istanbul, behind the scenes
Within the collective research book at the Berlage Institute titled The Megacity, I have written four articles in the format of a magazine, looking at the phenomenon of megacities from the joint perspective of management, culture and collective decision making. The magazine is titled “Istanbul, Behind the Scenes” and it combines non-fiction writing with imagery and infographics in order to create an accessible and entertaining body of knowledge about city making.
Click to see the full magazine.
Within the collective research book at the Berlage Institute titled The Megacity, I have written four articles in the format of a magazine, looking at the phenomenon of megacities from the joint perspective of management, culture and collective decision making. The magazine is titled “Istanbul, Behind the Scenes” and it combines non-fiction writing with imagery and infographics in order to create an accessible and entertaining body of knowledge about city making.
Click to see the full magazine.
“...through the disintegrated operations of various municipality departments, city becomes an archipelago of isolated solutions with a singular agenda, with a singular mind, uncombined.”
Excerpt from the article titled Rewiring the Simplified.
Istanbul, Behind the Scenes mimics the graphic language of Time Magazine, and it incorporates 4 articles. Rewiring the Simplified is the opening article which problematizes the disintegrated organization of various departments within the municipality and proposes a guide for their horizontal integration.
“...it is crucial for Istanbul to cultivate
its messiness into a fruitful complexity
and organize its sprawl in integrity
and balance.
However, to realize this all the departments of the city need to get familiar with the politics of mutuality by showing patience to one another whenever they need to sit on the same table.”
Excerpt from the article titled Rewiring the Simplified.
However, to realize this all the departments of the city need to get familiar with the politics of mutuality by showing patience to one another whenever they need to sit on the same table.”
Excerpt from the article titled Rewiring the Simplified.
How success is measured often determines the outcome. Measuring Istanbul delves into the strategic plans of Istanbul municipalities revealing their numerical, overly deterministic nature. Qualitative management models from other industries are proposed to be adopted for creating sustainable qualities.
The document on the left is the request for permission for a mere educational visit to Istanbul port yet the numerous signatures and stamps after spending weeks in municipal organizations is a testimony of the overly bureucratic stucture of public organizations in Istanbul.
Such imagery is often used as elements to enrich the stories.
Such imagery is often used as elements to enrich the stories.
“...as you go further away from the management the goals become numerical, shrinking the world of the ones who execute it to what they can measure and control. They become detached from the wider goals of the institution and therefore lack the actions that would realize the visions, the only asset to create longer lasting values.”
Excerpt from the article Measuring Istanbul.
The One Man Show is a photo article, ending with a poetic piece of text. During the visit of the research team to Istanbul, various heads of public institutes welcomed us. Their leadership style as well as office spaces led to this article that portrays the cultural foundations of the managemental isses adressed in the previous articles.
“ ...‘One Man’ is alone in his mind, therefore suggestive in his suppositions. That is why he is inspirational and yet, he makes predictable mistakes. He is the control-freak. His responsibility is beyond his capacities but he is unable to co-operate, he can only operate.”
Excerpt from the article The One Man Show.
Fellow participants who contributed to the Megacity Book:
Taesan Choi
Piya Limpiti
Andres David Lopez Rincon
Hiroki Muto
Olga Sankova
Jinyeong Seo
Gi Son
Onur Can Tepe
With special thanks to:
The Berlage, Freek Persyn, Laurens Tait, Georgios Eftaxiopoulos for tutoring, as well as various local governance organizations in Istanbul who helped us during the studio trips.
Taesan Choi
Piya Limpiti
Andres David Lopez Rincon
Hiroki Muto
Olga Sankova
Jinyeong Seo
Gi Son
Onur Can Tepe
With special thanks to:
The Berlage, Freek Persyn, Laurens Tait, Georgios Eftaxiopoulos for tutoring, as well as various local governance organizations in Istanbul who helped us during the studio trips.