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The first incarnation of the project is an examination of what actually makes the palace work as a cohesive whole, what pulls the evolutionary architecture together over the centuries. Here the aim is not an accurate replication of the palace but rather an examination that will generate new structures by computational parameters based upon the modular qualities observed in the palace. Further generations of this initial version should then be able to lead us to novel environments that utilise the same methodology and serve as evolving containers of, as yet undefined content ranging from data visualisation to non-linear narrative, which will determine parameters and thus design.

However, there are other considerations and questions at play, which I would like to point out from the onset although I will not yet be adressing them during this phase of the project. Whilst studying the Topkapı Palace I encountered a concept for which I am deeply indebted to Gülru Necipoğlu's book on the Topkapı Palace, “Architecture, Ceremonial and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the 15th and 16th centuries” [*]: In this extraordinary book Necipoğlu repeatedly makes reference to what extent the palace relied upon the non-structural; that which was animate and portable in the conveyance of splendour and magnificence. What was/is a modest clustering of single storey, tent-like structures arranged with no particular axiality or symmetry became a stage, a backdrop for some the most awe inspiring ceremonies ever beheld; utilising thousands of humans lined up in hierarchical order; decked out in splendid garments and jewels, displaying their utter obedience to the Sultan in a terrifying observance of silence. I have named this content “the transient”. Trying to understand the importance of this type of animate, ephemeral, elusive content in evolving morphologies by design processes that specifically adress this issue of "transient" content will be a major task for future incarnations of the "palace project".

Seeking "the transient" in evolving morphologies
A nomadic oriental tribe, that had spent millenia traversing the Central Asian steppes, migrated to Asia minor roughly one thousand years ago, carrying on horseback their tents. It is this small tribe that eventually brought about the Ottoman Empire, metamorphosing into a settled culture that relinquished the tent for brick and mortar – but never wholeheartedly. Were these atavistic, nomadic instincts the driving force behind the “tent-like structures” that Iacopo de Promontorio comments upon; as well as that of the value that was placed on the animate and portable, “the transient” in the achievement magnificence? And if so, could this preponderance of the transient alone have been the driving force behind the architecture of the palace?

Mehmet Siyahkalem. School of Bokhara 13th century.

How can the nomadic instinct that may have generated the Topkapı Palace be juxtaposed with the evolving morphologies of the Favela’s of Brazil? Is there a similar driving force, beyond that of poverty, that revolves around “transience”, and which generates evolving morphologies, no matter where, no matter under what circumstances? And do not the Favela’s or the gecekondu’s rely upon the human element in their considerable visual impact to the same extent as the palace did in its heyday? Do all evolving morphologies, be they concrete or virtual, share this feature, the need to find suitable dwellings for transient content? And if so, how do we define what is transient in virtual content?

Was the Bridge Project herself suffused with transience and was this what led to the generation of the organic construct that evolved with such unpredictability? Free associations are indeed elusive, intangible, ephemeral, and as such do manifest very similar qualities to transience. These associations were derived from a web search, in itself a transient phenomenon: When gone back to today many of the pages that the content was harvested from only a few months ago are no longer at the same location.

"The Bridge Project". Screenshot

The study of the Topkapı Palace was an emotional one: To wander along the passages and halls that had been witness to legalised fratricide, silent eunuchs, enslaved concubines and caged princes was poignant, indeed often painful. Despite her thousands of visitors, the palace today conveys a sombre feeling of loss and depletion and on the many days that I spent there I too fell under this spell. However what was learned, more than made up for any pain felt: This feeling of loss and depletion is what led to the realisation of how vital the role of animate beings, along with their accoutrements and their lifestyle was to the design of the palace that they inhabited. "The Palace Project" is a search for the location/definition of the transient as content in evolving morphologies, virtual or concrete.

[*] Necipoglu, G. “Architecture, Ceremonial and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the 15th and 16th centuries”. MIT Press. Cambridge, MASS. 1991.