Alper Besen

I have passionately practiced and theorized about interior architecture and specifically about adaptive reuse. I have coordinated residential, retail, office, and hospitality projects in New York and Istanbul for over a decade. My work on large scale hospitality projects requires the coordination of multi-disciplinary teams including engineers, designers, and sub-contractors. I also manage high-end residential projects, closely collaborating with fabricators and at times commissioning artists for site specific installations. My academic studies focus on the ethical frictions between collective memory vs. private interests. I advocate usage of temporary adaptation techniques designed for obsolescence in respect of collective memory and future flexibility for the next generations. My pedagogic inquiries focus on the systematic observation and the cultivation of critical thinking in architectural education and the role of cognitive biases in the process.