Kuruluş Sancılarından Endüstriyel Tasarım Eğitiminde Öncü Konulara: İTÜ Endüstriyel Tasarım Bölümü

İTÜ Endüstriyel Tasarım Bölümünden Kesit

Abstract

In this article, the establishment of Istanbul Technical University Industrial Design Department (ITU ID), which started its undergraduate education under the name of “Industrial Product Design” in 1993, the changes on the basis of course plans, term projects and graduation projects are depicted. A section of the changes and developments of the eleven-year preparation period before the establishment of the ITU Industrial Design Department and the 28-year education period after the start of education is presented briefly. After the establishment preparations of the department, the beginning of undergraduate education and the subsequent curriculum changes are also explained by specifying the relevant decision mechanisms. In the courses in different competency groups in the education curriculum of the department, the changes over time in the Design Studio and Graduation Project courses are also briefly mentioned on the basis of subject and operation. While the collaborations of the department such as industry and non-governmental organizations are briefly mentioned, the national institutions it works with especially in terms of human resources and academic support are given with an emphasis on Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. This paper was handled based on personal interviews, administrative experiences, scanning of archives and related web pages, and personal notes. The writers, who have been in the academic staff of the department for more than 20 years, included their own knowledge, memories and dialogues with the academicians who took part in the department. The part about the establishment of the department is based on the documents in the ITU Faculty of Architecture Dean’s archive, regarding the Faculty Administrative Board Decisions, including official correspondence documents with the Dean’s Office and the Rector’s Office, and personal interviews with the faculty members who took part in the establishment of the Department and gave education in the department. In the part about course plans, project topics and collaborations, a compilation was made from the experiences of the authors, and department faculty and related official documents. The founding story of ITU ETB spans more than 10 years. It would not be wrong to say that the studies carried out within the scope of the establishment preparations show that the need for the Industrial Design Department and the definition of Industrial Design are approached as an extension of the field of Architecture and especially relating it to the industrialization in architecture. Although Industrial Design education at ITU started with graduate level in 1989, unlike the first plan, undergraduate education started in 1993 with strong emphasis on industrial production. ITU ID is leaving behind 28 years, the period from 1993 until 2021, with changes and expansion in the teaching and research staff, as well as continuous updates in the course plans. The traces of the fact that the department was founded in the Faculty of Architecture and that the founding team’s background was reflected on the courses could be observed until the 2000s. The course plan changes between 2000 and 2010 are shaped according to the requirements of the Industrial Design field in the current education systems. While an important part of the course plan changes made until today is related to the expansion and change of the framework of the profession of Industrial Design, some of them are still the reflection of the joint decisions of the Faculty and University Senate. In addition to the changes in the course plans, the Design Studios, which are one of the main axes of design education, and the changes in the content and functioning of the Graduation Project courses, which determine the competence to meet the diploma qualifications, are also briefly discussed in the article. The uninterrupted continuation of the principle of cooperation with the industry, which has been among the aims of the ITU Industrial Design Department since its establishment, with projects carried out sometimes with large companies and sometimes with small and medium-sized enterprises, appears as an important feature in terms of corporate culture. These collaborations are shaped by demands from the market on the one hand, developments in the field of education on the one hand, and new professional positions on the other. The diversity in the academic staff of the ITU Industrial Design Department has developed and shaped over the years to meet these needs. ITU ETB received support from different universities and professionals working directly in the market, apart from its own academic staff, especially in the first 15 years of its establishment. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, on the other hand, has been supporting ITU ETB with its graduates and academic staff since its establishment. This paper is dedicated to Oğuz Bayrakçı, former head and a graduate of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of Industrial Design who passed away in 2015.