The Design Journal

An International Journal for All Aspects of Design

ISSN: 1460-6925 (Print) 1756-3062 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rfdj20

A History of Design Research at the Periphery: The

Turkish Case
Nigan Bayazt
To cite this article: Nigan Bayazt (2009) A History of Design Research at the Periphery: The
Turkish Case, The Design Journal, 12:3, 289-309
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/146069209X12530928086324

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Nigan Bayazt

Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is
to investigate the origins of design research
in Turkey from various perspectives. The
roots of design research can be traced
back to the declaration of the Republic and
its reforms relating to universities and the
educational system, when the influences
of refugee German professors soon
became significant. Demand for design
research coexisted at the periphery with
the development of industry; and currently,
design research is undertaken primarily
by design academics, graduate and
postgraduate students.
KEYWORDS: Turkish design research, Turkish design
history, history of design education

The Design Journal DOI: 10.2752/146069209X12530928086324

A History of Design
Research at the
Periphery: The
Turkish Case

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Nigan Bayazt

Introduction

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The objectives of design research are the study, research

and investigation of the artificial made by human beings,
and the way these activities have been directed either
in academic studies or manufacturing organizations (Bayazt, 2004).
In defining design research, this paper also refers to the definition
given by Bruce Archer (1981): Design research is systematic inquiry
whose goal is knowledge of, or in, the embodiment of configuration,
composition, structure, purpose, value, and meaning in man-made
things and systems.
This paper intends to investigate the origins of design research
from social, political and economic, as well as scientific, perspectives.
As Er and Er (2006) state, Since design is increasingly recognized as
a competitive factor of strategic nature, it is expected and natural that
design research has found a fertile ground in the central countries of
the global economy as they evolve into being knowledge economies
for the last decades. If this was the true requirement of design re
search for the central countries, some questions do come to mind:
Why did design research flourish at the periphery as early as in these
central countries? Where and how did design research begin in an
academic context? To answer these questions, one has to review
the historical background of universities and industry in Turkey from
social, political and economical perspectives. I shall try to explain
the context of design research in Turkey, taking into consideration
the development of the Republic era and its universities. The history
of design research progressed in parallel with the development of
universities in the modernization and Westernization of Turkey.
The Turkish Republic was declared in 1923 after the war of indep
endence, on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. The founder of the
Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatrk, introduced educational
reforms in 1924 that abolished the madrasahs, religious schools of
the Ottoman Empire (Figure 1). As a first step towards modernization,
he then launched the universities.1 Atatrk introduced economic
policies, not just to develop small- and large-scale businesses
(Huntington, 2006), but also to create social classes which, along
with the peasantry of Anatolia, would steer social and economic
changes. Turkey had no industrialized market economy and found
itself in deep economic crisis during the Great Depression. With a
national vision in mind during the introduction of state-controlled
policies (Figure 2), Atatrk and his successor Mustafa
.economic
.
I smet I nn wanted to knit the country together economically
(Figure 3). Their policies supported the development of private
enterprise and businesses.
In the new Turkish Republic there was neither a large number
of academics nor a strong academic tradition in the universities.
Atatrk and his associates implemented plans to develop existing
educational institutions, including the transformation of the Istanbul
Darlfnun into Istanbul University. Atatrks government invited

Design Research at the Periphery: The Turkish Case

Figure 1 .
Posters by Ihap Hulusi,
showing Atatrk with a
child examining the first
alphabet and a peasant
studying a booklet. These
posters were designed to
give encouragement to
people and help them to
learn the Latin alphabet.
Photo by N. Bayazt.

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Figure 2 .
Poster by Ihap Hulusi,
designed for Smerbank,
a textile factory established
in 1936 by the Turkish
government as a result
of its state-controlled
economy. Photo by
N.Bayazt.

Nigan Bayazt

Figure 3
President Atatrk
. and
Prime Minister Inn visiting
Smerbank Nazilli Basma
Sanayii Messesesi in
1937; the first textile factory
in Turkey. Source: Demirel
(2002). Photographer
unknown.

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Albert Malche, professor of pedagogy at Genve University and

a Swiss national, to act as an adviser on university reform, and
in 1932, he was asked to prepare a report on Istanbul University
(Widmann, 1999).
The Republican administration was also quick to realize that one
of the sturdiest foundations inherited from the Ottoman Empire was
Mhendishane, the Engineering School (Anon., 2004).2 Beginning in
the 1920s, political developments in Europe led to the immigration
of eminent architects and academics to Turkey, and this had a
positive impact on the educational system as well as on architectural
movements in the young Republic. The architect, Ernest Egli, and
other foreign professors enjoyed good relations with the government.
The government had no explicit scientific policy, but promoted
university education and the writing of qualification theses to enabled
scientific progress. On May 31st 1933, the University Foundation law
was issued with organizational principles based on German, French
and Swiss University (Hochschule) formations (Widmann, 1999).
The structure of the educational system of the country was a major
concern, and after this venture, a variety of foreign models were used
in university organizations in collaboration with foreign educators.
Another important issue was the development of industrys, and
particular the economic sectors, understanding of the research
agenda.

