An overview of architectural practices via do-it-yourself (DIY) culture

This thesis focuses on architecture and design practitioners interested in using Do-it-Yourself (DIY) methods and ethic in order to create "architecture" that creates experimental, ephemeral, collaborative environments that are not traditionally defined as architecture in professional sense. One of the reasons that this way of producing buildings are not considered architecture might be that, a DIY practitioner gets directly involved with several different materials and construction/making activities normally would be associated with amateur act of making. This study aims to probe this particular production approach and tries to present the practice and conceptualisation of DIY and its relevance to architecture and architectural practice. Furthermore, probing the potentials of methods under the DIY title, the research provides basis for future explorations for democratization of the architectural practice. Most of the buildings in the world is being and in fact has always been constructed without architects. In this regard, DIY productions, which will be discussed in the scope of this thesis, will not contain, post-disaster architectural produces, refugee camps, temporary or makeshift architectures that homeless people built by themselves or the examples like 'gecekondu' or 'favelas' that have been self-built after the housing crises by the people themselves. The thesis will try to focus on DIY as a methodology that the architects can adopt it as a strategy for the aim of democratization of architectural design. In this thesis, architects and architectural practices that are interested in the DIY methods and ethics, out of their professional education to be able to create experimental, temporary and collaborative environments, which are not defined as architecture in traditional understanding are examined. With this intent, in the scope of this thesis, using the categorization Atkinson used (2006) to define DIY design activities, variety of architectural designers and practices using different strategies and tactics to involve users to designing/building processes were discussed under three main titles: 'Reactive DIY', 'Proactive DIY', 'DIY as an urban strategy'. In the final part of the research, several 'strategies' that these designers used were examined under concepts borrowed from different authors and thinkers such as 'Non-plan', 'empowerment of the user', 'unfinished building', 'rhizomatic design process' were probed.