Prof. Şebnem Yalınay Çinici

Acting Dean

Şebnem Yalınay Çinici completed her Bachelor’s (1989), Master’s (1991), and Ph.D. (1999) degrees at the Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University (METU). She pursued her postdoctoral research (2001) at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. Between 1991-2006, she served as a faculty member at METU’s Department of Architecture and worked at Yıldız Technical University’s Department of Architecture from 2006 to 2011. Since 2007, she has been teaching at Istanbul Bilgi University. In 2003, she established the Digital Design Studio at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, METU. In addition to leading fundamental design and various levels of architectural design studios, her research focuses on ontology, technology, philosophy, architectural design, contemporary design-production technologies, and their integration into education. She has numerous national and international publications and projects on these topics. Since 2009, she has been a faculty member at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Bilgi University, where she also served as the Department's founding Chair from 2011 to 2020. Currently, she is the dean of the Faculty of Architecture.

Faculty Member, PhD Burcu Kütükçüoğlu

MA History and Theory of Architecture Program Coordinator

Burcu Kütükçüoğlu graduated from the Middle East Technical University Faculty of Architecture in 1995 and received two master's degrees from Universidad Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona) and Middle East Technical University between 1996-1999. She worked in architecture offices between 1998-2004 and received awards in competition projects. She completed her doctorate in the Architectural Design Program at Istanbul Technical University in 2012. Within the scope of her thesis studies, she was at Columbia University (New York) with a Fulbright Doctoral Research Scholarship during 2007-2008 academic year, and at the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles) in the summer of 2009, and did postdoctoral studies as a scholarship holder at the Canadian Center for Architecture (Montreal) in 2016. During 2021-22 and 2023-24 academic years, she was a visiting researcher at Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies and taught at Boston Architectural College and Wentworth Institute of Technology - School of Architecture and Design. Kütükçüoğlu was awarded associate professorship by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in 2023. Her research and publication areas include modern architectural history and theory, visual culture studies, history and theory of photography, Mediterranean cultural landscapes, vernacular architecture and modern heritage. Kütükçüoğlu has been working as a full-time faculty member at the Department of Architecture at Istanbul Bilgi University since 2012 and is the director of History and Theory of Architecture Graduate Program.

Res. Asst. Serra Aşkın

Program Assistant

Serra Aşkın is an architect, researcher, and writer. She is a PhD candidate in Architectural Design at Istanbul Technical University, with an MA degree in Architectural History from the Bartlett, UCL, and a B.Arch degree from ITU. Her main research interests are post-war social housing, the housing crisis, and socially conscious and community-oriented design processes. She has written articles on architecture, architectural theory, design, and visual media for various online and in-print publications. She is a research assistant at İstanbul Bilgi University Department of Architecture, attends 4th-year studios, and is the administrative assistant for the Graduate Programs in Architecture.

Faculty Member, PhD Amina Rezoug Ayar

Amina Rezoug is a faculty member at Istanbul Bilgi University. She graduated from Middle East Technical University, Department of Architecture in 2008. She earned her MS. Arch in Architectural Design and Computation Program from ITU with her thesis “Fast, Cheap & Adaptable: A Digital Model for Designing Temporary Post-Disaster Housing.” She completed her Ph.D. at the same institution, where she wrote her dissertation, “A Visual Method of Analysis for User Modifications in Climat de France.” She was a visiting researcher at the Faculty of Architecture of Porto Digital Fabrication in 2019. She has been involved in conceiving and constructing many architectural projects of different scales. Her work has been presented at exhibitions and conferences in different countries. She has taught interior architecture and design courses and studios at different levels since 2016. Her research focuses on decolonial approaches combined with formal methods and computational research. She is particularly interested in housing and dwelling issues in controversial contexts such as post-disaster, marginalized mass housing, and post-colonial modern housing. Her research therefore is highly inspired by cultural studies, design anthropology, and decolonial theories.