The Flourishing of Design Research in

Architecture Schools
The new Republic sent selected bright students to European uni
versities to study in different disciplines. This opportunity had a great
influence on the development of design education and research in
Turkey. Design education was born within architectural education and
was initially developed by architects. The employment of research in
architectural graduate education set a precedent and encouraged
design research in related disciplines.

Design Research at the Periphery: The Turkish Case

Because of the increasing need for buildings in the new capital

Ankara and the shortage of architects in the country, an era of foreign
architects began in 1927. The architects Clemens Holzmeister,
Ernst Arnold Egli, Hermann Jansen, Martin Elsaesser and Bruno
Taut influenced the architecture of the young Republic through their
employment as educators, consultants, planners and practitioners
(Alsa, 1976). Of these, the most influential on Turkish architecture
and architectural education was Egli (Frank and Ernst, 2004), who

293

Influence of European Professors

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Design Research in architecture began in the 1940s at the

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Faculty of Architecture, which was
itself established within the Civil Engineering School in the 1930s as
a department before becoming a separate faculty in 1944. In the
1940s there were only two architectural schools in Istanbul; one at
ITU and the other in the State Academy of Fine Arts (DGSA). They
developed in two different directions and adopted the models of
different European schools of art and design, mainly from Germany
and France.
During the 1940s the architectural schools were overseen by
the Ministry of Education. However, the Ministry of Public Works
was aware of the high-quality foreign architects teaching at the
ITU Faculty of Architecture and commissioned public buildings,
schools, hospitals and so forth. The ITU Faculty of Architecture had
a strong basis in civil engineering at that time; more than half of the
courses in the school were in this subject. In retrospect, the origins
of the schools first graduates are clear. Half of the teachers had
civil engineering backgrounds and the rest came from the DGSA
Department of Architecture.
In mapping a terrain of investigation on the first buds of design
research in Turkeys history of design, difficulties arise in obtaining
accurate documents regarding Turkish institutions. However, the
emergence of design research activity in Turkey did not depend on
the development of the market economy and industry.
Read (1966) states, the problem[s] of design in the twentieth
century have followed the advancements in the technology
of production. In Turkey, there were a very small number of in
dustries, and these were based on traditional artisanship, such as
leather works, shoe-making, ironsmiths, ceramics, glass-works,
coppersmiths, jewellery, carpet and textile. New industries were
established by Atatrk for the crucial needs of the country to supply
the basic consumption requirements of the people. Technologies
for these industries were imported from abroad, together with tech
nical experts; design was not among the significant requirements.
The quality of these industrial products intended only for internal
consumption was very low compared to other countries. Turkish
manufacturers, engineers, managers and even business people
were educated in those industries in the 1930s.

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was invited to Turkey in 1927 as an architectural consultant by the

Ministry of Education.
In 1930, Egli reorganized the curriculum of the DGSA Depart
ment of Architecture, changing the direction of The First National
Architecture Movement to a functionalist modernist line that was
environmentally sensitive and respected the new Turkish Republic
and its cultural background. He supervised several research pro
jects on Anatolian and national architecture and organized semin
ars that influenced students who later became professors in the
same school, as well as at ITU. He wrote the first book on the great
Ottoman architect Sinan and also authored several unpublished
books including Basic Principles of a Cosmic Architecture in 1934
and Turkish House and Art of Construction in 1942.3
Bruno Taut established the ITU Department of Architecture in
1936 but passed away in 1938 (Widmann, 1999). In 1926, Emin
Onat4 (Alsa, 1997), a Turkish national, had been admitted to the
Engineering Technical College (the present ITU) while it was a military
engineering school and would later become Head of the Department
of Architecture at the College of Engineering in 1938 and the first
Dean of the newly established Faculty of Architecture in 1944.
Professor Paul Bonatz5 (Erkin, 1997) fled to Turkey sometime
around 1940 because of a disagreement with Hitler over his plans
for the Munich Railway Station. Holzmeister6 was professor both at
the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Prussian Academy of
Fine Arts in Dusseldorf. In February 1938, he was commissioned by
Atatrk himself to build the Parliament building. During the Second
World War, Holzmeister was joined by hundreds of scientists and
intellectuals who sought refuge in Turkey. He and Bonatz became
leading professors in architectural design education at ITU (Figure 4).
Bonatz supported nationalist architecture. The first-generation
founding fathers of the ITU Faculty of Architecture Holzmeister,
Belling, Bonatz and Onat were influential on second-generation
academicians (Figure 5), who were working together and preparing
their qualification theses as required by new University law (Anon.,
Figure 4
Paul Bonatz and Emin Onat
with the second-generation
faculty members at ITU.
Courtesy of the ITU Faculty
of Architecture.

