Salvaging Buildings

For at least two decades, major cities in Turkey have been subjected to endless waves of urban development that has left scores of building demolitions in its wake. The construction waste produced is immense but its removal or abatement is completely ignored by the state. Who will deal with all this waste? Enter the reclaimers (çkmacs), an informal network of building salvagers, who have stepped in to create a new form of assemblage that fills this gap. Erdogan Onur Ceritoglu makes an in-depth ethnographic study of the under-the-radar livelihood of the reclaimers long-term. He also focuses on incremental architecture through the reuse of second-hand building elements.

Erdogan Onur Ceritoglu, born in 1983, is an architect, artist, and urban researcher. In his artworks, he re-contextualizes urban life through a material-driven experience and socially engaged art practices. He participated in residencies and exhibited his works internationally. His academic research focuses on informal labor, the materiality of waste, and reuse in Architecture. He has a PhD from Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus Senftenberg.