Mimari temsilde çevirinin yaratıcı boşlukları

Abstract

Dilbilimden ödünç çeviri kavramı ile mimari temsil ortamları arasındaki geçişlerin incelendiği tez, çevirinin özü dönüştüren eleştirel doğasının mimari temsil sürecinde sebep olduğu boşlukların mimara açtığı yaratıcı ve özgürleştirici imkanları ortaya çıkarmayı amaçlar. Mimarlık üretiminin zihinde oluşturulan imge ile başlayan sürecinin imgeyi dışsallaştırma ve materyalleşme süreci olarak okunması aslında bu sürecin materyal olana doğru bir çeviri olduğu, bu süreçte kullanılan aracıların da mimari temsil ortamları olduğuna işaret eder. Robin Evans'ın çizimden inşaya geçişte bir çeviri yaşandığı sözleri üzerine mimarlığın bütün temsil ortamları arasında benzer bir çevirinin yaşanabiliyor oluşuna dair oluşan merak çalışmanın ana motivasyonunu oluşturur. Yer değiştirmede coğrafyanın sebep olduğu değişikliğin ortamlar arası dönüşümde ortamın kodları ve özelliklerine bağlı olarak gerçekleştiği düşünülerek mimari temsil ortamlarının kodlarına, birbirlerinden farklılaştıkları alanlara ve çeviri anında yaşanan dönüşümlere odaklanır. Bu dönüşümün incelenmesi için öncelikle dilbilimden alınan çeviri kavramı açılarak çevirinin farklı diller aracılığıyla farklı düşünme yöntemleri geliştirme ve düşünceyi farklılaştırma potansiyeli üzerinden bir çerçeve çizilmiştir. Farklı dillerin sebep olduğu anlamsal farklılaşmalar ve diller arası çevirilerde yaşanan dönüşümlerde yazarın ve çevirmenin rolünün tartışılması ile çeviride aktörün dönüştürücü olduğu sürece dikkat çekilerek çeviri sürecinin açtığı bu dönüştürücü aralığın potansiyelinin mimarlıktaki karşılığı merak konusu olmuştur. Dilbilim alanından çizilen bu çerçeve ile mimarlık ve sanat alanlarına bakılarak çevirinin üretici ve yaratıcı pratiklerde hangi kavramlar üzerinden tartışıldığı hem tarihsel hem de ilişkisel bir çerçeve ile dilbilim katmanının üzerine eklenmiştir. Mimarlık ve sanat alanında üretimin dönüşümü için kullanılan çeviri ve çeviri ile ilişkili kavramlar üzerinden çevirinin açtığı dönüştürücü aralıklar tartışılmıştır. Mimarlık alanında ise çevirinin en çok mimari tasarım sürecinde kullanılan temsil ortamları arası gerçekleştiği ve bu çevirinin kullanılan ortamların özellikleri ile yapıyı etkilediği öngörülmüştür. Mimari temsil ortamlarının her birinin kendi dil sistemleri ve çalışma prensipleri olduğu düşünüldüğünde dilbilimde dil aracılığı ile gerçekleşen çeviri ve çevirinin sebep olduğu yaratıcı farklılaşmalarla mimari tasarım sürecinde de karşılaşılması kaçınılmazdır. Bu farklılaşmaları tespit etmek için öncelikle çevirinin gerçekleştiği düşünülen mimari temsil ortamları incelenmiş ve üç ana başlıkta toplanmıştır. Mimarlık temsilinde kullanılan farklı araçların kullandığı temsil ortamlarına göre gruplanması ile elde edilen yazı-çizim-inşa/maket üçlü sisteminde her bir ortamın özellikleri karşılaştırılarak farklılaşmalarına sebep olan faktörler incelenmiştir. Bu farklılaşmaları sistematik olarak incelemek, kaynağını tespit etmek ve çevirinin bahsedilen potansiyellerini ortaya çıkarabilmek için temsil ortamlarının yapı kurum sistemini oluşturan parametreler dilbilimden ödünç yöntemlerle araştırılmıştır. Tespit edilen beş ana parametre olan pozisyonlanma, yapı kurumu, sembol sistemleri, bağlam ve zamansallık üzerinden temsil ortamları arası geçişler örnekler