Design Research at the Periphery: The Turkish Case

295

1944). The majority of foreign professors came from an academic

background as well as professional practice. They were instrumental
in the orientation of young academicians education toward practice;
despite the fact that they had to write a book to become an associate
professor. In the 1940s, there were no departments; the chair
system a hierarchical structure typical of German universities with
chair holders controlling junior faculty and students was accepted
at ITU.
In contrast, the French Beaux-Art system was adopted by
the DGSA just after it was established in 1883 by Osman Hamdi
Bey (18421910), the first Turkish expert on museums (Tansug,
1999). Teaching took a new direction and was based on working
in the studio. Artistic training, art theories and technical workshops
allowed for efficient organization, flexibility and regular dialogue,
which established ground for projects. ITU was a technical university
and architecture there was more akin to research and scientific
investigations than at DGSA.
Rudolf Belling, the well-known German pioneering modernist
sculptor, emigrated to Istanbul in 1937. He joined the teaching staff
of the DGSA and worked part-time at the ITU Faculty of Architecture
between 1954 and 1965. He established a model-making atelier
together with the well-known Turkish painter Ercment Kalmik
at ITU. Belling, Kalmik and the art historian Sabahattin Eyboglu
introduced the concept of art into the ITU Faculty of Architecture,
which previously had had a largely technical curriculum. Some
of the newcomers were oriented to not only the technology and
functionality of architecture, but also to research on basic design and
the history of art.
With the founding of the Middle East Technical University (METU)
in collaboration with American institutions in 1956, a Turkish university
adopted the American university system for the first time, while the
continental European university systems prevailed in the remaining
Turkish universities.

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Figure 5
Rector Emin Onat chairing
a meeting of the ITU
Senate. Courtesy of the ITU
Faculty of Architecture.

Nigan Bayazt

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Theses of the Period (19401950)

In the university system, there were no postgraduate programmes
in art, architecture and engineering; after a five-year undergraduate
programme, a graduate degree was awarded. Proficiency in engin
eering, architecture and art could be awarded after completing
a thesis, and this was the official equivalent of a doctoral degree
in Europe and the United States until the 1960s. After obtaining
proficiency in architecture, one had to prepare a qualification thesis.
Through various University laws of the 1940s and 1960s issued by
different governments, first qualification theses in the 1940s, then
PhD theses in the 1960s became obligatory for those who wanted
to be awarded academic degrees. These laws were not only for artand architecture-associated disciplines, but for all other disciplines
in the universities. The influence of the refugee European professors
was very strong in the academic developments of the universities in
Turkey. Some of these professors, who came from Central Europe,
were admirers of the Bauhaus, but some of them believed in a
Turkish National Architecture.
Most of the qualification theses of the assistants were supervised
by the first generation of foreign professors. Increasing awareness
of design research as an integral part of prevailing architectural
movements had been accelerating rapidly in schools of architecture.
In the 1940s Leman Tomsu, H. Kemali Sylemezoglu and Kemal
Ahmet Aru, who were later appointed as assistants to professors at
ITU, were graduates of the DGSA and students of Ernst Egli. Tomsu,
one of the first female architects and academicians, undertook a
design research project on the traditional houses of Bursa (Tomsu,
1950). In the 1940s, assistants to professors of the ITU Faculty of
Architecture completed a series of qualification theses on traditional
housing design and historical buildings in Anatolia. Concepts of
regionalism influenced the qualification theses of this young
generation. Their approach to traditional housing was romantic.
Craft-based construction methods were still in use, and studies
dealing with building construction principles were associated with
the investigation of craft origins of traditional architecture. Theses
completed in architecture during the 1950s were concerned with
drawings, measurements, exterior and interior pictures of traditional
houses and the history of houses and towns.
There was no building industry in Turkey in the 1950s. The DGSA
became the centre for regionalist architecture and Sedat Hakki
Eldem, who worked in Frank Lloyd Wrights office for a while (Mutlu,
1995) was a leading figure (Bozdogan et al, 1987).7 His personality
and design achievements were remarkable; he designed modern
buildings inspired by traditional building styles. He nurtured his
students in the years from 1940 to 1950, some of whom moved
to ITU later, as leaders of modernist traditional architecture with a
design research basis (zer, 1963: 61). Others were working on
the history of architecture.8 Thanks to Eldem, nder Kkerman,

