Dean's Letter

Past:

Middle East Technical University (METU) was established in 1956 as an Institute for Housing and Settlement Research, Design and Planning for the Middle East region, through the collaboration of the Turkish government and the UN. The Faculty of Architecture, which was the first Faculty to open, originated from this background with a special law which made it possible for the best universal minds from all over the world to meet with Turkish outlook, expertise and practice in the middle of Anatolia (in Ankara), which was conceptually chosen as the center for the new modernization efforts in the Middle East and its hinterlands. It was also the place where Modern Turkish Revolution was directed in the early nineteen twenties.

The new academic attitude of the Faculty of Architecture mainly consisted of critical outlook, new conceptual and experimental research for the fundamentals of good design and good planning,  a good mix of international students from the region, open juries and open discussions in the classes, social consciousness on a global scale and taking social responsibility on a local scale. This is still the major behaviour pattern in itself for our work at the Faculty. In the early sixties, the Faculty founded the first Department of City and Regional Planning and the first Department of Architectural Conservation in Turkey. Department of Architecture started in the summer of 1956 with a summer practice (a 'hands on' course) to show the rural dwellers an example of a good practice of building. This is a continuing effort and The Turkish Chamber of Architects in recognition of this effort presented the Department with a special excellence award within the 2004 Biannual Architectural Awards.

The University, in order to save the cultural heritage of the campus, carried out excavations on METU campus site in association with our Faculty. The findings dating from 5000-3000BC are now exhibited in the first private museum of Turkey, which is in the Faculty complex. The expertise was extended as a project to the Keban Dam Area Archeological Excavations. Such efforts were finally formulated in the Center for Research and Evaluation of Historical Environments, which now runs similar projects all over Turkey and also provides a graduate courses under the Settlement Archeology Program, which is the first of its kind in Turkey. Our Faculty is affiliated with both and both are headed by one of our academic staff. 

In the mid-seventies a new Department of Building Science and Environmental Design, the first of its kind in Turkey was opened in the Faculty. The Department covered especially the areas of building science, environmental social science and environmental design at the graduate level. Today, due to the changes in the Higher Education Law, this Department's responsibilities are covered by the Building Science option of the Department of Architecture. . The faculty acted as one of the international hubs for related academic activities and hosted a number of international conferences on these subjects. The Department co-founded the first Association of Environmental Sciences. During this time PhD Programs in Architecture, Planning and Building Science started.  Both activities reflected the saturation of intellectual capacity and the changing requirements of our context. This area is now pursued in the Department of Architecture as a Graduate Program due to the new Higher Education Law. Their latest activities include, hosting the 29th International Conference of the CIB W062 (2003) and the 6th International Post Graduate Conference on Built Environment and Information Technologies to be held next spring (2006)

The Faculty started publishing the Journal of the Faculty of Architecture in 1975, now in its 30th year. A refereed journal, it was first of its kind and accepts articles in both Turkish and English.

The Department of Industrial Design, long after early discussions that had started in 1970, was finally established in 1979 due to the recognition of the state planning organization that Ankara was becoming the Center for the emerging Central Anatolian Industries . Its achievement can be understood by its colloration with national and international industries. In the summer of 2004, the Department organized the 4th International Design and Emotion Conference in Ankara.

As our conceptual formulations became popular, the public challenged the faculty members to reflect what they were preaching in everyday practice. In the early eighties a properly organized The University, in order to save the cultural heritage of the campus, carried out excavations on METU campus site in association with our Faculty. The findings dating from 5000-3000BC are now exhibited in the first private museum of Turkey, which is in the Faculty complex. The expertise was extended as a project to the Keban Dam Area Archeological Excavations. Such efforts were finally formulated in the Center for Research and Evaluation of Historical Environments, which now runs similar projects all over Turkey and also provides a graduate courses under the Settlement Archeology Program, which is the first of its kind in Turkey. Our Faculty is affiliated with both and both are headed by one of our academic staff. 

In the mid-seventies a new Department of Building Science and Environmental Design, the first of its kind in Turkey was opened in the Faculty. The Department covered especially the areas of building science, environmental social science and environmental design at the graduate level. Today, due to the changes in the Higher Education Law, this Department's responsibilities are covered by the Building Science option of the Department of Architecture. . The faculty acted as one of the international hubs for related academic activities and hosted a number of international conferences on these subjects. The Department co-founded the first Association of Environmental Sciences. During this time PhD Programs in Architecture, Planning and Building Science started.  Both activities reflected the saturation of intellectual capacity and the changing requirements of our context. This area is now pursued in the Department of Architecture as a Graduate Program due to the new Higher Education Law. Their latest activities include, hosting the 29th International Conference of the CIB W062 (2003) and the 6th International Post Graduate Conference on Built Environment and Information Technologies to be held next spring (2006)

The Faculty started publishing the Journal of the Faculty of Architecture in 1975, now in its 30th year. A refereed journal, it was first of its kind and accepts articles in both Turkish and English.

