Kağıt mekanları: Mimari temsilin sınırları ve olanakları
Paper spaces: The boundaries and possibilities of architectural representation
Yazar: BETÜL TAŞ
Danışman: DOÇ. DR. TAN KAMİL GÜRER
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Moda Tasarımı Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2024
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture

Özet:
Günlük hayatımızda sıradan, aşina olunan bir varlık olması sebebi ile kağıdın varoluşsal zenginliği ve derinliği çoğu zaman göz ardı edilir. Tam da bu sıradanlığı sebebi ile kağıt, varlığının özüne dair bir anlayışa sahip olabilmemiz için fenomenolojik bir bakış talep eder. Kağıdı sahiplenilmeyi bekleyen boş bir uzam olarak gördüğümüzde, onun mimari tasarım sürecinin bir işbirlikçisi olduğu durumları kaçırmaya başlarız. Tasarım süreçlerinde sürekli kağıda dokunuluyor olması, mimarın teni ile kağıdın teni arasında bir birliktelik yaratır. Kağıda karşı öylesine his kaybına uğrarız ki, kağıt görünmeyen bir çizim düzlemine dönüşür. Bu hissizleşme ve görme kaybı 'eril mimar' figürü için, yapıp etmelerini meşru kılma zemininde, olması gereken bir durum olarak görülebilir. Oysa kağıt ve kağıdın halleri; hem bir malzeme olarak kağıt ile hem de ortam olarak kağıt üzerinde ele alınan meselelerle ilişkilenme biçimlerimizi dönüştürebilir.
Gelişen teknolojik imkanlar nedeni ile, bugün hala kağıt üzerine yazıp çizmek oldukça gelenekselci bir tutum olarak görülebilir. Başka bir bakışla da kesinlik, bütünlük ve bitmişlik nesnesi olarak mimarlığın tasarısında kağıda yönelmek, eleştirel bir yöntem olarak görülebilir. Tüm bu yaklaşımlar bir noktaya kadar kabul de edilebilir. Ancak kağıtla hemhal olma halinin kendisini eleştirel değil, poetik bir alan olarak görüyor ve bu poetik alan içerisinde 'kağıda dair düşlerimi' çoğaltabilme ümidiyle tez strüktürümü kurguluyorum. Kağıt mekanlarını düşlerken, başlangıç noktası olarak belirtebileceğim eskiz defterlerimin birkaç adım ötesindeki kağıdın mekansal durumlarını inceliyorum. 
Tezin giriş kısmında kağıdın mekansal durumlarına bakabilmek için öncelikle bir kavramsal çerçeve oluşturuyor ve bir yaklaşım ortaya koyuyorum. Araştırmacı olarak konuya olan ilgim ve uğraşlarım sebebi ile, tezin araştırma nesnesi olan kağıda olan yönelimselliğim ve konumsallığım üzerine düşünüyorum. Bu bağlamda mimarlık bilgisinin ontolojik düzlemi olarak temsil kavramını ele alıyor ve konumsallığım sebebi ile mimari çizime, çizimin mekanı olarak kağıda ve anlatı mimarlığına yöneliyorum.
Bu yaklaşım ve yönelim ile birlikte ikinci bölümde, temsil ve mekan kavramlarının anlamsal aralıklarına bakarak temsil mekanlarının anlamını irdeliyorum. Bu kısımda görsel ve metinsel temsiller üzerinden bir sorgulamaya yöneliyorum ve bu durumun tezin asıl meselesi olan kağıdın öteki hallerini arama noktasında potansiyel içeren bir rota oluşturabileceğini, sürekli tartışılan ve bir noktada tıkanan temsil krizi durumlarına 'iyi gelebileceğini' öne sürüyorum. 
Tezin üçüncü bölümünde, kağıdın mekansal durumlarını incelemek için ilk olarak mimarlığın kurucu unsuru olarak mimari çizim ve kağıdı ele alıyor, kağıt üzerindeki çizgiler ile şantiyedeki ipler arasında bir düşsel alan açarak defter mekanlarında iplerin mekan kurucu durumlarına bakıyorum.