Design Research at the Periphery: The Turkish Case

founder of the first Industrial Design Department at DGSA, had the

opportunity to become his assistant as a design apprentice.
During the Second World War, the Cold War, and afterwards, the
USA influenced the economy as well as the politics in Turkey. The
influence of British and American research centres and universities
on academics promoted a new tendency towards scientific ap
proaches. The idea of design research at the time mainly focused
on the understanding of the historical and cultural background of
the new state. Following the establishment of the Turkish Republic in
1923, one of the major revolutions was in the alphabet, which was
changed from Arabic to Latin script in 1926. This change introduced
a gap between the older and younger generations in terms of
reading and understanding old scripts. As a result, it also created
a temporary hiatus in research at Ottoman archives for cultural and
historical studies.

297

Differences among the schools of art and architecture were high

lighted by the differences in research traditions as well as the ways
in which academic positions were given. Art schools such as DGSA
and the State Higher School of Applied Fine Arts (TGSYO) were
not included in the University laws until the DGSA became Mimar
Sinan University and the TGSYO joined Marmara University with the
1981 University law. Before that, academic posts in these schools
were filled following a different tradition within which design research
was considered as art and design projects. A dualistic structure of
doctoral education is still prevalent in art and industrial design (Er and
Bayazt, 1999).
Until the 1940s, Turkey remained a country of agriculture with a
protectionist, closed economy. Industrial products were generally
imported. There was some craft industry inherited from the Ottoman
Empire, but this was destroyed by the import of Western manufactured
goods. Later, Turkish mass production companies did not require
industrial design since they were dealing with assembly only; even
in the 1950s; some of them were still working as subcontractors to
external companies. Compared to the pioneering architects of the
twentieth century (Heskett, 1980) who were involved in industrial
design alongside their architectural practice, there was no demand
at all from companies in Turkey to hire designers. The reason being
that, with a closed economy, there was no competition between
companies. Therefore, design research followed the established
pattern and remained allied to architecture. Design research received
a boost in the 1960s from the new University law issued by the
semi-military parliament, as the PhD became obligatory for those
who were planning an academic career in all disciplines. Parallel
to the HfG9 line of thought, young academics in architecture were
influenced by the prevailing paradigm as stated by Buchanan (1995),
Focus on methodology was a way of introducing a collection of

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Research in Art and Architectural Design

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Nigan Bayazt

scientific method and techniques into design. It promoted the idea

of a new science of design, grounded in neo-positivist and empiricist
philosophy...
The first PhD studies in architectural design were philosophical
in nature; they were generally pragmatist and critical of traditional
Western philosophy, especially the notion that there were absolute
truths and absolute values. New areas such as operations research,
systems theory and mathematical logic were applied as in the central
countries. The accepted purpose of the PhD in architecture was not
different from the PhD in engineering: the contribution to knowledge
by research and/or development of a new scientific method and/
or application of a known method to a new field (ITU Fen Bilimleri
Enstits, 1996). Most design dissertations utilized digital computing
facilities for design research purposes as Bayazt (1969) did in her PhD.
Systematic design methods, which Horst Rittel (1972) later
called first-generation design methods, were well established
by the end of the 1960s in Turkey. Turkey was attempting to sys
tematize design education and conduct design research at the
same time. New academic reorganization followed new design
research app roaches to architecture, flowering as in the USA
and in England. Consequently, the Architectural Design Methods
Chair was established in the ITU Faculty of Architecture in 1973.
In Turkey, the National Central Authority of Universities recognized
architectural design methods as an academic discipline that same
year. As Bayazt states: Academics in Turkey were following the
developments in the UK and the USA on design methodology
and the scientific approaches to design because the PhD was an
obligatory stage of academic life by law in every field even in
architectural design (Bayazt, 2004). In those days, academics still
had to write a qualification thesis, equal to a PhD. For those aiming
at design chairs, the subject had to be on design research.
Unfortunately, in 1970s Turkey, computer facilities for design were
not as advanced as they were in Europe and the USA. Academic
dissertations were mostly concerned with morphological studies as
there were no computer graphics facilities in the universities (Bayazt,
1974). However, in some dissertations, digital computing was used.
In these years, psychosocial studies received impetus in parallel with
the EDRA in the USA and IAPS in Europe.
The first international conference on design in Turkey, Architectural
Design: Interrelations among Theory, Research, and Practice was
held at ITU in 1978 (Bayazt and Inceoglu, 1978) in collaboration
with the UKs Design Research Society (DRS). Selected papers from
the conference were published in Design Methods and Theories
Journal (Bayazt, 1979). Even though it must be confessed that
the idea and the intention were very good, the conference received
few papers concerned with design research and its relevance to
design practice; but it gave an impetus to further PhD studies in
architecture (Bayazt, 2004).

