An architectural query of Anthropocene Era: Planned obsolescence

Year 2023, , 192 - 206, 03.10.2023

H.gül Aydın , Emel Birer

https://doi.org/10.47481/jscmt.1343945

Abstract

After Modernity, the human has become the subject, and the world redefined by the human has turned into a painting. However, the efforts of human subjectivity to reveal the world in the Anthropocene Era, with negative practices such as the “planned obsolescence theory,” which is the research subject, even prepares for the end of its existence. According to the research hypothesis evaluated through the theory’s effect on architectural problems, “secular- ization should take place against planned obsolete architecture.” The research aims to show that positive feedback can be provided in society and ecology by reversing architectural consump- tion. It is to open up for discussion that architecture, which is left in the tension of life and death but revived by the urbanites and nature despite the negativity of decay, can be sustained by becoming secularized. How planned obsolete architectures become secularized is revealed through visual documents and tables and discourse and descriptive analysis methods through architectures of different scales and geographies, which can be reactivated in human-nature activity while in crisis of decay. At the micro and macro scale of architecture, Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center, Banker Han (Banker Kastelli), Doel Village, and Houtouwan Village were selected as purposeful examples.

Keywords

Modernity, planned obsolescence, secularization, Anthropocene

Project Number

-

References

• Lefebvre, H. (2020). The production of space. (I. Ergüder, trans.). Sel Publishing.
• Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Barry, T.L., & Cantrill, D.J. (2008). Are we now living in the Anthropocene? GSA Today, 18 (2), 4-8. [CrossRef]
• Rickards, L. A. (2015). Metaphor and the anthropocene: Presenting humans as a geological force. Geographical Research, 53(3), 280-287. [CrossRef]
• Rockström, J. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461, 472-475.
• Castree, N. (2014). The Anthropocene and geography I: The back story. Geography Compass, 8 (7), 436-449. [CrossRef]
• Çaylı, E. (2020). The aesthetics of climate: Essays on anthropocene art and architecture. Everest Publications. [CrossRef]
• Portzamparc, C. D., & Sollers, P. (2010). Writing and seeing architecture (C. İleri, trans.). Yapı Kredi Publishing.
• Güçlü, İ. (2021). Research methods in social sciences: Technique-approach-application. Nika Publishing House.
• Abandonedspaces (2023). https://www.abandonedspaces.com/
• Harvey, D. (2012). Paris, Capital of Modernity (B. Kılınçer, trans.). Sel Publishing.
• Heidegger, M. (2001). Nietzsche's word "God is dead" (L. Özşar, trans.). Asa Kitabevi.
• Touraine, A. (2002). Critique of Modernity. (H. Tufan, trans.). Yapı Kredi Publishing.
• Sertsarı Aslan, E., & Birer, E. (2021). Reading the post-pandemic period public space design through the Aldo Rossi aphorism. İdealkent, 12(34), 1614-1644. [CrossRef]
• Heidegger, M. (1977). The question concerning technology and other essay. (W. Lovitt, trans.). Garland Publishing.
• Begeç, S. (2019). An object as a plastic element in the context of Modernity. International Journal of Innovative Approaches in Social Sciences, 3(4), 106-127. [CrossRef]
• Güler, İ. (2001). The 'deep perversion' that has happened to the world: Worldliness. Journal of Islam, (3), 35-58.
• Bird Rose, D., Dooren, T., Chrulew, M., Cooke, S., Kearnes, M., & O'Gorman, E. (2012). Thinking through the environment, unsettling the humanities. Environmental Humanities, 1(1), 1-5. [CrossRef]
• Jeffries, B. (2020). The loss of nature and the rise of pandemics. WWF International.
• Slade, G. (2006). Made to break: Technology and obsolescence in America. Harvard University Press. [CrossRef]
• London, B. (1932). Ending the depression through planned obsolescence. Unknown. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/London_%281932%29_Ending_the_depression_through_planned_obsolescence.pdf
• Kırbaş Akyürek, B. (2019). Planned obsolete architecture architecture: Build –destroy-throw away. A. Ciravoğlu (Ed.). Ters Köşe Ekoloji. Puna Publishing.
• Packard, V. (1961). The waste makers. Lowe & Brydone.
• BoredPanda (2023). 119 Heartbreaking photos of pollution that will inspire you to recycle. https://www.boredpanda.com/environmental-pollution/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
• Colford, K. (2021). Decay crisis: Organizing information in the built environment. Congress presentation. Istanbul Design Biennial, Istanbul Kültür Sanat Vakfı. https://tasarimbienali.iksv.org/i/assets/tasarim-bienali/documents/Katie_TR.pdf .
• Yıldırım, A. (2018). On the concept of secularisation. Avrasya Terim Magazine, 6(2), 46-54.
• Cox, H. (1965). The secular city. The Macmillan Company.
• Ekinci, İ. (2018). Secularization and religion. Journal of Bitlis Eren University Institute of Social Sciences, 7(1), 320-337.
• Gettyimages (2023). https://www.gettyimages.com/
• Urry, J. (2018). Consuming place. (R.G. Öğdül, trans.). Ayrıntı Publishing.
• Coşkun, C. (2007). Consumer society and the internet. [Unpublished master's dissertation]. Inönü University.
• Jacobs, J. (2017). The death and life of great American cities. (B. Doğan, trans.). Metis Publishing.
• Tschumi, B. (2018). Architecture and disjunction. (A. Tümertekin, trans.). Janus Publishing.
• Best Attractions (2023). The rise and fall of Hawthorne Plaza Mall in Hawthorne, CA – A nostalgic journey through time. https://bestattractions.org/usa/california/hawthorne-plaza-in-hawthorne-ca/
• Daily Breeze (2023). http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/history/2010/10/20/hawthorne-plaza/
• Fotospot (2023). Abandoned hawthorne plaza mall. https://fotospot.com/attractions/california/abandoned-hawthorne-plaza-mall
• Chairman (2009). Banker Kastelli. https://irmakcan.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/banker-kastelli-3/
• Işık, A. (2018). Banker Kastelli. https://abdullahabdurrahman.wordpress.com/2018/12/16/banker-kastelli-alintidir/
• Urbex.nl (2023). Doel: The abandoned village in Belgium. https://www.urbex.nl/doel/
• Sözcü (2022,). An abandoned Chinese village that nature has taken over. https://www.sozcu.com.tr/hayatim/seyahat/doganin-ele-gecirdigi-koy/
• Lefebvre, H. (2017). The right to the city. (I. Ergüden, trans.). Sel Publishing.