Critical Block

Have you ever played Jenga? Actually it looks like a personal struggle but may be it is a team game, or lets say a community game. Because everybody wants to keep tower up and when anyone loses the game you lose the tower and also the game too. Isn’t it the same as organization of city or organism of community? What happens when somebody holds the critical block of city? Also, what is a critical block?

The first and only rule; community rules the game. As Rem Koolhaas summarized, “The professionals of the city are like chess players who lose to computers”. For example, Taksim, the most attractive, multi-cultural and crowded place of İstanbul, creates touristic value with its colorful social and historical background. If anyone involves with organism of this community, like constructing a boulevard by demolishing many historical apartments between Taksim and Tarlabaşı, system of the city receives wound, because Tarlabaşı has been a settlement for worker class of Taksim since 15th century and this advantage created its irreplaceable cultural diversity.

However, day-by-day, this dissociation caused a deprived area that is turning to slum. No green spaces, no sustainability, no sufficient houses, no community spaces, no security; low income, low education… While minority was expecting rehabilitation of this area, politicians (majority) declared a rebuilding of group of building blocks at seven parcels in Tarlabaşı. These 7 blocks will be a model for whole. However, this game wasn’t planned for the community. In other words, main actors have been forgotten in the green room.

When someone redesigns somewhere without communicating with its community, even without community, what happens to the city? It loses its critically important values: historical, economical and psychological connections. If Renovation Project comes to real, typical stone buildings of Tarlabaşı will be demolished and reconstructed by using concrete and Tarlabaşı will be a cleared sumptuous touristic area. So, owners and tenants of buildings will be obliged to leave their homes and will probably move to periphery and because of notoriety of Tarlabaşı, they will be unwelcome ‘newcomers’. New connections will cause new problems at both sides. Is this a prejudice? Unfortunately no. After speculations, they already started to move.

Today, legal process averts the gentrification for a while. Tarlabaşı is on walking distance to center of the city, Taksim, but it is still slum. However anyone can vitalize the place just being part of the community, even if you are living 40 km far away. The solution shouldn’t be destroying if we are looking for sustainability. Being participant of process, designing with community and preservation with upgrades and additions will help the community such as re-considering Tarlabaşı Boulevard as a green recreation area that reconnects city and community.

In conclusion, these ‘Seven Blocks’ are carrying cultural diversity and the coexistence of İstanbul. Moreover, it symbolizes the renovation as gentrification. That’s why I called it as critical block. Who says ‘Jenga!’ if the critical blocks fall over? No-one.


This essay was written for Berkeley Prize 2010, Essay Competition Stage 1