Design Research at the Periphery: The Turkish Case

A Brief History of Industrial Design in Turkey

With the contribution of the USAs Marshall Plan to Turkey in the
1950s towards economic and technological development in the
rural areas, a great movement from rural areas to cities that was
independent of industrialization began. This movement increased
the amount of cheap labour available, which was important for
industry.
The emergence of industrial design in Turkey was associated with
the emergence of private industries and their need to substitute new
designs for the imported products of foreign countries. Although the
history of existing industrial design departments extends back to the
1970s, the development of design research in this field is relatively
new. In Turkey, industrial design first came out at educational level
in the early 1970s, prior to its actual practice, and had a rather short
history in Turkish industry (Er, 1995). Industrial design programmes
were imported from the USA and Germany. The first academic
institutions with industrial design programs were the State Academy
of Fine Arts (DGSA) and the State Higher School of Applied Fine Arts
(TGSYO) (Satir, 2006). In 1971 Kkerman established the private
Applied Industrial Arts School (UESYO) as a branch of DGSA.10
These schools were planned before the demand from industry
developed. DGSA Department of Industrial Product Design began
to introduce graduate and postgraduate studies for the first time
in Turkey, following permission from the Turkish Higher Education
Council in 1982.

299

The ITU Department of Industrial Product Design was established

on paper by the Turkish Higher Education Council as part of the
restructuring of the Turkish university system in 1982. However, the
department begun to operate officially in 1993 and PhD studies
commenced following the new University law in 1996. The School of
Industrial Arts was established in 1993 at Anadolu University, and in
the 2000/01 academic year, the Industrial Design Department began
admitting students. The Izmir Chamber of Commerce Education
and Health Foundation, under the auspices of the Izmir Chamber of
Commerce, established the Izmir University of Economics, which in
2001 launched a programme of Industrial Design within the Faculty
of Fine Arts and Design. Later, many foundation and state universities
established industrial product design departments.

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Professor G. Holmes Perkins, Dean of the Graduate School of

Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania proposed a development
plan for the period of 19561960 which included a Department
of Industrial Design in the Faculty of Architecture11 ... This was
the first official mention of an industrial design program at a
university in Turkey ... The Department of Industrial Design at
METU was established with a BID program in May 1979, two
decades after the Perkins development plan (Er et al, 2003).

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The Beginning of Design Research in Industrial

Design Departments
Although industrial design began with the founding of industrial de
sign departments in the 1970s and 1980s, design research began
to flourish only in the 1990s. As in many other peripheral countries,
the introduction of industrial design into Turkey was associated with
a view based on the Modernist Development Paradigm (Bonsiepe,
1991), and industrial design education was imported from coun
tries such as USA and Germany (Flores, 2000; Er et al, 2003).
Long before new product design needs of the Turkish industry
materialized, industrial design schools had been planned in order to
meet the future demand which was expected to emerge as a result
of the import substituting industrialization strategies of the 60s and
70s (Er and Er, 2006).
In spite of the new University law passed by parliament in 1982 that
imposed doctoral education on industrial design academics, there
was a lack of research orientation in PhD theses completed within
the fine or applied art departments in the form of Proficiency in Art
programmes, a sort of professional doctorate. As expected in the
tradition of an art academy, research was not a priority. The outcome
of a successful Proficiency in Art degree was the production of
original artwork or the exhibition of outstanding performance and
artistic creativity. A Proficiency in Art programme consisted of
courses, projects, exhibitions and relevant performances (Er and
Bayazt, 1999). Nevertheless, a primitive form of research activity
can be said to have existed in relation to the promotion system of the
academy, where, following a long period of teaching assistantship, a
proficiency dissertation sometimes supported by the exhibition of
artefacts or projects was presented to a jury consisting of senior
faculty members (Er and Bayazt, 1999).
There was an important problem relating to the lack of knowledge
about industrial design. Some architects considered industrial
design to be the design of building elements and the design of
prefabricated buildings, while others perceived it as an artistic
activity. During the 1980s, the demand for research coming from
industry was very low for industrial design. However, due to the
increasing gap between design practice and design education, a
need for educating professional design researchers had emerged in
Turkey. As in other parts of the world, this increasing need in both
academia and industry had begun creating a demand for researchbased doctoral education in industrial design (Er and Bayazt,
1999). Theses of academics in the industrial design discipline were
supervised by architecture or interior architecture professors from
existing universities. However, with the opening up of the Turkish
domestic market to foreign competition, and the increasing share of
Turkish firms in international markets in the last ten years, a genuine
need for new product design and development capability has begun
to emerge in the 1990s (Er and Bayazt, 1999).

