Dutch Architect Rem Koolhaas talks about the concept of “Generic City” in his work named S,M,L,XL and defines it through structures that cannot be attached to a local, framed identity such as airports and which must appeal to all humanity. Koolhaas mainly focuses on the idea of uniformizing the cities, the structures that make up the cities, the architectural elements that make up the buildings, for the post-modern people of the global world, who are trying to get rid of their original identity without being tied to a trend. In other words, he foresaw that uniform structures that have been purified from their identity and broken from the chain of belonging will be an inevitable result of humanity’s joint development/development of building and material technology, which is my personal opinion. To give a more concrete example, the buildings in today’s cities are similar to each other, and the forms of the buildings have become uniform regardless of their functions. Offices, hospitals, residences, buildings where entertainment activities are carried out have glass facades and are far outside the human scale, it is very difficult to have an idea about what will happen inside when viewed from the outside. The same is true for the interior of the buildings. It is offered for use with a few materials selected from a virtually limited palette. It would not be wrong to say that a photograph taken in a side street in an area where skyscrapers are dense in Istanbul is similar or almost indistinguishable from another photograph taken in Europe or America. However, in my opinion, if it is done specifically for architecture, context and users, it will achieve its purpose. Building materials and technology directly affect where the human architecture discipline will evolve. Industry gives, people consume. Since visual media elements keep the ‘individual’ in the foreground, architecture is not man, but humanity unconsciously directs architecture. There is now a trend called ‘Instagram architecture’: populist and unpredictable. To connect to the subject, the material is used, then it turns into a stream, it cannot be planned. Again, as Koolhaas said, “Beauty is a timid gazelle. It usually comes about by chance, not by design.” For this reason, I cannot give a clear answer to the first question you asked, What could be the trendy floor material in 2021, but I think that the interest in natural stones has increased. I can say that the reason behind this interest is that people are bored with the artificiality and the coldness of the finishing materials, maybe they want to touch the material and feel the warmth of the environment. Marble-like, wood-like, large-sized ceramics and tiles, which are the products of the ceramic industry, which has developed a lot lately, are in demand. There is also an increase in the use of pastel-toned floral and plant-patterned materials. If more softened, free lines and even patterns are used instead of monochrome, purely geometric patterns in applications such as epoxy, pvc, carpet and even terrazzo, this popular trend can be shared because it is used in hospitals, parking lots, etc. These products, which are widely used in buildings, can be more preferred in interior spaces such as offices, so to speak, by taming them a little. Solid parquet, natural stone (looking ceramic), pvc, carpet tile etc. It is taking its place again in the materials that can be called its equivalents (laminate flooring, mineflo, ceramic, carpetflex), but surprisingly, the usage rate of glazed materials decreases in areas such as wet areas where material and form options are relatively few. In this period when the whole world is going through hard times, living spaces are being redefined and uncertainties are common, the use of environmentally friendly and recyclable building materials should not even be a subject open to interpretation. In this environment, where the limits of limited resources are being tested, norms are established for environmentally friendly buildings and are included in the construction specifications, but well-engineered products will be preferred in terms of cost and aesthetics on the basis of materials. At the very least, it is necessary for everyone to take as much initiative as their share in order to prevent preventable and highly probable disasters.

SAFA YAĞMURCU

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