Assoc. Prof. Ayça Alangoya

Stuttgart Üniversitesi Mimarlık Bölümü'nden (1990-1994) mezun olan Kezban Ayça Alangoya Stuttgart Belediyesi (1995-96) ve İsviçre'nin Basel şehrinde Herzberger Mimarlık ofisinde (1999-2002) mimar olarak çalışmıştır. “Gottfried Semper'in Pratik Estetik Kuramı ve Teknik-Doğa İlişkisi” konulu doktora tezini Viyana Teknik Üniversitesi Mimarlık Bölümü'nde teslim ettikten sonra (2003), öğretim hayatına tam zamanlı olarak İstanbul Kültür Üniversitesi Mimarlık Fakültesi'nde (1999-2012) başlamıştır. İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi'nde (2012-2015) ve Fatih Sultan Mehmet Üniversitesi'nde (2013-2015) yarı zamanlı olarak sürdürdüğü öğretim hayatını, 2015 yılı itibariyle tam zamanlı olarak İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Mimarlık Fakültesi Mimarlık Bölümü'nde devam ettiren Kezban Ayça Alangoya 2016 yılında doçent olmuştur.

Faculty Member, PhD Banu Tomruk

1978’de Ankara’da doğdu. 2000 yılında Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Mimarlık Bölümü’nden mezun oldu. 2002’de aynı okulda kentsel kamusal alanlar üzerine yüksek lisans çalışmasını tamamladı. 2006-2007 yılları arasında Almanya Bauhaus Dessau Foundation’da Avrupa Birliği ülkelerinin kentleşmesi üzerine interdisipliner lisanüstü araştırma ve proje çalışmaları yürüttü. Doktora eğitimini İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi’nde, “Bursa’nın 2000-2010 arası Yeniden Yapılanmasında Kentsel Söylem Üzerinden Dönüşüm Rotaları” isimli tez çalışması ile 2010 yılında tamamladı. Lisanüstü eğitim sürecinde eşzamanlı olarak Zoom TPU ve Teğet Mimarlık’ta, ofis, konut ve sağlık yapıları üzerine tasarımcı ve proje yöneticisi olarak çalıştı. Akademik çalışmaları, kentsel dönüşüm, 80 sonrası orta ölçekli kentlerin yeniden yapılanma süreçleri ve kentsel söylem üzerine yoğunlaşmaktadır. Bu konular eksenindeki yazıları IAPS, IPHS gibi çeşitli konferanslarda ve Architectural Design, Mimarlık gibi dergilerde yayımlanmıştır. 2012 yılından bu yana İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Mimarlık Bölümü’nde tasarım stüdyosu yürütüyor ve lisans dersleri veriyor.

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.

Faculty Member, PhD Elif Kendir Beraha

Vice Dean

Elif Kendir-Beraha is a researcher and architect serving as a faculty member at the Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Bilgi University. She completed her doctoral studies on the relationship between traditional stone craftsmanship in Anatolia and the epistemology of architecture at RMIT University. She earned her non-thesis master’s degree from Columbia University’s Advanced Architectural Design program and her thesis-based master’s and undergraduate degrees from the Faculty of Architecture at METU. Her primary areas of interest include the political ecology of urban environments, craft culture, architectural phenomenology, and the epistemological impact of land on building practices. Her art-design research has been featured on national and international platforms. She has also organized artistic events and participated in exhibitions under FOL Collective, which she co-founded with Ceren Balkır Övünç. Since 2023, she has continued her research within the Design Anthropology and Critical Practices Research Group [DACP], established with Amina Rezoug and Veli Şafak Uysal from the Bilgi Faculty of Architecture.

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.

Assoc. Prof. Emre Altürk

Vice Dean

2001’de ODTÜ Mimarlık Bölümü’nden onur derecesi ile mezun oldu. Aynı okuldaki lisansüstü çalışmalarında mimarlık ve kent ilişkisi üzerine yoğunlaştı. 2004’de XXL, Mimarlığın Nesnesi Olarak Metropol isimli tez ile yüksek onur derecesi alarak mezun oldu. ODTÜ ve çeşitli mimarlık ofislerinde çalıştı. 2005-2010 yılları arasında Roterdam’da yaşadı. TU Delft’de Hibrid Binalar ve Kamuya Açık Binalar kürsülerinde yüksek lisans tasarım stüdyoları ve kuram dersleri verdi. Doktorasını aynı okulda yaptı. 2009’da Kent Üzerine Mimarlık Teorisini Çizmek isimli tez ile mezun olup yardımcı doçent olarak bir yıl daha çalıştı. 2010 yılı sonunda İstanbul’a yerleşti ve Bilgi Üniversitesi’nde çalışmaya başladı. Burada temel tasarım, çizim, yüksek lisans stüdyoları verdi. Halen mimarlık üçüncü yıl stüdyosuna giriyor, ayrıca mimarlık kuramı, kent ve görsel çalışmalar üzerine lisans ve yüksek lisans dersleri veriyor.