üzerinden incelenerek ortamlar arası boşlukların açıldığı aralıklar ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Mimarlıkta kullanılan üç temsil ortamı yazı-çizim-inşa/maket arasındaki geçişlerin birer örnek üzerinden incelenmesiyle tezin üçlü temsil ortamı çevirileri inceleme strüktürü ortaya çıkmıştır. Seçilen örnekler özellikle üretme yöntemleri üzerine araştırma yapıp mimari temsile dair teoriler ile üretimlerini birleştiren ve üretim süreçleri üzerine yazan mimarların işleri arasından seçilmiştir. Mimarın kendi işi üzerine değerlendirme ve yazıları üzerinden araştırmanın sebebi ise mimarın yapma şeklinin ve düşünce sisteminin anlaşılarak kendi sözleri üzerinden çıkarımların yapılmasının yorum farkını en aza indirilmesi ve yanlış çıkarımların önüne geçilmek istenmesidir. Yazı-çizim çevirisi için Raimund Abraham'ın 'The Elements of the House' metni ile 'House with Curtains' çizimi, çizim-inşa/maket çevirisi için Steven Holl'ün St. Ignatius Şapeli, son olarak da yazı-inşa/maket çevirisi Marco Frascari'nin 'Dream House' süresince yaptığı üretimler üzerinden süreçte kullanılan farklı ortamlar arası çeviriler incelenmiştir. Üç ortam arası çeviri de örnekler üzerinden incelenip belirlenen parametrelerde yaşanan dönüşümler ortaya çıkarılmış ve her ortam arasında boşlukların açıldığı alanları mimarların nasıl bir çeviri fırsatına çevirerek üretimlerini dönüştürdükleri incelenmiştir. Çevirinin boşluklu yapısı, mimarların boşlukları değerlendirme biçimleri ile desteklenerek bu durumun yaratıcılığa olan olumlu etkileri tartışılmıştır. İncelemelerden elde edilen veriler çeviri kuramı, mimarlık kuramı ve imgenin kullanımı üzerine tezin başlangıcında oluşturulan teorik çerçeve ile değerlendirme ve kendi teorisini tümevarımcı bir yöntemle oluşturmakta kullanılmıştır. Sonuç olarak çevirinin bir sınırı geçme durumu tanımlaması, sınırda koşulların ve parametrelerin dönüşümüne, parametrelerin dönüşümü de hem ifadenin hem de algılamanın dönüşümüne işaret eder. İfade sisteminin dönüşümü düşünce sistemini dönüştürerek kişiyi kalıplar dışında üretmeye ve düşünmeye zorlar, bu sebeple yaratıcı ve eleştirel bir pratik haline gelir. Her mimari temsil ortamının kendi yapısı sebebiyle üretileni dönüştürdüğü, birden çok mimari temsil ortamının bir arada veya arka arkaya kullanılmasının üretimde temsil ortamının baskın etki ve yönlendirmelerini kırarak mimara özgürlük alanı açtığı, bu özgürlük alanının da mimarlığın geleneksel kalıplarının dışına çıkmakta etkili bir yöntem olduğu düşünülmüştür. Özgürleşme eleştiri, anlatıyı dönüştürebilme ve çevirmekle mümkündür. Çevirinin eleştirel doğası kişinin kendi işine karşı eleştirel bir pozisyon alarak farklı parametrelerle yeniden ele almasını sağlayarak üretim sürecinin kendisini kişiden bağımsız bir şekilde doğal olarak eleştirel bir pratik haline getirir. Çevirinin mimari tasarım alanı içerisinde düşünülmesi üretimi zenginleştirmenin yanı sıra mimarı ve toplumu da özgürleştirmenin aracısı olabilecek potansiyele sahiptir. Çeviri hem mevcuda müdahalede hem de yeniyi üretmekte bir yöntem olabilir, kişinin bir imgeyi dünyaya taşımada tek seslilikten çok sesliliğe, çok perspektife geçişi olarak yorumlanabilir. Sonuç olarak çeviri mevcut mimarlık pratiğini eleştirel hale getirmek ve yeniyi üretmenin bir aracı olma potansiyeline sahiptir.