Dördüncü bölümde, mimari tasarım süreçlerinde kağıdın mekansal durumlarını ortaya çıkarabilme amacıyla bir atölye yöntemi öneriyorum. İki aşamadan oluşan bu atölyenin ilk aşamasında kağıdın fiziksel niteliklerine ve sınır alanlarına dair operasyonel bir sorgulama süreci işletiyorum. Atölye kurgusunda bu operasyonel süreçleri "ilişkisellik kartları" ile kayıt altına alıyorum. Atölyenin ikinci aşaması ise Calvino'nun üç farklı kentini, kağıtla birlikte yeniden düşleme pratiğini içeriyor. 
Katılımcılar ilk aşamada kağıda dair bilgiler ediniyorlar. İkinci aşama olan ise tasarım sürecinde kağıda dair yeni bilgileri açığa çıkarıyorlar. Bu noktada kağıda yapılan her müdahale yeni bir temsil alanı açıyor ve kağıdın mekansal durumlarını ortaya çıkarma potansiyeli taşıyor. Bu yeni bilgileri açığa çıkarabilmek için ilk aşamada kullanılan kağıtlardan topladığım numuneler ve ilişkisellik kartlarında kaydedilen müdahalelerle, 15 farklı kağıt için kimlik kartı oluşturuyorum. Kağıtları bir araya getirerek kentleri yeniden düşleme sürecinde, kimlikler de birbiri arasında çözünmeye başlıyor ve yeni melez-kimlikler oluşturarak yeni bilgileri ve olanakları açığa çıkarıyorlar.

Abstract:
This thesis aims to investigate the role and spatial potential of paper in architectural design processes and to examine both the physical and poetic aspects of paper in this context. The thesis evaluates paper as a tool and a spatial environment of thought and design. In this context, it argues that paper should be approached with a phenomenological perspective and aims to reveal the multidimensional existence of paper, its place in architectural practice, and the possibilities it offers. It also compares the place of paper in traditional and digital design processes, emphasizing the importance of the tactile and spatial experiences that paper offers.
The existential richness and depth of paper, an entity we are familiar with in our daily lives, is often overlooked. The multidimensional existence and potential of paper, which is a material we frequently use in our daily tasks such as writing, drawing, and even taking notes, is not noticed. Because of this ordinariness, paper requires a phenomenological perspective to develop an understanding of the essence of its existence. This perspective allows paper to be considered not only as a tool but also as a spatial medium of thought and design.
When we see paper as a space waiting to be appropriated, we miss situations where it is a collaborator in the architectural design process. Constantly touching the paper during the design process creates a unity between the architect's skin and the paper's skin. However, over time, the feeling of the paper is lost, and the paper turns into an invisible drawing plane.. However, paper and its states can transform the ways we relate to both paper as a material and the issues addressed on paper as a medium.
Due to developing technological opportunities, writing and drawing on paper can still be seen as a very traditionalist attitude today. From another perspective, turning to paper in the design of architecture as an object of precision, integrity, and completion can be seen as a critical method. All of these approaches are acceptable up to a point. However, I see the state of being at one with paper as a poetic field, not a critical one, and I construct my thesis structure with the hope of multiplying my 'dreams about paper' within this poetic field.
The poetic field essentially describes a situation against the utilitarian and causal structure of the scientific. If there is an instrumentalization, it can only be the instrumentalization of actions for the poetic field. As Bachelard stated, imagination comes before thought, and before the dream comes, it is necessary to be ready for that dream. On the existential basis of architecture, all drawing tools and papers are laid out on the table, and thus, excursions in the vast spatiality of poetic imagination become possible. In this context, while dreaming of paper spaces, I examine the spatial situations a few steps away from my sketchbooks, which appear as a starting point.
In the introduction of the thesis, I first create a conceptual framework and put forward an approach to look at the spatial situations of paper. Due to my interest and efforts as a researcher in the subject, I think about my orientation and positionality towards the paper, which is the research object of the thesis. In this context, I consider the concept of representation as the ontological plane of architectural knowledge, and due to my positionality, I turn to architectural drawing, paper as the space of drawing, and narrative architecture.
With this approach and orientation, in the second chapter, I examine the meaning of representational spaces by looking at the semantic ranges of the concepts of representation and space. In this section, I focus on an inquiry through visual and textual representations, and I argue that this situation can create a potential route to search for other states of paper, which is the main issue of the thesis, and that it can be 'good' for the crisis of representation that is constantly discussed and blocked at some point.
