The dilemma/problem of formation in architecture: A discussion based on the city walls of Sinop

The question of "how structures are formed" is open-ended, hinting at the act of 'being' in architectural thinking and practice; it triggers a quest and research in the attempt to understand how those things that be, or are yet to be can actually be. The open-ended nature of the question of 'how' encompasses the complexity of inter-relations between a multitude of data that cannot be foreseen, or calculated numerically in processes that are intrinsic to architecture. Questions that relate to structures in architectural thinking and practice are often searched for in meanings and ideals that transcend the boundaries of the structures under question; reduced to representational relations outside the structures, and answered with definitions of form that derive from discursive, or constructivist models. The incalculable set of complex relations amongst a multitude of data in the act of 'being' is thus reduced down to a causal relationship with a superordinate, or ideal, and brought into order. Architecture with its ability to 'form' derived from the forms themselves- finds a place for itself in a wide range. Structures are often related to the distinctions between subject-object, and/or time-space, and the position of these representations (which are also the foundational elements of the modern thought system) on a spatial platform. The formal expression of structures thus gets historicized with the use of such definitions as period, style, modern, traditional, classical etc.; fall under the social order systems thanks to materials, techniques and the production economy, and establish representational relations at multiple levels. This research aims to discuss the points of view that search for meanings and ideals beyond the boundaries of structures in response to questions that relate to structures, based on the definitions of form. The discussion on the definitions of form problematizes the very concepts in the foundation of discursive and constructive models that strip structures from singularities and pluralities, or simply homogenizes them. Structures are not approached as Forms that are brought into order, calculated and formulated with the use of discursive, and/or constructivist models. Instead, they are treated as Formations within the context of complex and incalculable set of relationships amongst subjects and objects, accompanied with the concurrent togetherness of different times and spaces in the process of 'being'. The philosophical roots and references of the definitions of form, which examine structures with transcendental ideals, can be found in classical philosophy and metaphysics – originating from a Platonian approach. The conceptual references of a point of view that divorces structures from the platform of representational relations and treats them as formations in progress, on the other hand, can be found in the philosophical approach, concepts and metaphors of Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze and Georges Bataille. It is via these concepts and metaphors that it becomes possible to search for an intrinsic approach, which will look for the answer to questions that relate to structures within the sturctures themselves and not some transcendental meanings and ideals. When looked through the glass of an intrinsic point of view, structures stop being finalized, calculated, orderly and designed objects and forms, and instead, become processes and formations that are never complete, ideal and consummate – thus, never ending. Various definitions of form are debated on the basis of distinct positional representations of subject and object. Questions in relation to how structures get formed can be discussed upon various structural grounds. That is, it is possible to hold such discussions on the grounds of a city, a building, or a wall. The wall as an object and a metaphorical phenomenon offers a fertile and sufficient terrain that helps define formation as a process of being and conceptualize the answer to questions that relate to how structures get formed. This study raises such questions, using the concepts of an intrinsic approach, on the grounds of the city walls of Sinop. The complexity of answers given to questions that relate to the city walls of Sinop –together with its cause and effect relations- does not fit into a certain discursive, or constructive model; neither does it constitute an orderliness in a wholistic fashion. The city walls of Sinop establishes the backbone of this research as a phenomenon that cannot be tackled within the framework of reduced definitions of form. All questions that have been raised throughout this study with regards to 'form' are raised once again, this time based on the example of this wall and its story of formation. The structural, representative, conceptual and metaphorical forms of the wall, extending through time and space, are approached as formations in the course of 'being' and concepts intrinsic to structures becomes the object of this study. Neither the wall, nor the researcher can remain at a fixed position in the relationship to the wall as the object of study. In the given respect, this research cannot be defined on the grounds of subjective points of view adopted by other researchers who previously studied the city walls of Sinop. It is important to note that conceptual relationships amongst the definitions of form and formation are taken as reference points, also in the narrative structure of this study. The wall, which is treated as a subject from the outside as it gets fixed to an objective position, sets the vertical spine of this thesis. This vertical content which follows throughout the narrative is based on causal relations amongst the answers to questions that are raised with respect to the wall. The wall is constructed in 'formal' terms within the narrative as a Gathering Wall, City Wall and Masonry Wall, based on the position and concepts of formal representations throughout history. On the other hand, the intrinsic point of view -defined by complex and interwoven relations that cannot be reduced down to causal relations- deconstructs the very same wall as a story of formation. Memory, Incident and Relations are proposed as the three foundational concepts of the intrinsic point of view within the context of this thesis. The interrelationships between these concepts transforms the definitions of form on the vertical axis of the thesis to a horizontal state, that is the story of formation. Rather than a form in the position of an object, the city walls of Sinop are treated as a state of being that has kept taking form with the researcher in the course of this research. Keywords: Form, Formation, Wall, Sinop City Walls, Intrinsic Aprroach, Virtual/Actual, Pyramid/Labyrinth, Memory, Event, Relations, Design process.