In recent years, walking has gained strong recognition and popularity as a methodology for urban studies. Nevertheless, in his book Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice, Francesco Careri, a member of the Italian group Stalker, mentions that this form of practice has a long history.1 From Dada to the Situationist International, drifting has been a spontaneous tool to read the city and reveal its unconscious layers. Frédéric Gros’s work A Philosophy of Walking also reminds us how this practice has been part of the daily routine of many thinkers.2
Contrary to widespread methodologies of contemporary urban research, in which statistical data and maps reduce urban form to borders and colors, walking offers a different, more horizontal approach and perception. Data is open to mathematical distortion, and the complexity of the urban condition cannot meet administrative limits or colored urban districts. The experience of walking through the urban, on the other hand, reveals a multiplicity of complex layers that are inherent to the place: the genius loci. Smells, topography, shadows, skyline, the contents of trash containers, landscapes, and informal talks with the neighborhood all interconnect to reveal a new portrait. In this portrait, interdependencies are included, and fragile equilibriums and inconsistencies are all accepted. Here, architecture is just another unit to measure the complexity of the landscape.
About the author Sinan Logie is a Belgian-born architect, an urban activist, and an artist. He is currently a lecturer at the Department of Architecture at the Istanbul Bilgi University. He is one of the co-founders of the Center for Spatial Justice (Mekanda Adalet Derneği) and a co-author, with Yoann Morvan, of the book Istanbul 2023.
