Calls to prayer and sounds of birds: The production of space and place-making practices in Erenköy-Konya

"There shall be heard only calls to prayer and sounds of birds." This is how Tahir Büyükkörükçü, one of its founders, describes Erenköy. This phrase tells the story of the Erenköy neighbourhood of Konya in a very meaningful way. Erenköy was built in 1969 when a group of people came together with the idea of living Islam better under the leadership of Tahir Büyükkörükçü. Single-storey houses designed by their users, lush and wide gardens, garden walls exceeding two meters, numerous entrances, cedar pines along the street and several things belonging to the neighbourhood bear traces of fifty years ago. This thesis sets out by examining the social solidarity and process that brought the residents of Erenköy together and questions their basic motivation to build a living space. It examines architectural structures, interior designs, gardens and objects as the embodied forms of this motivation. In addition, it focuses on those who built them, the feelings, dreams, disappointments, conflicts, discourses, and practices. It draws attention to the founding role of feelings e.g. love, responsibility, voluntariness, negotiation, and comfort. By opposing the argument that space consists only of physical structures, it deciphers the indirect but powerful relationship of space with faith. Therefore, in addition to space theories, it appeals to affect theory, new ontology, Islamic sciences, and Sufism. While examining the whole process, it does not remove Erenköy context from current discussions, also analyzes strategies and tactics, current life practices, the role of capital, spatial transformation, and the latest trends. In sum, this thesis tells the process of a grape field in 1969 becoming one of the most elegant districts of Konya today. Although it was established years ago, it argues that the production and the construction of space in Erenköy continues.