An educational experience of urban renewal: A case study of mass housing in Kagithane, Istanbul
In Istanbul, rural and urban migrations and unplanned urbanization have resulted in severe housing problems, especially for the lower and middle-income groups. Within the context of Architectural Design Studio VII for the IKU Department of Architecture, senior architecture students were encouraged to go beyond developing projects for mere educational purposes and instead discuss alternatives for residential design. A problematic residential area of 40.000 square meters in Kagithane, which has officially been designated a renewal area in Istanbul-Turkey, was selected as the case study area. Students were asked to analyse the site in terms of physical and social attributes. Each student detected and defined different sets of problems and was expected to propose an experimental, creative, new housing alternative and system. The main theme of the studio was to understand, evaluate, and improve urban life in and around the defined site. The approach of the design process followed was a contextual methodology. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and put forward different contextual approaches within the framework of this project for use in pursuing new solutions to similar global housing problems.Keywords: Architectural education, urban renewal, housing, Kagithane in Istanbul, contextual approach