Computational design culture in Turkey: 1950-1980

Computational design which has various intellectual foundations that can be traced back to earlier, is a design approach fostered within a research culture that had appeared since 1960s discourses focusing on the relations in-between architecture and scientific approaches. Based on design reasoning, being dealt with as identical to digital technologies, computational design has been mostly discussed as a discrete field in design by losing its references to the research culture it had been shaped through. Supported by some contemporary approaches, this thesis proposes that the theoretical constructions that position computational design in relation with its former background is critical for re-integrating the field into the design theory and for foreseeing its future potentials in architectural design. In a general sense, this thesis contributes to the theory of computational design specifically from the Turkish architectural domain. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is two-fold: to reveal the interest that is led by the academic field in Turkey and to expand the meaning of computation by interpreting the uncovered knowledge in a dialectical point of view. This thesis discusses the experiences that are offered as a part of the computational design culture in Turkey in three main frameworks. Titled as theory construction, first of them is based on the suggestion that early studies that are not involved in digital technologies can be discussed in relation to contemporary issues on computation; so that this approach opens a way for the construction of a unique theory of computation. In this context, the developable form series by İlhan Koman and the generative matrice of Turkish House Plan Types by Sedad Hakkı Eldem are evaluated as examples of computational design approaches and are re-interpereted in terms of the debated topics in computational design thinking. The second domain focusing on the academic background reveals the tendencies that were raised in architecture schools in Turkey in the period between 1960?s and 1980?s, and observes two different characters in the emergence of an academic interest. While the academic interest at İTÜ Faculty of Architecture -starting from the studies of Altan Öke on design methodology and Fikret Keskinel on programming- in early 1960s focuses considerably on systematic design methods in advance, a discourse focusing on the ?scientification of architecture? appears at METU Faculty of Architecture in the second half of 1970?s shaped by a collective movement between scholars, having outcomes in an institutional level. Finally, the third field of discussion in this thesis highlights a critical up-to-now viewpoint that questions computation in terms of a two polar distinction between intuitional and scientific approaches. In this context, the thesis analyses the discourse produced specifically during 60?s and 70?s by scholars in Turkey and uncovers how topics of intuition, scientific approach and creativity in design are conceptualized.