Faculty Member, PhD Evren Aysev

Vice Head of Department of Architecture

Aysev received her BS degree from the Department of Architecture at Middle East Technical University in 1996. In 1998, she completed the Advanced Architectural Design Master's Program at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. In 2013, she completed her doctoral thesis titled "The Role of the Architect in the Production of Urban Space: Istanbul Example " at Istanbul Technical University and earned her PhD. Aysev has worked in various architectural offices in New York until 2000, then she continued her professional life in Istanbul. She was the founding partner of Açıkofis Architecture between 2006 and 2014. She has been a faculty member of İstanbul Bilgi University Department of Architecture since 2015. She was the Program Director of the Graduate Program of Architectural Design at İstanbul Bilgi University between 2015-2020. Currently, she conducts undergraduate and graduate courses on design research, methodology, architectural design, architectural representation and architectural project studios at the same institution. Aysev has national and international academic publications, papers, architectural project competition awards, professional architectural projects. Her research interests consist of urban space production, neoliberal urbanization dynamics of İstanbul, architectural practice-theory cross-section, Anthropocene and ecological design.

Assoc. Prof. Fulya Özsel Akipek

Head of Department of Architecture

Fulya Akipek graduated from the İstanbul Technical University Department of Architecture. Got a master’s and PhD. Degrees from the Yıldız Technical University Computational Design Graduate Programme. Worked at the same institution as a research assistant and instructor until 2011. Still working at İstanbul Bilgi University Department of Architecture as an Assoc. Prof. She is an instructor and head of the department at the same institution. Has several national and international awards at architectural competitions, and participated in various competitions as a jury member. Fields of interest are performance-based design, material performance, permaculture and urban gardens, computational design, and production, design/ build studios, 1:1 architectural prototypes, and architectural education. Akipek has research project leadership roles and awards, and his works have been exhibited at national and international biennales.

Faculty Member, PhD İdil Karababa

İdil Üçer Karababa (B.Arch, M.A. METU; M.A., Ph.D. Bryn Mawr College) İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Mimarlık Fakültesinde mimarlık tarihi, temel tasarım ve antik döneme odaklanan seçmeli dersler vermektedir. Kendisi ayrıca 2010 yılından itibaren İç Mimarlık Bölümünde bölüm başkanlığı görevini de yürütmektedir. Mimarlık tarihi alanında çalışmaları, Roma İmparatorluk ideolojisi ve bu ideolojinin antik Roma mimarisine ve kentlerine yansımaları üzerinde odaklanır. İmparatorluk kültünü araştırdığı mastır tezi ve antik Roma’da başkent kavramını sorguladığı doktora tezinde bu ideolojinin geniş imparatorluk topraklarındaki değişik tanımlarını ve bu tanımların şekillendirdiği mimari formları araştırır. Doktora tezi sonrası bu alanda yaptığı çalışmalarda, Roma başkentlerindeki yürüyüş alaylarının kent mimarisine etkilerini ve ideolojik amaçlı yapıların kent içindeki konumlanmalarını ve imparatorluğun farklı toplulukları tarafından kendilerine verilen değişik anlamları tartışır. Son dönemde BİLGİ Mimarlık Kompütasyonel Temel Tasarım stüdyosundaki çalışmalarına paralel olarak, mimari bezeme ve dijital teknolojiler arasındaki ilişkiyi mimari bezemenin tarihsel gelişimi çerçevesinde tartıştığı bir araştırma yürütmektedir.

Faculty Member, PhD Kutay Karabağ

Vice Head of Department of Architecture

1993 yılında Ankara Atatürk Anadolu Lisesi’ni bitirip ODTÜ Mimarlık Bölümü'nü kazanmış, 1997’de lisans, 2001'de Yüksek Lisans, 2010 yılında da Doktora derecelerini aynı bölümden almıştır. Doktora çalışmalarını Restorasyon ve Koruma Programında, geleneksel dokuda yeni bina tasarımı problemine yönelik bir hesaplamalı tasarım metodolojisi üzerine hazırladığı doktora tezi ile tamamlamıştır. 1998 yılından itibaren ortağı olduğu mimarlık ofisinde proje çalışmalarına katılmış, 2009 yılına kadar Ankara’da, sonrasında da Antalya Kaş İlçesi’nde turizm yapıları ve restorasyon projelerine yoğunlaşmış, aynı zamanda Kültür Bakanlığı ve özel kuruluşlar için antik yapı ve yerleşimlerin 3-boyutlu modellenmesi projelerine katkı sağlamıştır. Çeşitli üniversitelerde yarı-zamanlı çalışmalarda bulunduktan sonra, 2013’te Bilgi kadrosuna katılmıştır. Bir taraftan mimari koruma, eski eser restorasyonu, geleneksel dokuda yeni bina tasarımı ve Likya Tarihi konularında, diğer taraftan tasarı hesaplaması, algortimik ve parametrik tasarım yöntemleri, dijital üretim teknikleri, ve teknoloji tarihi konularında akademik çalışmalarını sürdürmektedir.