The Department of Industrial Design, long after early discussions that had started in 1970, was finally established in 1979 due to the recognition of the state planning organization that Ankara was becoming the Center for the emerging Central Anatolian Industries . Its achievement can be understood by its colloration with national and international industries. In the summer of 2004, the Department organized the 4th International Design and Emotion Conference in Ankara.

As our conceptual formulations became popular, the public challenged the faculty members to reflect what they were preaching in everyday practice. In the early eighties a properly organized planning and design revolving fund office was established in the Faculty and an increasing number of multifaceted applied research was carried out, ranging from large scale planning to building complexes to products serving the public.

The conceptual formulations have also provided the faculty with an oppurtunity to develop conceptual studios and conceptually advanced courses since the mid eighties. As one of the consequences, Faculty members organized the ANYTIME International Conference and International Exhibitions (1998) in Ankara with the ANY group and Turkish Architects Association. On a similar conceptual line parallel studios and courses have a number of international participants. Some studios are run abroad (Syria, Hungary, Albania, Greece, Chech Republic, Germany, Cyprus, etc.,.) with programmes provided by foreign institutions. A studio via the Aga Khan link was run over the net with a number of schools including MIT, Beirut American University and CEPT. Department of Industrial Design is also using our intelligent classroom to provide internationally conducted courses.
 

Present:

We are now finalizing the documentation efforts of our Faculties' heritage. Thus, our Faculty Archive of Slides, produced since 1956 and which amounts to around 100.000 of vernacular, classical and modern buildings, environments and products, in Turkey and abroad, is undergoing reorganization. Historic Buildings Documentation Archives of about 800 historic monuments (some of which do not exist anymore) and Planning Archives starting with some of the originals of the Ankara Plan by Jansen of 1926 and onwards are similarly in the process of being reorganized. Archive of the thesis works since 1962 (all in English with Turkish summaries) is being transferred to electronic medium. All services will become open to the public gradually, starting by the end of 2005.

Our Research efforts are reorganized around a Faculty of Architecture Research Design and Planning Center with Research Units ranging from theoretical research to professional consultancy services, to building science experiments. The Research Center will move to its new building 'MATPUM-A.Nuri Çolakoğlu Building' (named after the donor of the funds for the building) at the end of October 2005. The Center with international and national partners is expected to continue integrated research not only across units but also across conceptual, scientific and professional work.

Our alumni, now around 5000 graduates, are organized within the new  Faculty of Architecture Alumni Association. The Association as an NGO is providing consultancy services for the public and the private sectors. We are kindly inviting our graduates to join the association in order to actively participate in the forthcoming activities.

Faculty links with universities abroad is thriving and especially the Erasmus links are producing impressive results. We are also involved with the proper regulation of the ‘Free Movement of Architectural Services in Europe’ agenda. The related sectoral proposal was prepared by the three deans of the Faculties of Architecture in Turkey (METU, YTU and MSGSU) chaired by myself. This will now be reflected in our 'Professional Architect' courses of 4+2 years duration.

Faculty cooperation with Industry, private sector and NGO’s are developing in a very healthy manner, our research (basic and applied) from the Departments of Industrial Design and Architecture for such sectors has sustainable growth with increasing quality. In a similar vein, our staff act as public specialists for a very high number of court cases, most of which are very important in terms of public impact. Some of our research activity is about helping the local authorities' on environmental issues, on policy making, crisis and hazard management issues and above all in strategic spatial planning. This is the special area for our City and Regional Planning Department.  We are also asked by the government to assist them on the development of certain bill proposals and related regulations in our fields of interest.

METU Technopark is the first in Turkey with nearly 160 firms, a strong Defense Research Sector and a good number of researchers from METU. Our Department of Industrial Design is becoming highly integrated with Technopark in terms of their expertise.  We share the resposibility of the industrially very startegic Usability Testing Laboratory (linked and manned by the Industrial Design department) with the Bilten Research Center.

Future:

Next year we shall be celebrating our fiftieth year, and looking at the way we are now organized, I can say that our next fifty years looks more multi-dimensional, multi-modal and multi-disciplinary in terms of the knowledge we are going to process and in terms of the public, private and non-governmental sectors as well as the national and international bodies we are going to work with.  Therefore, it will be more exciting and more challenging to prepare our students with appropriate knowledge for such domains and to develop proper agendas for the design and planning domains of Turkey. This will be formally conducted in relation to the 'METU Strategic Plan: 2005-2010', which is now in operation.

All this means that we are open and looking forward to meeting and working together with those 'students, teachers and researchers' of 'architecture, planning and design' who would like to share our basic attitudes and who would like to develop new mutual value systems in the related areas of knowledge and practice as well as the regions they are set or meant to influence and would like to ask good questions and try to do the most for good answers and best practice.      

Prof. Dr. Haluk Pamir
Dean.Faculty of Architecture.METU