In the third part of the thesis, I first discuss architectural drawing and paper as the founding element of architecture to examine the spatial situations of paper. In this context, I focus on architectural drawing practices within the tradition of architectural representation. The combination of drawing and paper in architecture defines a relationship that enables architecture to emerge as an intellectual practice. In this founding dynamic, some codes begin to emerge within the architectural drawing indicating the building. It would be good to remember that these codes must be established before they can be corrupted, as discussed in the textual representation areas in the second part of the thesis. The act of establishing is the antecedent of the act of unmaking. Therefore, in the second chapter, I construct a narrative path from experimental drawings to the narrative states of paper in drawing, as an area where these codes between the constructed object and the drawing are disrupted, similar to the narrative in the surrealist manifesto. In the third chapter, I also open an imaginary space between the lines on paper and the ropes on the construction site and look at the space-forming situations of ropes in notebook spaces. While focusing on the notebook in these poetically tense situations, I make new notebook definitions such as micro-space, wandering-space, sequential-space, layer-space, and connective-seam-microspace. This breakdown, which reveals new conceptualization possibilities as it emphasizes different situations, turns into a poetic imaginary atlas on the space and spatiality of paper and notebook.
In the fourth chapter, I propose a workshop method to reveal the spatial states of paper in architectural design processes. In the first stage of this workshop, which consists of two stages, I conduct an operational inquiry process regarding the physical qualities and boundary areas of paper. Physical properties of paper, such as its texture, thickness, and flexibility, play an important role in the design process, and being aware of these features allows us to use paper more effectively. In the workshop setup, I record these operational processes with "relationship cards." Relation cards are a tool that documents all interactions with paper and the results of these interactions. These cards help us understand the possibilities and limitations of paper during the design process.
The second phase of the workshop involves the practice of re-imagining Calvino's three different invisible cities with paper. While Calvino's cities are re-imagined on paper, the spatial situations and physical properties of the paper add new dimensions to this imagination process. In the first stage, participants gain information about the paper. Having knowledge about the physical properties of paper such as texture, thickness, and flexibility allows them to use this information effectively in the design process. In the second stage, the design process, they reveal new information about the paper. At this point, every intervention on paper opens a new field of representation and has the potential to reveal the spatial states of the paper. Every drawing, cutting, folding, or other manipulation made on paper changes the spatial and physical properties of the paper, and these changes can reveal new thoughts and spatial concepts in the design process.
In order to reveal this new information, I create identity cards for 15 different papers with the samples I collected from the papers used in the first stage and the interventions recorded in the relation cards. Paper ID cards are a tool that documents the physical and spatial properties of paper, the interventions made, and the results of these interventions. In the process of re-imagining cities by bringing papers together, identities begin to dissolve among each other and create new hybrid identities, revealing new information and possibilities. These hybrid identities help us understand the different possibilities and constraints that paper offers and can introduce new ideas and spatial concepts in the design process.
Questioning the spaceof paper with the development of digital design tools triggers a process of deep reflection on the place and importance of paper in traditional methods. In this process, it investigates how the physical properties of paper, such as texture, thickness, and flexibility, are effective in the design process and how these properties can reveal new spatial concepts and ideas.
Workshops held to reveal the poetic and spatial potential of paper develop a new understanding by documenting interventions and interactions with paper and integrating this information into design processes. Tools such as relationality cards and paper ID cards help us understand the physical and spatial properties of paper in depth, and this information enables new ideas and spatial concepts to emerge in the design process. The multidimensional experiences that paper offers provide an original and valuable experience that cannot be fully imitated by digital tools. It stands out as a design practice. Paper can be re-evaluated as a medium that embodies the architect's thought processes, allows exploring the spatial dimensions of design, and nurtures poetic imagination.
As a result, this study emphasizes that paper should be rediscovered and evaluated in the discipline of architecture. It aims to add a new depth and richness to architectural practices by realizing the multidimensional and poetic potential of paper. In this context, every interaction and intervention with paper allows the architect to develop new thoughts and spatial concepts during the design process. Revealing the spatial potential of paper opens the doors to a creative and critical approach in architectural practice.