The thesis, which examines the transitions between the concept of translation -that is borrowed from linguistics- and architectural representation mediums, aims to reveal the creative and liberating gaps caused by the spaces that arise due to the critical nature of the translation concept. Starting from the image created in the mind along with externalization and materialization of that image, the process of architectural production itself represents a translation towards the material and points out that the tools of this process are architectural representational mediums. Main motivation of the thesis is arising from Robin Evans' statement about the existing translation from drawing to building, and the curiosity following his statement about the fact that this translation can be experienced between all the representation mediums of architecture, and the changes that occur during translation. Translation between architectural representation mediums focuses on codes of the representation mediums, their differences from each other and transformations during translation considering these changes caused by their codes and properties as the changes on transposition caused by codes and changes on geography itself. Even though translation is perceived as a transformation of a message from one language to another, it actually begins with the translation of an image in the mind. With this image transfer from pre-linguistic world to the language world, the image in the mind would correspond to a physical outcome with the help of language – as in the architecture's ultimate goal. If the externalization of images, dreams, thoughts or ideas in the mind with different language systems is also considered as a pre-translation, the scope of the translation expands and the possibility of illuminating the idea-generation process arises. In order to examine this transformation, firstly, the concept of translation originated from linguistics has been detailed through its potential of developing different ways of thinking and differentiating thoughts over different languages. The semantic variations of different languages as well as the translational differences between languages point out that both the author and the translator play an active role in translation. Architectural presentation process is also effected by the transformational gap caused by these active roles and this effect became main research question of the study. With this framework drawn from the linguistics, looking at architecture and the other art fields, the historical and relational aspects of translation is added onto the linguistic layer by considering productive and creative practices. Transformative gaps originated from translation and translation-related concepts used for defining transformation of production within architecture and art areas. In architecture, it is assumed that the translation is concentrated between the representation mediums used in the architectural design process and this translation affects the general structure of the production together with the characteristics of the mediums themselves. Although the concept of translation has a very wide perspective in architecture, for this thesis, its potential has been investigated by mainly focusing on the translation between different representation mediums. Architectural representation mediums are usually examined separately. The aim of the thesis is to analyze these methods together with the help of the translation concept and to determine the gaps and transformations that occur during the transitions between the representation mediums as well as to investigate the transformations caused by these variances. Architectural production consists of cyclical and continuous translations rather than a linear process. Thus, instead of examining the representation mediums separately, thresholds of translation and differentiation can be taken into consideration together. Architecture works with using a wide variety of media and tools due to the extent and diversity of the architectural workspace. The usage of different media and tools result in continuous translation from one language system to another. During this translation, some gains and losses arise due to the differentiation of the representation systems, i.e. language. These gains and losses mainly appear as a consequence of the gaps formed due to the differentiating representation systems. In order to successfully criticize the design process, it is important to understand the fact that how these gaps could turn into new creative elements. Thus, architectural design processes are taken as a whole, the transitions in the production process are examined and their variations are revealed. With this method, it is tried to be revealed that the idea of translation is actually a factor that increases creativity and variation/differentiation in architectural representation. Considering the fact that each of the architectural representation mediums has their own language systems and working principles, it is inevitable to see creative variations in the architectural design process caused by translation and its elements. In order to detect these differences, the architectural representation environments that are affected by translation were examined and collected under three main titles. The factors that cause variation have been examined by comparing the characteristics of each medium in the writing-drawing-building/modeling triadic system. This triadic system obtained by grouping the different tools used in architectural representation according to the representative environments used. In order to systematically analyze these differences, to determine the source and to reveal the potentials of the translation, the parameters that constitute the operating system of the representation mediums were investigated by utilizing linguistic methods. The translational gaps are revealed through the transformations in the parameters that change according to the environment, such as positioning, structure, symbol systems, context and temporality. This thesis work is structured around the examples examining the transitions between the defined three main representation mediums. During the data collection, more than ten samples were put together and it was seen that the gaps examined in this thesis can be collected under five main parameters. As such, study was structured under these five headlines. It is noticeable that there was a fundamental difference in a person's attitude of positioning one's own perspective towards production due to the variation of writing, drawing, and construction/modeling. Secondly, representation media of structural construction were determined as parameters since it was observed that the representative medium used by the architect guides the main production. Secondly, structure is defined as a parameter since structural and systematical properties of the used representation medium has a guiding effect on production. Third, the effects of the symbol systems used by different architectural representations on the language and the system of the production itself have been observed. Fourth, it has been