Design Research at the Periphery: The Turkish Case

Industrial design became a popular profession after new patent

and design protection laws were issued in 1995 (Turkish Patent
Institute, 1995a, b) as part of the process to enter the European
Union. In Turkey there are now a number of academicians with a PhD
gained abroad or from Turkey in industrial design.12 Fatma Korkut et
al (1998) edited a bibliography of industrial design as a valuable gift
to the industrial design community.
zlem Er and Alpay Er (2006) attempted to investigate the part
icularities of the existence of design research in the design world of
Turkey. At present, areas of PhD research in industrial design are
scattered over a wide range of areas including theory and methods,
design criteria, visual languages, twentieth century design and cult
ure, product semantics, user models, interface design, ergonomics,
product safety, design management, new product development,
development of industrial design education and profession in Turkey,
design protection in the EU and Turkey, curriculum development,
computer applications in design, urban furniture design and usability
research.

301

Private industries began to develop quickly in the 1950s, however

they were small and scattered units (Avcoglu, 1969). There were
some big companies in the areas of construction and building
materials and components that had Research and Development
(R&D) departments. Private companies between the 1950s and
1980s were producing consumer goods but most of them were
assembly industries, importing parts and assembling them for a
domestic market. For that reason, industry had no particular
demand for design and design research. Private industry avoided
big investments which would require technical expertise; they were
mainly oriented toward consumer goods associated with the housing
sector, such as ceramics, bathtubs, heating systems and finishes.
On 27 March 1975, Nejat Eczacibasi, 13 one of the leading
industrialists, established the first design association in Istanbul,
which survived for only six years, before being closed, along with
other associations, by the military takeover.
The first industry-supported design research project was under
taken in 1983 on bathrooms,14 sanitary ware, plumbing systems
and their cultural and performance characteristics. This project was
supported, with the leadership of Eczacibasi, by five different firms,
Eczacibasi, Kale, Pimas, Borusan and ECA. In those years, these
ceramic companies respected each others production territory, did
not compete with each other and did not have the same or similar
product ranges. As a mark of mutual trust, they sold each others
products in their chains alongside their own. Their products ranged
from stark utilitarian forms to flamboyantly ornate fixtures similar to
some nineteenth century European products. The emergence of
rival companies with similar product ranges rendered the market

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Research in and with industry

Nigan Bayazt

competitive and new design research projects necessary. The

second industry-supported design research project worked from
1985 to 1987.15 Kelebek Furniture Company organized its first
furniture competition in 1985 and gave research awards for the
celebration of their fiftieth anniversary to two research publications
by Eri et al (1986) and Bilgin (1986).
Following the donation of a CAD laboratory by IBM Inter
national to the ITU Faculty of Architecture (Bayazt, 1987) in 1987
for an international project (in collaboration with the University of
Maryland),16 the use of personal computers became widespread at
the Institute. CAD and AI studies in relation to design received an
impetus with the establishment of the laboratory. The introduction of
PC technology to Turkey supported application projects in graduate
and postgraduate theses based on computer-aided design, expert
systems, cognitive sciences and other related topics (Bayazt, 1993a,
b), such as Kavakl (1996). At METU, Dr igdem Erbug founded the
first usability research centre and laboratory in Turkey, entitled the
Product Usability Unit (UTEST).
Technological innovation commenced at the beginning of the
1990s. Arelik, a white goods manufacturer, is a fine example of
this development. Arelik was established in 1953 under the name
Erelik and developed as an assembly industry until 1990 (Arelik,
2003). It had a product development department as early as the
1960s, but it was not oriented toward technological invention and
design research until 1991. At the end of the 1980s, the top-level
management of Arelik decided to set up an R&D unit to produce
their own technologies that would compete with past collaborators
outside Turkey. Now they have a well-developed R&D department,
creating their own technologies and performing design research at
the highest level. Vestel is another example of a white goods and
electronics manufacturer with a good R&D team. Currently, some of
the larger small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have R&D
sections conducting or intending to conduct design research.

