Övgü Pelen

2010 – University of Manchester, Manchester – UK, School of Environment and Development, PhD in Architecture – Student Representative.

2008 – 2010 Middle East Technical University, Ankara – Turkey, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, PhD Student of Architecture.

2008 – 2008 Delft University of Technology, Delft – The Netherlands, Department of Architecture, Urban Design – Spring Term.

2005 – 2008 Middle East Technical University, Ankara – Turkey, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Master of Architectural Design.

2000 – 2005 Middle East Technical University, Ankara – Turkey, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture

The living legacy of modernism: Catalysing the Industrial Past.

Supervisors: Albena Yaneva and Isabelle Doucet.

Master Thesis

Spatial memory of electrification in early republican capital, Ankara.

Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan (METU - Ankara, Turkey) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın (METU - Ankara, Turkey)

Interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research in architecture, urban design, sociology and geography; Urban transformation, Urban Regeneration, Industrial areas, Architectural History and Theory, Urban Design, Modern and Contemporary Architecture

During my graduate studies I took several courses, one of them was called Housing Research and Design Studio. In this course, we made a spatial analysis and oral historical research in Ulus which is the historical centre of Ankara. This research project ended up with an exhibition and a publication which is mentioned below.

• Ali Cengizkan, Didem Kılıçkıran. Yerin Sesi: Ulus İşhanı’nın Söyledikleri (The Voice of the Place: Things that Ulus İşhanı says) ARCH 713 Housing Design And Research Studio Team: Övgü Pelen, et all. Ankara: Vekam 2008.

During the last year of my Master studies, I have worked as a graduate student assistant in the course Advanced Architectural Design Studio (ARCH 505) which was taught by Professor Ali Cengizkan, and Didem Kılıçkıran. In Spring 2007-2008 I had been in Delft University of Technology in the Urban Design Department, where I had a chance to as a student assistant of one of my professor in TU Delft.

Conference Contribution

• 2010. Turkish Modernization through Industrialization, Progress and Electrification. In ICOHTEC & TICCIH Joint Conference 2010 Reusing the Industrial Past. Tampere, Finland.
• 2009. Yenimahalle İlk Yerleşimi. In Docomomo – tr Proceedings. Dicle University, Diyarbakır. Turkey.
• 2009. Urban transformation projects: improvement or just displacement for the urban poor?”, In Urban Poor: Mobilities and Mobilizations: International Symposium.  Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
• 2009 Being Side by Side: On Changing Neighborhood and Family Relations in Yenimahalle, Turkey, In PhD Seminar on Public Space Proceedings. Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
• 2008. Elektrik İşleri Etüt İdaresi, In Docomomo – tr Türkiye Mimarlığında Modernizmin Yerel Açılımları IV. Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey. (Poster and Oral Presentation)
• 2008. Ankara Maltepe Elektrik ve Havagazı Fabrikası ve Türk Modernleşmesinde Elektrifikasyon”, In Docomomo – tr Türkiye Mimarlığında Modernizmin Yerel Açılımları IV. Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey. (Poster Presentation)

Competitions

Name	Time	Holding organization	Award
Proçel I	March 2004	Turkish Constructional  Steelworks Association	1st prize
Celebration of Cities	April 2004	International Union of Architects (UIA	One of five projects chosen from national level to compete in the International level
Prosteel 2005	March 2005	Borusan, Turkish Constructional Steelworks Association, YEM	Eliminated in the second level

International works

Name of the Programme	Date, Place	Project Title	Organized By	Sponsors	Project Group
BRANCABİKA (BRugge, Ankara, CAnterbury, Bİalystok, Kaiserslautern)	18–28 April 2005, Brugge Belgium	Modular Housing for Starters	Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen (HOWEST) Departement Simon Stevin Rijselstraat Brugge –Belgiu	European Union (Erasmus Mobility Project, Intensive Programme IP	Pink Group (Övgü Pelen, Simon Ruf, Francies Van Hulle, Sarah Hardwidge, Justyna Ciesla)

Exhibitions

Name of the Exhibitionh	Date	Place	Project Title	Project Group
Övgü Pelen Jewellery Collection	June 2010 Onwards	Cermodern (Museum of Modern Art) Ankara	Personal jewellery designs are exhibited and sold.	Övgü Pelen
“Yerin Sesi: Ulus İşhanı’nın Söyledikleri” (The Voice of the Place: Things that Ulus İşhanı says) “ARCH 713 Housing Design And Research Studio” fall semester exhibition	15.02.2007-30.03.2007	METU Faculty of Architecture Exhibition Hall	The consequences of the research project as a studio work dealing with the architectural and public space qualities of the Ulus İşhanı building, its place in the architecture of Republican period, and its meaning for the citizens exhibited.	Övgü Pelen, Ali Aslankan, Evrim Özlem Kale,  Zeynep Öktem, Heves Beşeli, Işıl Ruhi, Miray Baş, Nazan Çapoğlu…
“Shadow” ARCH 524 “Architecture and Different Modes of Representation” spring semester exhibition	12.05.2006 - 12.12.2006	Old canteen area of Faculty of Architecture, METU, Ankara	“Shadows of the Absence”	Övgü PELEN, Evrim Özlem KALE
“New Jewellery II” “Jewellery Beyond Tradition” Student Projects Exhibition	15.05.2006 - 17.05.2006	Cultural and Conventional Center , METU Ankara	By using non precious materials (like felt, paper, plastics, dust, epoxy,) designing jewelleries beyond tradition with the help of the nature of the materials	Övgü PELEN
“New Jewellery I” “Jewellery Beyond Tradition” Student Projects Exhibition	01.12.2006	Department of Industrial Design, METU, Ankara	By using non precious materials (like felt, paper, plastics, dust, epoxy,) designing jewelleries beyond tradition with the help of the nature of the materials	Övgü PELEN

Languages

Turkish – Mother Tongue.
English – Advanced (TOEFL: 102 IBT).
German – Intermediate.
Dutch – Basic.