Open Call for the Ghost Stories
The aim of the open call we made in December for the project Ghost Stories: The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture was to collectively document the unused building stock in Türkiye. We thought it was important to unearth these structures, which are in usable condition but have been abandoned for various reasons, in order to bring them back to life for the cities in which they’re found. Our starting point was this: In an environment where construction is done not for spatial needs but for the continuity of economic cycles, our priority has to be to transform the vacant structures instead of building new ones.
What contributors shared, from Tekirdağ to Samandağ, from Sinop to Mersin, showed how many idle structures there are in Türkiye in number, and how various those structures are in function. We started to create an archive consisting of building complexes with hundreds of residences, abandoned production sites and lodgings, partially or completely empty skyscrapers, hotels, schools, hospitals, restaurants and recreational facilities.
However, the devastating earthquakes we experienced at the beginning of February, the month we had planned to end our open call, unfortunately revealed a much more critical scenario. Temporary shelters should be provided urgently to hundreds of thousands of victims who lost their homes in earthquakes affecting a region with a population of approximately 13.5 million. To that end, we would like to bring utilising this intact yet unused building stock up for discussion, instead of using buildings such as student dormitories that are already occupied.
We know from previous earthquakes in Türkiye that the need for ‘temporary shelter’ after an earthquake can extend up to two years. The evacuation of student dormitories and their transformation into temporary accommodation areas will create new grievances and will be insufficient for the spatial needs of earthquake survivors, especially with children. However, it may be a much more realistic solution to transform the abandoned buildings into temporary shelters with need-specific planning and a quick repair process. Moreover, these structures can be used for other urgent needs. We are sure that there are philanthropists out there who can finance the renovation to meet the particular criteria, public institutions or owners who will open their idle properties for use, and designers who will plan the transformation.
In this period when our need for usable and robust structures is increasing, we are extending our open call until April 1 to accumulate these structures that can provide resources for this urgent situation. You can share photos or videos of inert buildings in your city that can be reused with the hashtag #hayaletavcıları2023, by mentioning @hayalethikayeleri__ account, or by e-mailing them to hayaletavcilari2023@gmail.com.