Micro-Networks of Istanbul’s Streets

“Micro-Networks of Istanbul’s Streets,” researched and revealed the urban identity of Tophane, a rapidly changing neighborhood in Istanbul. This neighborhood has historically had a multiethnic composition. Embedded within today’s socio-cultural mix are street based micro-scale networks essential to Tophane’s everyday life. These networks exist beneath the surface but are integral to the neighborhood’s everyday life and urban identity; from corner shops that sell goods to residents using buckets lowered from above to semi-clandestine urban recycling networks to the wild plant ecology growing in walled gardens. The workshop conducted “live research” of these micro-scale urban networks in Tophane through video interviews, research drawings, and design interventions. Their design intervention proposals in the micro-networks, which are similarly small-scale, imagine alternative futures for Tophane as it transforms with much of Istanbul. Both the research and design interventions are exhibited at Studio-X Istanbul and present the workshop’s argument that micro-events in the street are essential to Istanbul’s identity and future

Phu Hoang: Phu Hoang co-directs MODU (with Rachely Rotem) as an architect with extensive national and international design experience. MODU has won the Rome Prize (2016) and numerous other awards, including the AIA New Practices New York award (2016) and the Architectural League Prize (2009). The practice has also won design competitions organized by Design Museum Holon (2014), Beijing Architecture Biennial (2013) and SHIFTboston (2011). Before starting his first solo practice in 2006, Phu Hoang worked for notable architecture practices in London and New York. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University in New York. He currently teaches in the architecture program of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University.