Prof. Tuğrul Yazar

M.Arch Architectural Design Program Coordinator

Architect and academic Tuğrul Yazar completed his doctoral research on the pedagogy of digital design education in 2009 at Yıldız Technical University (YTÜ) in the Computer-Aided Architecture PhD Program. He earned his master's degree in 2003 from the same institution with a thesis on the algorithmic design scheme of Mimar Sinan's mosques. Since 2011, he has been teaching courses such as Architectural Geometry, Design Computing, Design Mathematics, Digital Production, and Parametric Modeling at the Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Bilgi University. Yazar received his associate professorship in 2016 and his professorship in 2021. He has worked as a project leader and researcher in scientific projects supported by TÜBİTAK, YTÜ, and Istanbul Bilgi University. In 2023, Yazar was a visiting researcher at Loughborough University in the UK. His areas of expertise include architectural geometry, algorithmic design, computational design, and architectural education. He has contributed to numerous publications, conference presentations, invited talks, thesis supervision, and peer reviews. In addition to his academic work, he provides digital design and production consultancy, has led national and international workshops, and his works have been exhibited at various exhibitions and biennales, earning awards. He currently serves as the program coordinator of the Architectural Design Graduate Program at Istanbul Bilgi University.

Faculty Member, PhD Veli Şafak Uysal

Head of Department of Interior Design

Veli Şafak Uysal, ODTÜ Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümünde lisans, Bilkent Üniversitesi İç Mimarlık ve Çevre Tasarımı Bölümünde yüksek lisans ve doktora çalışmalarını tamamlamış; doktora tezi ile Türk Sosyal Bilimciler Derneği tarafından verilen Genç Sosyal Bilimciler ödülüne layık görülmüştür. Akademik çalışmalarının yanı sıra, uzun yıllar çağdaş gösteri sanatları alanında koreograf/yönetmen, dansçı ve proje koordinatörü olarak faaliyet göstermiştir. Halen temel tasarım ve mimari/iç mimari tasarım odaklı tasarım stüdyoları yürütmekte; renk, sinema-mimarlık ilişkisi ve mekansal anlatılar üzerine dersler vermekte; beden-mekân ilişkisi, mimarlıkta zamansallık, hesaplamalı tasarım, tarihsel bilgi ve tecrübenin çerçevelenmesinde mimarlığın rolü gibi başlıklar etrafında kuramsal çalışma ve yayınlarını sürdürmektedir.

Faculty Member, PhD Victoria Holbrook

Victoria Holbrook lisans eğitimini Harvard Üniversitesi’nde tamamladı. 1979 yılında Princeton Üniversitesi’nden Fars Dili ve Edebiyatı alanında master derecesi aldıktan sonra, doktorasını yine aynı üniversitede 1985 yılında “Osmanlı Edebiyatı” alanında tamamladı. Yüksek lisans çalışmaları sırasında aralıklarla İran ve Türkiye’de bulundu. M. Fuat Köprülü ödülünü kazanan The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance başlıklı akademik kitabı, Türkçe olarak 1994 yılında Aşkın Okunmaz Kıyıları başlığı ile yayınlandı. Kendisinin, Türk ve Osmanlı edebiyat kültürleri alanlarında sayısız İngilizce ve Türkçe makalesi, pek çok ödül ve bursu bulunmaktadır. Tiyatro, film senaryosu ve roman çevirileri olan Holbrook’un; edebi çevirileri arasında Orhan Pamuk’un Beyaz Kale eseri de bulunmaktadır. Columbia, Michigan ve Ohio Eyalet üniversiteleri ile, Bilkent, Boğaziçi ve Koç üniversitelerinde ders vermiş olan Holbrook, halen İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Mimarlık Fakültesi bünyesinde tam zamanlı olarak görev yapmakta; hem lisans, hem de yüksek lisans dersleri vermektedir.

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.