Chapter 2 – Research Methodology
In this research the relationships between three abstract concepts are being examined: memory, identity and spatial perception. After presenting the literature research, these concepts are discussed and described in the context of this study. Subsequently, the remarks on public space and leisure activities are presented, and their significance in this study is described. After setting the theoretical framework by doing these, two case studies -the lost mesire and beach typologies of Istanbul- are probed.
The methodology of the archival investigations is based on the examination and representation of archival material and the demonstration of abstract concepts research dwells on. The archival study is done by using non-academic, unofficial resources in order to better understand and represent the collective memory produced and shared by the public. Although further investigations in academic resources could provide more detailed information on the studied spaces, the aim of this research is to collect, understand, and demonstrate the ways these typologies are visualized in the imagination of the public and the way they resonate with the collective identity of these lost typologies. Therefore, the studied archival resources are picked as follows: oral histories, archival photos, illustrations, podcasts, newsletters, blog posts, newspapers, magazines, as well as fictional stories and novels, myths and legends.
The study of these materials are done in several ways. The information obtained from podcast and audio narratives are visualized by sketches and notes on a continuous paper roll as they were listened. Archival photos are collected and categorized based on their locations. Newspaper articles, magazines, and newsletters were probed, and the parts that included narrated stories are cut out . This way, either fictional or non-fictional stories experienced and told relating these spaces were derived from multiple perceptions. Movies and videos were cut and categorized based on showing activities or physical spatial features. Songs were picked based on their relationship with the typologies and if they were descriptive of anything related with the space experience. The objects, activities, and characteristic attributes of these typologies which were found in more than five different resources were listed and described. Lastly maps were prepared showing the location of the meadows and beaches using the photographs, land and street/neighborhood names and connecting the old maps lacking the full list and location of these typologies.
Everything gathered and visualized as the result of these studies are then put together in a designed database (this website). The database consists of a website that includes the actual materials and the records of the findings of this study. It includes three main sections: 1. the text, 2. the archive, 3. the models. In the archive section the method preferred for presenting the data and their depictions is based on the idea of keeping them in a non-hierarchal structure as much as the constraints of the used software allows. It aims to make strolling between different kinds of materials possible and to provide a chance for the personal interpretation of the collected data. This method tries to visualize and map these typologies, their culture and the identity, in the way that they are possibly structured in one’s mind.
Additionally, two models complimenting this study are produced. They are designed as abstract representations of the adopted theoretical approach and will be furtherly explained in the following sections. The method of their production includes hand-crafting (the objects representing the elements of the spaces, the frames, the textiles, and the pulley system), cad modelling, and CNC milling.