302

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Conferences on Industrial Design

In 1982, Bayazt and her colleagues (Bayazt et al, 1982) organized
The First National Design Conference at the ITU Faculty of Arch
itecture, covering the disciplines of architectural design, engineering
design, ceramics and industrial design. A series of design confer
ences organized by industrial design departments reflected highly
advanced design research in the 1990s. Design Industry and
Turkey was the first international industrial design conference in the
country, organized by Glay Hasdogan at METU in 1994 (Hasdogan,
1994). In 1996, The Second National Design Conference was
organized by Bayazt and a group of colleagues on prevailing
globalization issues (Bayazt et al, 1996). The 1st International
Furniture Congress was organized in Hacettepe University (Burdurlu
et al, 1999). Under the leadership of Tevfik Balcog lu, the Kent

Design Research at the Periphery: The Turkish Case

Institute of Art and Design (KIAD) and the ITU Department of

Industrial Design, both of which contributed financially, enabled
the organization of Mind the Map 3rd International Conference on
Design History and Design Studies in July 2002 at ITU. Agricultural
Design: Olive Oil, Wine and Design Symposium was organized
in April 2005 by the Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Art
and Design (zcan et al, 2006). The following year METU hosted
The Fourth International Conference on Design and Emotion in
July 2006. The ITU Department of Industrial Product Design, as its
tradition, organized the third National Design Conference under the
title of Discussing Design in Turkey (Er et al, 2006). The objective of
this conference was to advance the role of design in the agendas
of universities and industry. The success in getting representatives
of industry to participate in the conference represented progress
in comparison to previous conferences. The Design History and
Discourse in Turkey Symposium was organized in May 2006 by
the Turkish Design History Society, within the Izmir University of
Economics Centre for Design Research (Trkiye Tasarm Tarihi
Toplulugu, 2006). The same society organized Daily Life and Design
in Turkey in May 2007 (Balcoglu and Baydar, 2007). Their objective
was to develop a research network for those working in design history.
The seventh Conference of the European Academy of Design took
place in April 2007, again in Izmir, and was organized by the Izmir
University of Economics Faculty of Fine Arts and Design (Balcoglu
et al, 2007), with a new and energetic faculty under Balcog lus
leadership. The theme of the conference was Dancing with Disorder:
Design, Discourse, Disaster.17 Now there is continuing advancement
in design research conferences.

303

Immigrant European professors initially enabled architectural design

research to gain impetus in Turkey. Although design research in
Turkey is now established in architectural circles, it has only recently
been discovered and employed by industrial design and other design
disciplines. Design research developed in Turkey in parallel with the
development of the universities, as a result of government policies
imposed for academic promotion and not as requirements of the
industry.
A large proportion of private firms are in assembly industries or in
the technology import business. Large automotive and white goods
sectors and traditional industries, like glass and ceramics, have their
own R&D departments. The competitive environment for industry was
strengthened after the customs agreement between the European
Union and Turkey. At present, design research is gradually receiving
attention from industry. Graduate and postgraduate degrees in
design research are attractive as these degrees bestow an advantage
and enable graduates to find good positions within industry. The
intentions of industry for design research and the great demand for

The Design Journal

Concluding Remarks

Nigan Bayazt

new Industrial Design departments from higher education institutions

render universities like ITU attractive for graduate and postgraduate
studies, where design research is extensively applied in design and
management.

304

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Notes
1. As a first step in modernization, the Istanbul Darlfnun (the first
higher education institute established in 1843) was reconstituted
in 1933, comprising the departments of medicine, law, literature,
theology and science. The institution was renamed Istanbul
University in accordance with Atatrks University Reform, and
higher education was re-established in Turkey to meet the
demands of contemporary society (see Istanbul University, 2009).
2. The government duly transformed it into the Engineering Acad
emy (Yksek Mhendis Mektebi) and granted it university
status in 1928. The Engineering Academy continued to provide
education in the fields of engineering and architecture until it
was renamed Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in 1944. The
engineering programmes were reduced from six years to five.
The programmes were revised in 1969 to transform the five-year
Diplom Ingeniuer to four-year BSc degree and two-year MSc
degree programmes. The Higher Education Law passed in 1982
brought yet another revision to the academic organization of ITU,
as well as other universities in Turkey.
3. These documents can be found in the Library of Zurich ETH.
4. He was sent to Technische Universitt Zurich (ETH) with a
scholarship to study Architecture. Onat worked as a student
of Otto Rudolf Salvisberg (18821940) in ETH and graduated
as an architect in 1934. Emin Onat was the first Dean of the
school and placed his mark on the ITU Faculty of Architecture,
selecting people to work with him in the new school. He brought
the Movement of Modern Architecture to Turkey.
5. Bonatz was a German architect and professor at Technische
Universitt Stuttgart until 1943. He frequently came to Turkey as
a jury member for several competitions.
6. As Holzmeister had supported the Austrian government, which
fought for Austrias independence against the Nazis, he was
expelled from his post in Vienna in 1938; Holzmeister is one of the
founders of the Austrian Werkbund together with Josef Hoffman
and Peter Behrens. He won the architectural competition for the
project of Turkish Parliament in 1937, settled in Istanbul in 1938,
and lived in Turkey until 1954.
7. Eldem wrote 15 books on national and regional architecture in
Turkey until the end of his life. His first book appeared in 1948 on
Bursa Houses and he wrote Layout Types of Turkish Houses in
1954.
8. Examples include Sylemezoglu, K. (1950). Islam Dini Ilk Camiler
ve Osmanli Camileri. Istanbul: ITU Mimarlik Fakltesi; Kuban, D.

