Fuat Şahinler's comment on materiality in architectural practice

One of the fundamental issues in modern architecture is the organization of the complex relationships among meaning, expression, and communication tools. This problem presents a specific context that can be traced and examined through interpretations of materiality in architectural practices. Materiality highlights a quest for narrative that questions the relationships that can be established between material, production, and humans. When approached in this manner, the produced architectural works become more readable and meaningful in terms of their signifying values. The primary aim of this thesis is to elucidate and evaluate the interpretations of materiality in Fuat Şahinler's prominent architectural projects within this context from a semiotic perspective. In this framework, Şahinler's projects directly related to the subject will be examined through the theoretical expansions of selected semiotic concepts and tools from the literature, with the goal of analyzing Şahinler's interpretations of materiality as presented in his works. In this scope, Şahinler's projects including the Istanbul 7th Biennial and Karaköy Pedestrian Exhibition, DEBA, Denizli Chamber of Architects Competition, Halide Edib Mosque Competition, Mosque Design Idea Competition, Abalıoğlu Holding Construction Group, 5 Rooms, and Next 2 will be examined across urban, architectural, and interior scales. The methodology of the thesis is based on document analysis. Any document containing texts and related to the projects will be considered a potential source for qualitative analysis, including visual materials such as photographs, videos, maps, diagrams, sketches, graphics, and architectural plans, as well as various data such as audio recordings, interviews, and observations. Antoine Picon's "The Materiality of Architecture" and Umberto Eco's "Architectural Semiotics" will serve as the primary theoretical foundations for the thesis.