Mustafa Kemal Kayis is the architect behind the Turkevi.biz project. During his architectural education and professional life, he was intensely interested in Turkish Houses, the most mature examples of traditional Turkish civil architecture. Kayis was also curious about current technologies, especially artificial intelligence and its applications, which can be considered at the opposite extreme. In addition, he chose to specialize in artificial intelligence in architectural design and completed his master’s thesis on the topic.
The fact that generative artificial intelligence applications, especially Midjourney, have begun to develop at an increasing pace in recent years allowed him to take action to reproduce Turkish Houses in different ways in these applications visually, and the Turkevi.biz project started.
Firstly, he started to produce more classical interpretations of Turkish Houses. As he produced Turkish House designs specific to different regions and typologies, he started sharing them on social media. After a while, his work started to get serious attention.
Over time, he became preoccupied with the question, “How would Turkish houses look if they were designed by world-famous architects?” He began to focus on this subject and worked on creating designs that reflected the styles of master architects such as Zaha Hadid, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Ghery, Louis Sullivan, and Walter Gropius. These Turkish house designs were highly appreciated, and their inclusion in various national publications allowed them to reach a wider audience.
During the process, they expanded the portfolio with artistic works centering on Turkish Houses in different styles. They continued to produce visual designs in different areas, such as streets, neighborhoods, and settlements.
According to Kayis, trying interior designs was also an excellent work. Designs that include images of traditional life and functional solutions that meet modern needs were another area of great interest.
As time passed, he began conversing and interacting with their followers regarding these designs. The widespread fascination and desire for traditional civil architecture from nearly every region of Turkey allowed their project to progress from a simple curiosity and pursuit to a dimension with more significant social objectives.
“Due to internal migration, Turkey has suffered from rapid and unplanned urbanization in the last 50-60 years. Through our interactions, we have determined that almost all of society complains about this, and thanks to the Turkevi.biz project, it is the common desire of almost all of us to establish an aesthetic, beautiful, and livable architecture and city life that is much more qualified, reflects our culture,” said Kayis.
Kayis mentioned that Turkevi.biz has undergone an evolution during its development journey. Initially, it was just a platform for sharing artistic and architectural posts, but now it has transformed into a space where they can have discussions about creating a better, more aesthetically pleasing, and comfortable environment for society as a whole. Although they are still developing, their community grows through their website and social media accounts.
He emphasized that Turkey must aim to create a civilization that is deserving of its rich history. The places and cities we inhabit play a crucial role in the construction of this civilization, as we shape our environment, and it shapes us in turn.
*The text was provided by Mustafa Kemal Kayis and reviewed by the PA Editorial Team.
