discusses the concept with Kikutake's Marine City and Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower. Postmodern Architecture is also a sub-frame of the framework and its discussion contains works of SITE, Emilio Ambasz and DS+R. The discussion of nature in postmodern architecture focuses on the spatial description of natural life. The main examples are the Forrest Building of SITE, the Lucille Hansell Botanical Center of Ambasz and the High-Line urban renewal of DS+R.   
Dissimilar to the first two frameworks' attempts on conserving the ontological being of nature, the third framework "detaching from nature: constructive approaches" focuses on architectural approaches describing themselves with sustainability of modern and industrial mankind with technological and re-constructivist architectural interferences. In the theoretical point of view of this framework, Earth is a physical realm that humankind live on. It could be understood by scientifical method and is open to radical changes by humanity in the pursuit of advancement. On the other hand, the descriptions of advancement are variable in architectural approaches discussed in this group. The framework includes three theoretical sub-frame: "Industry-centric Architecture", "Techno-centric Sustainable Architecture" and "Genetic Architecture". 
In the first sub-frame: Industry-centric Architecture, Buckminster Fuller focuses on industiral and economical reconstruction of Earth with the examples of the Dymaxion House designs. In the second sub-frame, techno-centric sustainable architecture is discussed with Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, Ken Yeang and Norman Foster. They created a new modern architecture style with the concepts of technological and sustainable technologies. In the last sub-frame: Genetic Architecture, when Alberto Estevez theorizes recreating Earth with genetic engineering, Michael Hensel and Achim Menges offer futuristic architecture with biomimetic and computational design tools. 
After discussing environmental approaches in architecture in these frameworks, the approaches are represented in a theoretical mapping which shows their respective places in the discussion of the Anthropocene concept. Briefly, theoretical mapping is a graph on which its horizontal axis shows the chronology between 1900 and 2017, and its vertical axis shows the anthropogenic level of the shown building, the architect, theoretician or theoretical discussion. Therefore the vertical axis is about the integrated concept of the human – nature interconnection of the respective subject and when the value of the vertical axis rises the anthropogenic value of the object is rising too. Metaphorically a higher value means a convergence to the cyborg concept of Haraway, while conversely a lower value means a convergence to the wolf-child metaphor of Baudrillard. The first layer of the mapping contains the buildings, the second layer contains the most influential architects, the third layer shows the architectural theories and all theoreticians and the last layer contains the pictures the buildings shown in the first layer.
The discussion and mapping of environmental approaches in architecture in the dissertation puts forth the idea that the theoretical debate on the meaning of nature and its ontological being in architectural theory is rooted deeply and fundamental even far before the description of Anthropocene. Therefore a mapping of environmental approaches about the ontological meaning of nature is becoming a reference point for architectural theory and essential for creating a contemporary architectural approach in a world that is re-conceptualized in the context of Anthropocene. In this theoretical framework which is interposed between Anthropocene and architecture, the debate on the ontological autonomy of architecture and humanity became noteworthy. The theoretical and practical sustainability of these autonomies becomes a question mark in a possible future Anthropogenic Earth.
According to these concerns, the blurry state of the meaning of nature conceptualized by Castree and Zizek in different texts and the changing perspective of nature from a stable status to a fragile one which transforms the story of the earth as a "geostory" and conceptualized by Latour are becoming important for architectural theory. When these two philosophical concepts are superimposed on architectural theory, these philosophical concepts transform the idea of the sustainability of contemporary mankind in architectural theory. The concern shifts from the physical well-being of the user of the architecture to the mutual autonomy of mankind and nature. When philosophically nature and mankind are merged, the architectural design becomes the merging realm between them. In this perspective, the dissertation suggests a paradigm shift on the theory of architecture and environmental approaches which focus on a counteract to the Anthropogenic transformation of the human - nature interconnection instead of pragmatic environmental approaches which are related to a world view of a technology oriented sustainable development.