Department of Architecture, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University, Merkez Efendi Mah. Mevlevihane Cad., Yenikapı Mevlevihanesi No: 25, Zeytinburnu, Istanbul, Turkey
May 2013 saw Istanbul witness a massive public demonstration. The incident began on 28 May when a small group of environmental activists tried to save Gezi Park, one of the most iconic green spaces in the Taksim district of central Istanbul. The park dates back to the 1940s and is well-known as public promenade. The modest demonstration was triggered by a government decision to reconstruct a former Ottoman Artillery Barracks. Within a few days, it developed into a violent uprising on an unprecedented scale lasting almost an entire month. Crowds not only gathered in Istanbul but also in many other Turkish cities such as the capital, Ankara. International media broadcast the protests live from Taksim Square turning the Gezi Park protest into an international phenomenon. Today the Park has become a reference point in Turkish politics where almost every issue is linked to the ‘spirit of Gezi’. It made a modest protest over an inner city promenade into a vivid symbol of political opposition. This paper will analyse historically the Taksim Square project and the ideological conflicts it evoked in Turkish society.
Gül, M., Dee, J., & Cünük, C. N. (2014). Istanbul’s Taksim Square and Gezi Park: the Place of protest and the ideology of place. Journal of Architecture and Urbanism, 38(1), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.3846/20297955.2014.902185
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms
that this article contains no violation of any existing copyright or other third party right or any material of a libelous, confidential, or otherwise unlawful nature, and that I will indemnify and keep indemnified the Editor and THE PUBLISHER against all claims and expenses (including legal costs and expenses) arising from any breach of this warranty and the other warranties on my behalf in this agreement;
that I have obtained permission for and acknowledged the source of any illustrations, diagrams or other material included in the article of which I am not the copyright owner.
on behalf of any co-authors, I agree to this work being published in Journal of Architecture and Urbanism as Open Access, and licenced under a Creative Commons Licence, 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This licence allows for the fullest distribution and re-use of the work for the benefit of scholarly information.
For authors that are not copyright owners in the work (for example government employees), please contact VILNIUS TECH to make alternative agreements.
