Project owner institutions: Dost-I and İstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi – Department of Sociology
In cooperation with: Depo Pergamon, Istituto Italiano di Cultura – Istanbul, Instituto Cervantes – Istanbul
2025 / Cycle of Conferences
CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD
Scientific responsible for the project:
Erhan Berat Fındıklı – İstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi – Department of Sociology
Organising Committee: Claudio Monge, Jose Manuel Garcia Torres, Silvia Pedone, Luca Refatti, Marco Riatti.
Based on the protocol signed between the Rectorate of Istanbul Medeniyet University and the Dominican Study Institute (Dost-I), this project aims to foster collaborations in various fields of social sciences, especially, architecture, urban and cultural sociology.
The project also benefits from the collaboration of the Italian Cultural Institute and the Depo Pergamon architectural education initiative.
Within the scope of the project, a twelve-month conference series is planned where the design, project and implementation phases of contemporary religious buildings in the Mediterranean world will be discussed on an interdisciplinary basis. The buildings listed below will be analyzed within the framework of contemporary architectural theories and sociality by the architects who designed them or by academics who are specialized in architectural theory. The target audience for the project includes especially architects, academics from various disciplines of social sciences, students but also anyone interested in the subject.
1. To analyze the social actors, socio-cultural and professional dynamics that shape the concept, preliminary and implementation projects and construction site processes in the production of contemporary religious architecture.
2. To contribute to theoretical debates on urban, architectural and cultural sociology.
3. To deconstruct contemporary architectural theories and to investigate the possibilities of new concept production in the context of architecture and sociality.
4. To contribute to interdisciplinary theoretical debates on modern architectural design and to encourage printed and digital academic publications through different media.
Religious buildings are chosen to offer an interdisciplinary and interreligious perspective in the Mediterranean context. Thus, mosques, cemevi, churches and synagogues will be presented in order to investigate how different religious traditions have found singular forms of architectural expression in contemporary times.
1. Invitation to the conference and information about the content: Architects on the list will be invited to the project. Questions will be sent to architects who accept to participate in the conference to help them create the general outline of the presentation they will make at Sen Pierre.
2. Interview: A semi-structured interview will be conducted with architects in a closed session to be evaluated in academic research and publications. This interview will ideally take place on the day of the event, before the presentation. Here, architects will be asked to evaluate their own designs within the framework of concepts such as contemporary religious architecture, urban texture, artistic creativity, culture and sociality. In addition to the common questions asked to all architects, we will also focus on some details and research problematic specific to each architect and work.
3. Presentation of the project: A power point presentation will be made between 30 and 45 minutes about the design and implementation phases of the projects. The presentation language will be Italian, Spanish, English or Turkish.
4. Audience participation: This presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. A public discussion platform will be created with questions about the building posed by architects, academics and students in the audience.
5. Sharing the recordings of the presentation: In the days following the event, the recordings of the presentation will be shared with the public through different social media tools.
The lectures will be held, with exceptions, at Sen Piyer Church in Galata – Beyoğlu, at 7.30 p.m.
