Urban Statement

A documentary project on the transformation of Istanbul as an organism.

Istanbul has been redefined countless times in a relentless political, cultural and religious struggle over ages. The most recent transformation period has started in 1960s with uncontrolled urbanization, following the urban operations which accelerated in 80’s and that have overly influenced Turkey’s macro development since then. It moved into a new stage over the last two decades that I have witnessed, with the ambitions to build "Istanbul 2023”.

Centuries-old neighborhoods razed to the ground, local communities relocated against their will, the transformation turned into profit maximization disregarding social and cultural sustainability. It deeply hurts the cultural heritage, alienating the residents in the name of gentrification, turning them into inner-city migrants in a process that has become a coordinated action over time. This left us all with incredibly flashy, gigantic but empty residential settlements. Their silhouettes soaring towards the sky, shatter all our aesthetic perceptions and the city’s urban forms. The residents of these ghost cities gradually get lost in a dazzling steel and concrete forest, with the boundary between reality and illusion getting blurred.

As I walk through the familiar landscapes I knew, I feel unreal and disconnected. Maybe this is the darkness of our period. On the one hand, I feel an absurd reality. On the other hand, these are images of a surrender, as well as a call for the confrontation. A confrontation in which we must nurture hope. As a documentarist, I want to showcase the city and the individual in the urban context, documenting the transformation of the city as an organism.