City and Children Studies

In September 2018, as a part of the Urban95 project funded by Bernard van Leer Foundation and in collaboration with Superpool at Kadir Has University we have conducted the Istanbul95 Urban Playspaces Conference wellcoming national and international speakers to discuss problems and opportunities related to urban life of children and caregivers.

This conference was also a kickstart of the exciting journey of City and Children Studies MA at Kadir Has University.

This interdisciplinary program reviews the relationship of the child and the care givers to the urban environment in the light of psychological, social, design and public administrative aspects. In spite of serious need, there is no other education program in this field in Turkey. In fact, it can be said that the programs are quite limited throughout the world. Therefore, it is assumed that City and Children Studies Master’s Degree Program has a leading position in an urgent matter.

Urban95 is an initiative started by the Bernard van Leer Foundation to create permanent changes in the environment and opportunities which shape the very important first five years in the lives of children. Urban95 was developed on the assumption that a neighborhood which functioned well for its women, babies and children would bring economic development and eventually result in strong communities. More than half of the global population lives in cities. By 2050, this figure is expected to be 70%. With the rich possibilities of education they offer, cities may be wonderful places to grow up in. However, urban environment can also pose certain difficulties for families with small children:

• Due to unsafe streets and limited public transport, reaching child care units, doctors, shopping areas, or even taking a walk can become a grueling struggle,
• Air pollution affects babies and small children more than it does healthy adults,
• As urban populations grow, parents may become separated from extended family members and find it difficult to make friends who could support them by giving help through advice or child care, or simply by listening to them. Studies show that the effects of childhood experiences from the first years continue for a lifetime.

Cities which offer small children a chance to make a good start in life, help to shape new generations of diligent achievers and good citizens.Urban growth –in population and capital– defines Istanbul’s priorities and demands. Although 28.7% of Turkey’s population consists of children, their effect on urban design is debatable. Similarly, design education has also overlooked children.

The aim of the non-thesis master program is to develop the master students’ knowledge in this context. The focus of the program will be on presenting the theoretical and critical background of child-oriented design in an urban backdrop. Different subjects will be pursued such as developmental psychology, parental guidance and urban design theory, and the students will be given the chance to have extensive discussions with experts in their fields. City and Children Studies Master Program will be conducted in collaboration with the ongoing Communication Studies, Psychology, Political Science and Public Administration and Design master’s degree programs. This cooperation will be carried out in the regular curriculum as well as in joint projects. The Urban95 partnership in Istanbul (Istanbul95), which has the aim of strengthening the capacities of the Istanbul county municipalities in conjunction with Kadir Has and Boğaziçi universities, is amongst the present and future partners of this program. Another target of the program is to support the education of public personnel working on urban space by awarding scholarships to some of master students.

Since 2010, teaching has been an important element of my academic life, and research has often played a central role in my teaching. Design studio courses often form the backbone of the industrial design curriculum. My studio classes at Kadir Has University were both a platform for students to learn through design research and practice, and an opportunity to explore contemporary design issues.

As such, studio courses i have instructed range from traditional product design and development processes to conceptual designs. In line with my research area, I have often shaped design studios under the themes of sustainability.

Design Studio Courses and Graduation Projects

Semester long design project involving user research, design and development of products and services.

Design studios with sustainablity themes

• Design for Slow Cities 1 - Seferihisar (2011) Graduation Project: Sustainable transportation solutions aiming to support locals in their daily tasks. The graduation project has also inspired me and my colleague Cinar Narter for a paper presented at the Green Age Symposium.

• Design for Slow Cities 2- Taraklı (2012) Graduation Project : Examining endonegous development opportunities the town and designing product service systems for fostering sustainablity.
• Design for Personal and Public Health (2013) Design Studio V: In cooperation with Basaksehir LivingLab, product and service designs aiming to improve public and personal health.
• Plants in near future urban life (2014) Design Studio II: Near future scenarios based on enhanced use of plants as a part of product design aiming to improve life quality and overcome future enviropnemental problems in urban such as lack of clean air, drinkable water and fresh food etc.
• Design for Refugees (2016) Design Studio IV - V: In coperation with an Istanbul based NGO “Small Projects Istanbul”, the project brief focused on examination of problems of Syrian refugees and obstacles encountered at the NGO’s services; and delivering product designs.
• Frugal Innovation: Design for K-12 Level Educaiton – Product Design Studio IV (2017)
• Urban Food Cycle with a Circular Design Perspective (2018)

Industrial partnerships

• Design of Upright Water Filter Vacuum Cleaner for Sinbo (Graduation Project)
• Stapler Gun Design for Furniture Industry
• Viko - Extention Cable Design

Undergraduate Courses

• Design Research: Introducing constructive design research methods.
• Systems Thinking: Introducing systems thinking and analysis tools to design students.
• Sustainability in Industrial Design: Introduction to sustainability issues and sustainable design tools and methods.
• Strategic Design: Design of Product Service Systems aiming urban interventions.
• Design Innovation and Product Strategies: Innovation theory, company strategies and design innovation process.
• Marketing for Industrial Designers: Fundamentals of marketing notions for industrial designers
• Principles and Processes of Industrial Design: Various Approaches of Industrial Design Process, tools and techniques
• Materials and Manufacturing Techniques: Introduction to materials and manufacturing techniques, use of material selection tools.

Graduate Courses

• Design for Social Innovation: The course aims to support students with necessary tools for the development of new and innovative solutions for unmet social needs by linking academic practice to market realities and available resources. The course uses both literature and cases investigates interwoven notions of social entrepreneurship, social innovation and design so that students develop an in-depth understanding of the interaction between theory and practice. Another purpose of the course is students to develop an academic article and/or tangible or intangible outcomes involving or representing their proposal.
• Design and Society: The course introduces the main challenges and obstacles of today’s social issues through and their relations with the act of design. The objective of the course is to gain a general understanding of the roles and responsibilities of design in societal issues.