An Atypical Architectural Practice DS: From Rural Painting to Landscape – From Documentation to Preservation

The book offers first-hand accounts of the personal stories of Deniz and Sevim Aslan, the founding partners of DS, which specializes in landscape architecture and documentation for preservation; the book deals with these two special areas within architecture while also offering insights regarding the phases the architectural practice in Turkey went through in the last three decades. As you listen to Deniz and Sevim Aslan, you will understand that architecture is not only about designing buildings, and you will begin to realize its multifaceted richness when studied in its context and in relationship to its past, present, and future. You will feel with them the excitement arising from learning the materials, conducting experiments, discovering new methods, and engaging in research that occasionally borders on detective work; in addition, there will be disillusionments, settling of scores, and even parting of ways. Their stories will help you in getting to know other actors who have lived or still live with the same passion. Actors who have a passionate love for the grown and the built, following with great interest the way their lives unfold, sharing their knowledge gladly with their students, publishing it, disseminating it...A series of interviews conducted by Pelin Derviş, the editor of the book, with Deniz Aslan from 2012 to 2015 constitutes the backbone of the first of the two main sections of the book, and is entitled "From Rural Painting to Landscape." This section offers the reader the opportunity to see the development of the practice and academic milieu of landscape architecture in Turkey as seen and experienced by Deniz Aslan, as he recounts how the landscape architecture program became part of faculties of architecture, the process of creating academic programs, the professional organizations, and attempts at publishing. We also follow the changes in how landscape architecture is regarded within the creation of architecture on various scales and contents ...