 9.
10.

11.
12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

(1954). Trk Barok Mimarisi Hakkinda bir Deneme. Istanbul: ITU

Mimarlik
Fakltesi; Kuban, D. (1958). Osmanl Dini Mimarisinde
.
I Mekan Tesekkl: Rnesansla bir Mukayese. Istanbul: ITU
Mimarlk Fakltesi.
HfG stands for Hochschule fr Gestaltung Ulm (Ulm School of
Design).
Sanayi-I Nefise, a school for industrial and fine arts, was
established in 1883. In the year 1929, it became the Academy
of Fine Arts (GSA), and in 1969, became the State Academy
of Fine Arts (DGSA). This was later transformed into the Mimar
Sinan University in 1982 with an industrial product design
programme running from 1971 onwards.
Payasloglu (1996: 59).
Alpay Er and zlem Er, PhD 1994, from the Institute of
Advanced Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University; Glay
Hasdogan, PhD 1993, from Central Saint Martins College of
Art and Design; Bahar Sener Pegley, PhD 2004, from Industrial
Design, Loughborough University; Suzan Boztepe, PhD, from
Institute of Design, IIT; Naz Breki, PhD 2003, from the Kent
Institute of Art and Design, University of Kent at Canterbury.
N. Eczacibasi was an owner of a holding company that produced
sanitary wares. He was a leading sponsor of art and design. He
initiated the Istanbul music, film and art festivals and the Istanbul
Biennale in the 1970s.
This project was conducted by Nigan Bayazt and Ahmet
Alphan in the Spring term of 1983 with the participation of thirty
students: Social Characteristics of Dwelling Bathrooms and
Toilets; Research on the Typologies of Bathrooms and Toilets;
Plumbing System Performance Specifications for Housing
Bathrooms and Toilets; Research about the Bathrooms and
Toilets in Mass Housing: Groundwork Study on the Typology of
Plumbing Systems (ITU Rektrlg Dner Sermaye Isletmeleri,
1983). These are four unpublished reports.
Nigan Bayazt wrote seven reports for the Kelebek Furniture
Company about Kitchen, Dining room, Bedroom, Living room
furniture and standards (ITU Rektrlg Dner Sermaye
Isletmeleri, 1987).
Alex Chen and Guido Franchescato from the Design Department
in College Park, University of Maryland, were partners in this
project.
See The Design Journal special issue 11(3) (Balcoglu, 2008).

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Biography
Nigan Bayazt was awarded her PhD in 1969 and became Associate
Professor in 1974. She was appointed Professor in 1981 in the
Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University and served
until 2006. She received the Fulbright Research fellowship whilst
based in the University of Maryland, Department of Design (1983
1984). In 1993, she established the Department of Industrial Product
Design and became Head of Department (19952006), where she
is emeritus Professor now. From 1979 to 1997, Bayazt was in the
editorial advisory board of the Design Studies journal, and was
editor of ITU Journal A: Architecture, Planning, Design from 2002 to
2006. In collaboration with the University of Maryland Department
of Design, she established the CAD Laboratory in ITU in 1987,
sponsored by IBM International. She is the author of several books,
proceedings, published international journal articles and papers in
foreign books and proceedings, journal articles and papers in Turkish
and has written encyclopaedia items. Most of her publications are
related to design theories, design methods and design research. She
has designed several houses, apartments, offices and is responsible
for many industrial design projects and research reports.

309

Prof. Dr Nigan Bayazt (Emeritus), Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul

Technical University, Taskisla, Taksim 34437, Istanbul, Turkey.
Phone: + 90 (0) 212 2931300, ext 2243
Fax: + 90 (0) 212 2514895
Email: bayazit@itu.edu.tr

The Design Journal

Address for Correspondence