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Prof. Şebnem Yalınay Çinici

Acting Dean

Şebnem Yalınay Çinici (Prof.Dr.) received her B.Arch (1989), M.Arch (1991, in Architectural Design) and Ph.D. (1999, in Architectural Design) degrees from Middle East Technical University (METU), Department of Architecture; and completed her Post-Doctorate studies (2001) in Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. She started and pursued her academic career at METU, Department of Architecture (1991-2006), and Yıldız Technical University, Department of Architecture (2006-2011). In 2022-2023 academic year, in her sabbatical leave, she was invited to teach in the Department of Architecture (First Year Studios), at Pennsylvania State University; where she is currently a member of Immersive Environment Lab Research Team. In 2003 she founded and initiated Digital Design Studio in the Faculty of Architecture at METU. In 2007 she started delivering courses in the Graduate Program of Architectural Design at İstanbul Bilgi University. Besides conducting basic design and architectural design studios, her major field of research is ontology, technology and philosophy; architectural design; high-end design+production technologies and their integration into design education. She has numerous national and international publications; exhibition participations and curations. She was the curator of VCMD 3 on Architecture and Education (Dreams to Realities: Projections on Education Exhibition at İstanbul Modern); and exhibit her studio work at the collateral events of 16th Venice Biennale 2018 and architect@Work 2018 (First Year Student Projects: Carapace and Woodle; ComputationBased BasicDesignStudio@BILGI, 1:1@1 Material Performance). Şebnem Yalınay Çinici, being a co-founder of Department of Architecture (2009) and ComputationBased_BasicDesignStudio@BİLGİ (with an alternative approach for first year design education), is continuing her academic career at Istanbul Bilgi University, where in years 2011-2020 she was the founding Head of Architecture Department.

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Prof. B. Deniz Çalış Kural

B. Deniz Çalış Kural is an architect and historian. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1995; Master’s Degree from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in 1998, and her Ph.D. in Architecture from METU in 2004. She held scholarships and fellowships from TUBİTAK NATO Scholarship (1996-2004), Harvard University Dumbarton Oaks Garden and Landscape Studies (2003-2004), TUBİTAK Bideb Scholarship (2015-2016), and, an associateship at Harvard University Aga KhanProgram for Islamic Architecture (2015-2016). She has taught courses on landscape architecture, Ottoman landscape culture; arts and architecture of the Islamic world, and, the history of urbanism in Constantinople/Istanbul at the University of Virginia (UVA) in the School of Architecture, Department of Architectural History in 2010-2011; has been a full-time faculty in Bahçeşehir University (2007-2011), Yeditepe University (2005-2007) and METU (1998-2000). Çalış acted as Head of the Department of Architecture at Istanbul Bilgi University (2021-2023), Director of the Graduate Program in Architectural History, Theory and Criticism at Istanbul Bilgi University (2015-2022), and as Vice Dean at Yeditepe University (2007). She is the author of the book Şehrengiz, Urban Rituals and Deviant Sufi Mysticism in Ottoman Istanbul (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014 - with a second paperback edition in 2018 by Routledge). Her research topics include cross cultural interactions across the early modern Mediterranean landscape cultures; Ottoman space practices, (16th c.- 18th c.) including Ottoman garden and landscape traditions, urban culture, as well as, the arts and architecture of the Islamic world. Her portfolio includes multiple scales of design - architectural design, landscape design and urban design. Her most recent project is the urban design of the Beyazıt Square with Ali Kural (https://mag.bilgi.edu.tr/tr/haber/beyazit-meydanini-tasarlarken-yeni-bir-kentsel-oku/) . Her research and projects are published by Harvard University Dumbarton Oaks Press, TOPOS, Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, among others.

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Faculty Member, PhD Elif Kendir Beraha

