THE ARCHITECT AND THE PRACTITIONER

No matter how important the end result is, I am more concerned with the process itself. I built my office and my working style according to this idea. If I do not enjoy the process, I cannot continue the project. Therefore, my philosophy is based on the process.

When someone asks me about my profession, saying “I am an architect” does not satisfy me very much. Actually, I am a person who does a lot of things and architecture is only one of them. My interests are quite wide; they include literature, philosophy, arts, and even spiritual things. I work on them, research them and free myself.

First of all, I do not claim that “I know everything” in front of my clients and employees. I always say, “I don’t know”. Then I find different alternatives. Maybe I am leading, but the process emerges on its own; I do actually do not write it. This is a teamwork and in the team there are sometimes 2 people, sometimes 20 or even 200.

In the world of architects, ego and arrogance are intensely felt. Along with that, we miss the essence of it. However, architecture requires modesty. When you are modest, you get close to the core of the work, thus surprises and alternatives emerge.

When you act in a perfectionist way, you start to lose your sincerity towards life. You take everyone on. “I know” statement bothers people. It damages relationships, friendships, rapprochements. In this case, everyone wants to be in the forefront. You become a prisoner of a fake identity, you become aggressive, and suffer moving away from yourself. I have experienced these experiences in my professional life.

In my opinion, heavy responsibilities are not required in architecture; doing 50 projects per year or an office for 100 people are not necessary. It is not important to undertake many projects, but to do long lasting works. We do a lot of work but there is no depth in what we do. Culturally, we do not feel that depth. We are pursuing fashion and trying to make a difference with new materials

For example, Imhotep, the architect of the pyramids, was a terrific person. At that time, the architect had to be a doctor, a chemist, an artist, an explorer and a scientist at the same time. When that is the case, you finish a building in ten years. In other words, you are doing fewer projects but leaving permanent marks on the civilization.

I completely work extemporaneously. I have a small office and I don’t like meetings at all. I prefer to get to the end by discussing more on the screen. I do not try to finish it for tomorrow. When you do this, “Photoshop architecture” emerges. However, the job must be pleasant.

When our relationship with Siska started, I saw that the company and Sinan Kasımoğlu had an amazing accumulation of knowledge. We have had a business alliance based on mutual trust. It’s important for me to know that I have a strong support. I know that I will be completed when I have a deficiency. And of course, the same goes for the opposite case. This approach actually does not work like this in Turkey. When things go wrong, the practitioner points the architect as a target and the architect does the same for the practitioner. However, the two must act together in front of the employer. We have enabled this with Siska.