The last guest of the 'Architect's Journey' program organized by Yurtbay Seramik and punlished on its Youtube channel, moderated by Pelin Olgun, was MAA founder Melike Altinisik. In the interview held at Camlıca Tower, Melike Altinisik talked about her professional journey, her experiences of being a woman in the industry and Camlica Tower.
Melike Altinisik, who said that it was predicted that she would do something related to design in her childhood, “When they wanted to buy me toys, I always preferred puzzles. Creating a whole from those pieces was very valuable to me. On the other hand, I was the child of a father who was a contractor, civil engineer and involved in art. My father used to carve sculptures from wood, carvings from aerated concrete, and create mosaics by combining pieces of glass. I would kind of apprentice to him and have the opportunity to get to know the materials with him... As I grew up over the years, as I traveled around the city and understood it, as I learned what a building means, historical buildings and modern buildings through my teachers, I knew that I would be an architect during my high school years," she says.
Honors degree is not the goal but the result
Melike Altinisik, who completed her undergraduate education at ITU with first place and then went to London for her master's degree, describes her success during her student years as follows: "I think graduating from school with honors should be seen as an outcome, not a goal. This is the biggest advice I can give to young people. When you do a study, a job, a research with love and curiosity, it returns to you as appreciation. Those appreciations were reciprocated in various ways throughout my career.”
Stating that one of the advantages of going to London for a master's degree was the opportunity to actually come face to face with the names or projects she met in the books, "We met Zaha Hadid in my jury, she played an important role in my career and became my mentor. With the job offer I received, I had the opportunity to gain 7 years of international experience in her office," Altinisik says.
Talking about Camlica Tower, where the interview was held, Altinisik stated that designing such a project is a team effort and said, “Mostly, in the world, such telecommunication towers are known as works of art of engineers. Architecture is not discussed, mostly engineering is discussed. In our opinion, one of the valuable aspects of this project is that it shows the hybrid communication and interaction between architecture and engineering. We see it as a product of this valuable dialogue established between the architect and the engineer.”
Natural material is the first choice
Stating that ceramics and similar natural materials are the primary choice in her projects, Altinisk said, “When appropriate, we prefer to direct our employers towards projects where wood and ceramics are used more heavily. We call this hybridization on a structural scale... You may not be able to make it entirely from wood, but we are increasing its use. We find it very valuable to include natural stone, ceramics and even specially produced ceramics in facade cladding and interior cladding, and we create designs that encourage this."
Zeki Yurtbay Design Award is very valuable
Explaining her thoughts about the Zeki Yurtbay Design Awards, of which she was one of the jury members in 2018, Altinisik said, “Yurtbay Seramik's admirable effort and ability to ensure continuity in this competition is very valuable. One of the factors that make it valuable is that it creates a culture and an archive within itself. Imagine how much participation there has been in 11 years. There are those who are chosen and appreciated, and then there are those who produce ideas. When you put them side by side, the archive that will be created is incredibly valuable.
Knowledge trumps gender
Speaking about being a woman in the sector, Melike Altinisik said, “When they try to describe me and emphasize the word 'woman', I insistently say 'no, I am an architect'. I am not a female architect, I am an architect. But of course there is a reality, you cannot escape it. The more you produce, the more you do, the more you try to produce, the more you start to realize the obstacles and difficulties you encounter. And you find ways to deal with them. But I always believe this, and it has been like this until today, I have always found myself in challenging projects; when you look at it, the primary way to get rid of that female identity is through knowledge. When you wear knowledge as clothing for yourself, your gender already disappears. However, this does not prevent the need to break some taboos. The way to improve this is to persist. We are on this journey and we are a part of it. Free from gender, we exist here, we exist with our knowledge, and we continue this journey.
Melike Altinisik’s interview on The Architect’s Journey can be watched from the link:
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