Made in Şişhane Project as an Alternative Design Practice for Safeguarding the Craft Neighbourhoods in Istanbul

Abstract

This presentation will focus on the future of craft neighbourhoods in Istanbul and discuss their potentials and threats today, and present Made in Şişhane Project which is an alternative design practice for safeguarding the craft neighbourhoods. One of the subjects of the main agenda in Istanbul, where urban transformation processes are being lived rapidly, is whether to carry the dynamics and unique practices of the craft neighbourhoods into the future or not, or how to carry them. Due to the existence of such areas, we are able to discuss unique act of making, design and craft relations and identity that evolve from their togetherness. Within such areas of the city, many creative products become alive through dialogue and interaction between designer and craftsmen. Craft neighbourhoods which are strong part of social, cultural, economical and spatial structure of Istanbul located in the city centre, even though still very much alive as part of the intangible heritage of the city, are currently facing the threat of evacuation.

Sishane District which is one of the craft neighbourhoods is a 100 year old lighting production and commerce centre of Istanbul. Being located in the city centre, it faces some threats such as city policies which plan to remove small-scale production from the city centre; state led gentrification process and speculated real estate prices in last ten years. Craft and design processes which are knitted with the local community and everyday life practices in Şişhane have adhoc, non-hierarchical, flexible, interactive and unmediated characteristics. The invisible net that connects craftsmen to each other and to the city is at the heart of a production process that relies on constant interaction between all kinds of actors. In this model, a production process becomes a production route or journey which is special, unique and directed by the designer in the neighbourhood. The craftsmen, who produce in the district, using their traditional skills and machines, can adapt to new demands and techniques, and supply customized objects and they can also collaborate with each other for the big orders. Face to face design practice is that it allows for personal expression at various stages of production. The craftsman is not only someone who executes but is an active contributor to the product’s design.

It is important to redefine craft neighbourhood’s essential role in its chancing urban context. For these reasons, Made in Şişhane Project as an activist project organizes creative actions-events in order to contribute to the sustainability of these craft neighbourhoods versus the top down processes since 2006. The Project enriches the craft networks with the participation of designers, artists, architects and academia. Creative people become mediators to evaluate the possibilities for sustainable future developments. Made in Sishane Project asks: How can design have a positive role in the sustainable development of a craft neighbourhood? What kind of potentiality do these neighbourhoods have for the designers?