Blog

Three images side by side: a pixelated enlargement of Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp Chapel, an Erwin Heerich composition and an ancient mosaic — from the 2003 thesis
Analysis
Using a Tool for Design, Designing the Tool for Design
A survey published last year names the master’s thesis I wrote in 2003 as the oldest thesis in Turkey prepared around the concept of “digital media.” I opened it again after twenty-two years. Inside were the name of a three-year-old piece of software, a distinction, and a closing sentence that describes the work we do in the office today.
Mutluş Apartment, Suadiye — a completed urban renewal project by BFTA Architects
Analysis
"Yarısı Bizden": The Deadline Moved, the Timetable Didn’t
The Yarısı Bizden campaign has been extended to 31 December 2027. What this extra year means for the apartment buildings waiting on Bağdat Caddesi, how the timetable runs from risk report to permit, where the 1.5x limit shapes the project, and an honest answer to “when will we know?”
Şehir Konakları — rendering and photograph side by side
Analysis
The Rendering Outfoxed the Photograph
Most of what an architecture office shows is renderings; photographs of the finished building are a minority. The day a rendering shows is a day the building will never have. On representation drifting away from photography, and why that follows from the conditions of practice rather than from taste.
Denge Towers — rendering and photograph side by side
Analysis
A Building Is Named Before It Is Born
Floor area ratio, site coverage, parking, fire and seismic codes write most of a building's massing before the architect picks up a pencil. On how a façade decision is multiplied across the whole area, why “make it different” pushes the budget onto the façade, and which rooms the loss collects in.
Mutlu's Apartment — rendering and photograph side by side
Analysis
Where Does a Building's Value Come From?
What makes a building cheaper is not cheap material but clear decisions, and few of them. On why a few materials joined well are both cheap and durable, on the split between frame and cladding, and on the signs by which a resolved building can be read.
Miracle Residence — photograph
Publication
Miracle Residence in Braun’s “Atlas of World Architecture”
Miracle Residence was included in Atlas of World Architecture, published by Braun Publishing in 2013, and was the only building representing Turkey among the 500 projects in the selection — a design showing that an innovative architectural approach can hold at the scale of large housing production.
Architectural floor plan drawing, digital submission
Analysis
From Digital Design to Digital Delivery: A New Era in Submitting Architectural Projects to the Authorities
With two regulations published in the Official Gazette of 5 August 2026, producing and submitting architectural projects digitally has become the legal basis of the permit process. We look at what this means for project production, in-office workflow and submission standards.
Bir konut projesinin normal kat planı çizimi
Analysis
A Transition Guide to Digital Submission for Architectural Projects
Two regulations published on 5 August 2026 move permit projects to PDF/A and IFC and shift submission onto e-PYS. The timetable does not run the same for everyone: housing over 5,000m² in major cities goes first, while non-residential building types wait until 2033. Scope, format and dates.
The Bağdat Caddesi corridor, aerial view
Analysis
Urban Renewal in Kadıköy and on Bağdat Avenue
On the Bağdat Avenue corridor, urban renewal is not simply a matter of securing a permit and producing square metres. Façade design, plan layout and material quality directly determine sales pace and unit price, which makes working with the right architecture practice one of the most critical investment decisions a developer makes.
Analysis
Turkey's interest rate policy is adversely affecting both the quality and quantity of residential production.
High interest rates narrow demand by raising the cost of housing loans; new projects slow down while prices rise. Drawing on the Central Bank's house price index and production data, we assess how interest rate policy is pulling down not only the quantity of housing production but also its quality.
Award
Suryapı Antalya Urban Transformation Project Wins an Award at Sign of the City 2019
Suryapı Antalya Urban Transformation Project Wins an Award at Sign of the City 2019