Aesthetics and Criticism AH-513 Professor Jale Erzen Rabela Junejo -1821909

STRATIFYING CITYSCAPES
What is a city? in its complete sense is a geographic plexus, an economic organization, an institutional process, a theater of social action, and an esthetic symbol of collective unity. On one hand it is a physical frame, for the commonplace domestic and economic activities; on the other, it is a consciously dramatic setting for the more significant actions and the more sublimated urges of a human culture. The city fosters art and is art; the city creates the theater and is the theater. It is in the city, the city as theater, that man s more purposive activities are formulated and worked out, through conflicting and cooperating personalities, events, groups, into more significant culminations. [1] We inhabit cities manifested through opposites. Their polarity bring the forces generating tension and ease, the pull and the push at the same time bringing the dynamism, diversity, movement and the pace that makes the city CITY". . A city is a field of forces and powers acting upon each other and interacting with each other. Only through such a competition between the various powers a city receives its dynamics.The competition between the actors brings forth the multilayered story of the city. human culture is in need of such conflicts as well as cooperation of the most diverse personalities and groups [2] Our dynamic city becomes a SRATIFIED cityscape, although a city is experienced in a more linear manner (in my case a walk from Cinnah Caddesi, to Shereton, Kizlay, Ulus ending on top of the fort), opposite the term of stratification, but when the sensorial synthesis comes out, it is stratified layer upon layer, the linearity perceived not horizontally but vertically making the opposites readable. The city is not stratified through tangible only. But the tangible is the material tool that makes it visible. It is stratified in non tangible as well like the cost/prices in different areas the conversations people have, the gaze, the smell/odor, the ambiance felt etc. The context of a single stratified layer also generates a tension, but this tension is of competitive nature between the similar. Striving for the identity, within the same. The idea here is not to differ but to maintain the benchmark codified in the strata, below which one becomes the OTHER isolated. The belongingness is lost. I would like to stress here, upon the fact that it is not just the elitist atmosphere that make the under privileged feel like the other but is more like a 2 way thing where the privileged also become the other in a non-elitist environment.

My walk through Ankaras affluent public space, to the non-affluent public space Ulus (which has been the historic city center for a long time and has many important buildings of civic, historic and corporate importance) has been characterized by a similar experience of opposites. As stated before it was a linear experience but as the walk progressed I kept on layering the images seen before in a comparative manner on top of each other and hence it revealed the underlying principal in most cities . STRATIFICATION. The subtle transitional character of the areas was visible in the faade (shops exterior mostly and street sections), materials used, the offsets of the buildings from the road, the widths of pedestrian walk ways, width of roads, number of private vehicles versus public transport availability. The city infra structure catered to requirements of the each area accordingly. The overall experience culminated on top of the fort in Ulus, which being a high view point, in the most profound way displayed the city diagram .. the city opening itself as a display of some museum.

[1]

Lewis Mumford: The Culture of Cities. San Diego New York London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers 1970, p. 480. in Heinz Paetzold (University of Kassel Germany): Defining the City
[2]

Paetzold (University of Kassel Germany): Defining the City