Place of Intensity

September 14th at 2:07pm

How are urban spaces socialised, appropriated and adapted by migrants? Certain places in an urban setting allow specific usage of space; we explore how spaces are inhabited and remarked/remade by those on the move through mapping and photography. How do people become confined to certain neighbourhoods and spaces, and what forms of mobility allow them to live otherwise? Place of intensity is where various stakes overlap and come together concerning power, labour, and displacement. For example, this can be a bus station where migrants wait to board a bus, and the police roam around; goods and information are traded, surfacing different kinds of power relations. Place of intensity allows us to see the multiple and interdependent factors that play an enabling or disabling role for all those involved in the migration process (bus drivers, police, border guards, border communities, agents, family and friends, etc.).

Topological Atlas' Places of Intensity workshop was held at SALT Galata in Istanbul with a participant group, mostly from the architecture field. The workshop explored mapping methodologies employed by the Topological Atlas project and other spatial and urban research projects, giving the participants an insight into how spatial and social worlds can be navigated through walks, observation, photography, stories and other audio-visual means of known worlds. Presentations by Nishat Awan, Zahra Hussain, Yelta Köm, Büsra Eser, Maciej Moszant, Asim Rafiqui and Didem Danış explained various mapping and representation methodologies and theoretical input to help students begin their fieldwork.

We explored the everyday immigrant life in Yenikapi and Sultangazi; both areas offered multiple aspects to explore how life is lived and navigated by undocumented migrants, their hopes, fears, aspirations, challenges and desires. By listening to migrant stories, exploring phone shops and local restaurants, and observing migrants’ workplaces and their spatial and temporal use of public space, participants produced manual and digital maps and environments that help us understand the complex and challenging space that migrants navigate in their daily lives.

Workshop Participants : Adile Celep, Cemre Nur Karaca, Sümeyye Celep, Alona Tasci, Kubilay Ercelep, Serap Kaçmaz, Cansu Showy, Isil Melis Simsek, Melike Besik, Meral Demirci, Tugba Tekben, Büşra Balaban, Feyza Cinar, Sam Price, Francesco Pasta, Syed Kamran Ali Rizvi