It is Time to Consider Sensory Urban Experiences: Looking into Today’s Istiklal Street, Istanbul Through the Thresholds of Auditory Experiences

Abstract

In the latest years, the changing socio-cultural structure, economic and political movements, law and city regulations, innovative transportation and communication activities have resulted in a modification of the city of Istanbul. In this process, numerous intangible features of urban places in Istanbul have modified, gone, or changed; and unavoidably the ‘sensory urban experiences’ of Istiklal Street, which is one of the important urban places of Istanbul, have changed controversially. This study asserts that the ‘sensory urban experiences’ of Istiklal Street needs to be examined as much as possible to criticize the sensory reflections of the latest modifications in the area. This study focuses on the ‘auditory experiences’ of Istiklal Street to understand what has been lost and changed in terms of the auditory atmosphere of the area. Therefore, the method of ‘Sensewalking’, which is an efficient research tool to generate knowledge on the urban experiences beyond visual experiences, is used to catch the auditory experiences of the area. This study says that producing the knowledge on the sensory urban experiences beyond visual features is worthwhile, and this could open new ways for discussing the urban matters especially in the field of architecture, and urban studies.