IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A
Abstract
The Ankara Tumuli are exceptionally rare urban features that hold significant archaeological, cultural, and landscape value. They represent the cultural appropriation of the natural topography and ecological structure by the Phrygians (800-500 BC) and subsequent ancient civilizations. Although they have been severed from their original geographical context due to extensive urban development, these monumental structures—once part of the city’s earliest visual identity—still possess considerable potential to reshape the relationship between nature and culture in contemporary Ankara, offering social, ecological, and recreational benefits. Tumuli function as commemorative monuments that span across generations. As such, they serve as markers of identity, power, territory, and performance. Since each burial mound is embedded in, and simultaneously shapes, its surrounding landscape (Steinhaus and Knopf 2016, 1), their physical attributes—such as site selection, spatial distribution, size, and scale—reinforce their messages and make them integral components of the landscape. Within this context, landscape, as synthetic, cultural construct (Jackson 1994), emerges as “a key issue” in tumuli research (Alcock 2016, 4). A conceptualization of landscape as ‘social space,’ as proposed by Ballmer (2018, 102), acknowledges it primarily as a “man-made conceptual construct.” This perspective opens up a range of dimensions, including the notion of ‘place.’ This study seeks to reframe these archaeological features as active components of Ankara’s spatial and cultural identity. By recognizing them as open, public spaces, it opens the possibility of reintegrating these ancient sites into contemporary urban life, thus as integral parts of Ankara’s urban spatial structure and everyday life.
Ela Alanyalı Aral teaches architecture at Middle East Technical University, Ankara. She completed Ph.D. research on the potentialities of leftover spaces for public realm after earning her Ms.Sc. in Architecture at METU. She conducted post-doctoral research studies at Delft Technical University. She addresses a wide range of issues on cities and urban space. Public space design, leftover urban spaces, creative mapping techniques in architecture, and the Ankara tumuli are among Dr. Aral’s research areas. She has authored numerous book chapters and articles in international journals.
Gizem Deniz Guneri graduated with a professional degree in architecture from Middle East Technical University. Being awarded a Fulbright scholarship, she went on to complete a Masters in Architecture and Urban Design at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation. After completing her Ph.D. in Architecture at Middle East Technical University, she conducted post-doctoral research studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Her primary interests include theory and history of architecture and urbanism, methods of spatial analysis and imagination and spatial agency. She is currently teaching as an Associate Professor at Middle East technical University Department of Architecture.
Buket Ergun Kocaili is an interior architect and an architectural historian. She graduated from Bilkent University with a professional degree in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. She has completed her Ph.D. in History of Architecture Department at the Middle East Technical University. She has been practicing interior architecture and working as a lecturer in the academy, and she is also part of scientific project team. She is currently teaching at Atılım University and Ankara Bilim University. She is particularly interested in cultural heritage and sustainability transformation issues, as well as the adaptive reuse of historic buildings and interiors.
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Wednesday 16th July, 2025