Vice Dean

Elif Kendir Beraha, folkolektif tasarım platformunun kurucu ortağı ve İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Mimarlık Fakültesi’nde yarı zamanlı öğretim görevlisidir. Mimarlık lisans derecesini ODTÜ’den, yüksek lisans derecelerinin ilkini New York Columbia Üniversitesi GSAPP bünyesindeki Advanced Architectural Design programından, ikincisini ODTÜ Mimari Tasarım Yüksek Lisans programından aldı. 1999-2005 yılları arasında YTÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi, Bilgisayar Ortamında Tasarım bilim dalında araştırma görevlisi olarak çalıştı. Bu sırada meslek dergilerine yazar ve çevirmen olarak katkıda bulundu. 1999 yılından itibaren Ceren Balkır Övünç ile folkolektif isimli, iki kişiden oluşan çekirdek kadronun farklı tasarımcılarla işbirliği yaptığı bir tasarım platformu oluşturarak ulusal ve uluslararası yarışmalara katıldı ve ödüller kazandı. 2006 yılında Royal Melbourne Insitute of Technology (RMIT) üniversitesine tam burslu doktora araştırmacısı olarak kabul edildi. Prof. Mark Burry danışmanlığında yürüttüğü ve 2014 yılında tamamlanmış olan doktora çalışması, taş ustalarının pratiği üzerinden malzeme ve arazi ile kurulan ilişkinin mimari tasarıma etkisini araştırmaktadır. 2006-2009 yılları arasında RMIT Spatial Information Laboratory bünyesinde yüksek lisans ve lisans tasarım stüdyoları yürüttü. 2007 yılında doktora araştırması kapsamında Artoteek Ypenburg bünyesinde davetli sanatçı (artist-in-residence) olarak araştırma yaptı ve fol@ypenburg sergisini düzenledi. 2012 senesinde yine folkolektif platformu ile İstanbul Tasarım Bienali’nde Olağanaltı isimli yerleştirmeyi gerçekleştirdi. 2010 yılından beri İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi’nde öğretim görevlisi olarak önce temel tasarım, daha sonra da mimari tasarım stüdyolarında yürütücülük yaptı. 2016 senesinde YEM ve Bilgi Üniversitesi işbirliği ile Yapım Aşaması Sempozyumunu düzenledi. Halen serbest mimar ve tasarımcı olarak çalışmalarına devam ediyor.

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Faculty Member, PhD Emrah Altınok

Emrah Altınok is an artist, author, and social scientist working as an assistant professor at Istanbul Bilgi University's Department of Architecture. Trained in urban & regional planning, urban sociology, and urban political economy. He holds a PhD in Urban Planning from Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul. His research interests include the political economy of capitalism, hegemony, history, theory, and criticism in planning and architecture, critical urban theory, social urbanism, and ecosocial design. Presently, he is thinking and writing on post-capitalism, post-growth politics, solidarity economies, and cooperatives. With hybrid expertise, Altınok can influence city planners, mayors, and NGOs to implement progressive urban and social programs. As an activist and role model educator who employs an out-of-classroom approach, he works with his students in solidarity with neighborhood initiatives to develop participatory and inclusive planning and design models. Based on his research experience in toponymy, critical mapping, and geospatial analysis, he has joined a network of COST Action secondary proposers in 2022. His mappings and data visualizations addressing social and environmental challenges in the context of Istanbul's over-urbanization were exhibited at MAXXI in 2015. As an artist combining social research, data science, and hybrid artistic mediums, Altınok has been exhibited in 10+ international and national galleries and art venues, such as Cantieri Culturali Alla Zisa, Palermo, and the Institut Français de Turquie. Several worldwide magazines and newspapers, such as the Financial Times, Where Magazine, Wired, and Zeit and distinguished publishing houses, such as Random House, Penguin, and De Geus, have included his works.

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Prof. Zuhal Ulusoy

Zuhal Ulusoy has received B.Arch and M.Arch. degrees from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Receiving a Fulbright scholarship, she continued her graduate studies in the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA), where she completed her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in architecture and urban studies. In 1992, she joined Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey) as the Founding Chairperson of the Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Department which she continued until 2005. She was a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture in 2003-2004, teaching and conducting research. She started working in the Architecture Department of Izmir University of Economics in 2005, and in 2008 she joined Kadir Has University, Istanbul. She served as the dean of the Faculty of Art and Design until 2015, and as the coordinator of the Architecture and Urban Studies Master’s Program in 2017-2018. Dr. Ulusoy has taken part in studios at foundation design and urban design levels, has taught courses on urban design, housing and concepts in architecture, and has supervised Master’s and Ph.D. theses. Her research interests include design education at various levels and urban studies, particularly urban regeneration and transformation. She has published articles and chapters in various refereed journals and in books, presented in conferences and gave invited lectures on these topics. She has joined Bilgi University, as the Dean of Faculty of Architecture in October 2018 and served in that position until September 2023.