ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION IN MIMAR SINAN FINE ARTS UNIVERSITY IN GLOBALIZING TURKEY

Abstract

Due to the changing parameters of global economy and information technologies within the last two decades, both life and architecture are increasingly becoming multi-actored, more complex and instable.1 Accordingly, the need for redefinition of the profession has emerged. Global and continental economy based organisations, essentially enabling free movement of services internationally, gave rise to discussions on change and transformation processes in architectural discourse and education. The topics were professional practice, provision of services and the way they were applied, as well as improvement of profession in terms of the quality of life. International architectural organizations carried on discussions and published the consequent agreements and recommendations2 . This article aims at examining the reflections of these changes in the concepts of architectural education, within the frame of the international agreements and programmes, due to the EU membership process in particular, in the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University - MSGSU, the oldest architecture school in Turkey. Although the processes of change have not been completed yet, in order to survey the perception of changes and the level of awareness, questionnaires were conducted with 100 architecture students and 40 academics of the Department of Architecture in MSGSU.