recognized that the relations of the media and context diverge due to constraints and advantages in representation mediums and this affected the production process. Fifth and finally, it was thought that there are different opportunities and gaps presented in the transformation of production since their reactions to the time dimension are different than each other. The examples have been discussed under these titles in order to observe the effects of each example on their own variation and result. In order to conduct the study, this thesis focuses on the moment that the architect is in the translator-position. The transformation thresholds of the language systems will further be examined by spotting the entire representation medium and the tools that used by the architect starting from the moment that the mental production was traceable. In order to understand the variations in the architectural representations, distinct transition moments of continuous translation would be snapshotted, and the research will be deepened through the production of architects who use the representation mediums in multiple different ways. The research aims to examine the transformations caused by the differences in architectural representation, rather than the change of the actor by restricting the study and considering the position that architect is a translator. Thus, person variable is kept constant so that this study better acknowledges the role of representation systems in translation. Each translation moment is analyzed in detail and enriched with examples from different perspectives. Examples were selected among the works of architects who studied on the different representation mediums and combine their production with the theories of architectural representation with writing on their own production processes. The reason for using the architect's own evaluations and writings on their own work is to minimize the difference of interpretation and to avoid false inferences by understanding their way of thinking. Using the architect's own notes and translations is critical for understanding and analyzing the author's perspective. "The Elements of the House" and "House with Curtains" by Raimund Abraham were selected for writing-drawing translation respectively. For the translation of drawing-building/modeling, "St. Ignatius Chapel" by Steven Holl and ultimately for writing-building/modeling, "Dream House" by Marco Frascari were chosen as examples. Translations in these three mediums were examined through examples, and the variations were revealed through them. More importantly, it was explored how the architects created the opportunities from translation that allows them to turn the gaps into creative production opportunities. The flexible nature of the translation was supported with the way how architects evaluate the gaps and the positive effects of this situation on creativity were discussed. The data obtained from the examples were used to evaluate the theory of translation, architecture and the utilization of the image that established in the beginning of the thesis and to create its own hypothesis/theory using an inductive method. While the entire architectural production process could be studied with this filter, the samples examined are selected with four main reasons: They use theoretical aspects of the two architectural representation mediums used in the transition, they examine and write on their own production processes, they fill the gaps in the area of focus of this thesis work and ultimately they allow a rich and diverse translation by representing multiple-step-transition rather than one moment/sudden transition. Whilst all the production process could be examined with this method, to avoid redundant comments and speculations, the examples in which there is an access to architect's own explanations and comments were chosen. Although the sub-results of this thesis may change with sample selection, the fact that the translation refers to the transformation and producing the new remains unchanged in each example, even if the translation occurs in a different way, direction and number. Therefore, architect's space of freedom caused by the translational gaps is always preserved. As a result of the research conducted, the translation defines crossing a border which points out the transformation of the conditions and changing parameters at the border, and this refers to the transformation of both expression and perception. The transformation in this expression system forces the person to think and produce outside of the traditional by transforming the person's way of thinking, forming a creative and critical practice. It is thought that, due to its own nature, each architectural representation medium transforms the production and the use of multiple architectural representations creates a space of freedom for the architect by breaking the dominant effects and guidance of the representation medium in production and this freedom allows the architect to escape traditional patterns of architecture. Liberation is only possible by translating and transforming the narrative and criticism. The critical nature of the translation allows people to take a critical look against their job and reconsider it by acknowledging different parameters, making the production process itself a critical practice independent from themselves. Translation starts with the architect, yet it activates the audience by becoming more and more critical and invites audience to produce. It encourages the passive audience to get involved by changing them to an unfinished and open ensemble. Therefore, it promotes translational production and ultimately, new translations. The concept of translation in architectural design has the potential to liberate the architect and society as well as to enhance the architectural production. Since translation is not only a method that takes every production as a data to itself but also a data for other productions, it develops a design culture and helps to improve the existing literature with different combinations. "A new intellectual adventure requires spectators who play the role of active interpreters, who develop their own translation in order to appropriate the 'story' and make it their own story. An emancipated community is a community of narrators and translators." (Ranciere, 2008). Translation is an instrument of liberation both in one's mind and in society. Translation can be a method in both changing the existing and in producing the new. It can be interpreted as the person's transition from monophonic to polyphonic, to multi-perspective while carrying an image to the world. As a result, the translation has the potential to criticize the current architectural practice and become a tool to produce the new. This thesis itself can be read as a translation study where existing projects reach the reader through the translation filter of the author. This thesis work offers insights into the author's self-positioning and perspective. When this work meets with the audience, readers would create their own filter and make a new translation over it and this work would become a real practice.