Wall: As border and threshold

Era have been evolving via speed of events, consumption and production systems, religious, economical, technological and political changes. According to time, space and environmental factors that the object situated, the object takes its position in life. The position affects the object's physical and sensory being. As with all objects, there is also such as architectural objects gain their meaning as whole from the object to architecture not only as physical existence but also the context. One and its every object will be found its role within the reading one of the objects. The purpose is not to minimalize to an object but to enrich any item from the context of the whole object. This thesis deals with dissolution of an object, basis of 'wall'. This dissolution is scraping the object 'wall'. With the changing and transforming world, meanings change and are redefined. Globalized world is a network system, though there are still limits. The limits are seen and unseen walls. These walls appears as architectural, urban, social walls. Power draws walls based on body, urban, space and time politics. Political forces, ethnic origin, religion, society structuring causes the limit to be drawn. While the drawn limits include one group, exclude the other. Border position changes the subject's and object's situation. The association with the subject alters by the change in the position. The wall is a powerful element that establishing relationships with the concept and architecture both urban, social, political, gains the value with its notions: property, memory, internal-external affairs, defense, protection, lifestyle, management style, power, power, norms, society building, management, disability, prohibition, alienation, separation, consolidation, freedom... It defines the relationship of form of whatever about space over the wall on every scale. Due to the power domain provided by spatial form of the wall references to any kind of ideological approaches. Wall, is poised to become a symbol of the power of architecture. Wall is an power object, that can be seen at all scales, up to Foucault's concept of power balance. So, the wall can be defined with the notions both ideology and resistance. In the thesis, the relationship of notions are examined the architecture and the urban samples, especially with the opinion of sociologists, anthropologist and philosophers, Foucault, Butler, Nietzsche, Brown, Lefebvre and Benjamin. It exists tangible or intangible political, social, virtual, public, in all kinds of spaces. In this thesis an architectural element 'wall' , physical and perceptual status examined the position in life; by considering their power and conflict have been made on the basis of two concepts: being border and threshold. The strength and conflict state of the wall is seen as potential. The threshold is discussed, with contact point of the borders, and edge effect of permaculture. Walls have a role to form city and daily life. Ancient cities Çatalhöyük, Khirakitia, Pergamon and Buhen are given as examples to show the alternative use of wall and in parallel changing life for cities. From ancient life through the modern life architectural transformation can be shown by the transformation of walls. Walls are physical and perceptional form makers of human life as well as living areas. In the thesis, there are four sections; "Physical situation of wall", "Perceptional situation of wall", "Wall as border" and "Wall as threshold". In the first part "Physical situation of wall" is divided into three as "Scale" and "Internal wall-external walls", "Material-surface" and "Void-transparency". The scale of wall city walls, housing walls, room walls, affects power and relations. Material of the wall affects its performance. Surface of the wall defines the architectural approach. For instance white walls are the symbols of modern architecture. Voids of wall and transparency can be a way of communication. These are the given examples in these section living room project of Diller & Scofidio, Sanabria'a Calderon House, Mies van der Rohe' Brick Country House and Barcelona pavilion, Switch project of Shibata, Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles, Rietveld's Schröder House, Curtain Wall House project of Shigeru Ban, Neighborhood project of Arne Svensen, Window Watching project of Michael Wolf, De Chirico's Melancholia painting and Alberti's Rucellai Palace. The wall's meaning changes according to its physical properties. It's not a constructional issue but it's sociological, political, public and architectural issue. At the same time, it changes with respect to perceptional situation of wall. In the second part perceptional situation of wall is divided five sub-titles as "Memory-collective memory", "Mural", "Internal-external", "Otherness" and "Virtuality". Separation issue of the wall, changes the object's position in or out. It means that being outside is otherness. Everything and everyone out of society's norms are excluded from society based on normal assumptions. In the section "Memory- collective memory", ancient city Troy's wall trace and Berlin Wall trace are given as examples. Mural of Diego Rivera, Bansky, Mobstr, Jr's grafitties that are and unknown artist's gratifies in Gezi are given as examples in the part of "Mural". Un studio's Mobius House is the example of the section "Internal-external". In "otherness" section camping, festivals and clubs are examined. In the "Virtuality" part the main example is "Facebook wall". "Virtuality" is an important layer of life and the city. We are living in a space that it's a part of network system. Lots of communications are provided by virtual interfaces. There is a physical world and a virtual word, in the era. People exists both real and virtual life. They have a virtual character on Facebook. Facebook wall is a poster of the person. Physical and perceptional situations of wall represent the performance of wall. Although the element wall has relation with several notions, border is chosen as the basic notion. In the third part, the "Wall as border" examined in three parts; "Permanent and temporary borders", "Borders built by the people" and "Borders built by the state". Some limits are permanent and tangible and unforgettable, some Limits are built for security, territory, some limits are temporary. Limits can be defined by the time factor. It's difficult to call a border permanent but, country boundaries are different from barricades according to duration. Barricades in Gezi protests and the changing Istanbul transportation map at 1st May are examined as temporary limits. Government, acknowledged as power, defines political state borders and urban policy by making systems by war and agreements. Community life is affected by many factors throughout history. Religion, class, gender, education level, ethnic identity can be the definers of community structure. For example Cihangir and Tophane are neigbours bot have their own borders. Gebze-Harem, İstanbul-Kocaeli border and Levent Kağıthane religions maps are given as examples in this part. Unless it's seen as no boundaries in the era, there are still. The border is also contact point, intersection and meeting plane. And also it's space. Border and threshold are interrelated concepts for wall. At the last part, walls are examined as threshold into two sub-titles as "Interval time" and "Interval space". To explore the notion of Threshold Hays opinions on John Hejduk's House is a specific example for threshold and wall. The concept "interval" derives from "threshold". In pursuit of new interval of notions, with changing world perception of time and space is changing. In modern world people live in interval times. Opposed to the time organization of life, it suggests a different way of flow. There is a space belongs to Interval time. Each space has its own time. At the period of time following the end of May 2013 was interval time for Turkey. Gezi protests help to break the time and space system in İstanbul. It was the time scheme for the city life out of Work-life-rest time cycle of everyday life. Interval space is sometimes physically but not all the time. Its borders can be defined sociological, cultural and economic issues. It's close to utopian and reality. It's the space between chaos and order. It's autonomous and out of system. In the era, people are in the search for Experience and difference to be happy. Some architectural projects contain such a feature, like Diller&Scofidio's Blur Building and Steven Holl's Gallery façade renovation projects. And also the projects like Factum Hotel gives tips on changing approach and lifestyle of people. The borders and threshold are different principles. Borders role is both separator and connective. The threshold has own potentials instead of separation or connection. The potentials can emerge from transformation of the notions border to threshold. It's the contact point of two or more different things. It gives rise to "border effect". The power of wall is at the same time performance of wall. It depends on its physical, perceptional situations. And it work as border and threshold. It have mostly negative meaning as a separator but as a threshold wall has potentials for daily life, states or architectural. Wall is an basic architectural element and it is also an urban element. So it construct the living area and style. As a mission of architecture, the built or inbuilt things affect life. It's a kind of architectural design effect in life from walls. The whole thesis is a result of an approach. So the main purpose is representing an idea from an element through the interval of life. In interval spaces and times, borders reproduce themselves. The wall's narrative and potantials are presented as a result of reading of the object in the thesis. Thus 'wall' was made through a versatile presentation. In the thesis, the notions are producted by 'wall' are examined pyhsical and perceptual by the samples and mapping according to observation and experience. It's possible to read/present the thesis as performance of the 'wall'.