REGENT CADDESI QUADRANT’IN, PERFORMATİF MİMARLIK VE YARI-OBJELİK BAĞLAMDA YENİDEN DEĞERLENLENDİRİLMESİ

Britanya Naip Prensi’nin emri ile 1818 yılında inşasına başlandığından bu yana, Regent Caddesi (Regent Street), dünyanın en popüler alışveriş caddelerinden biri olmuştur. Üzerine uygulanan müdahalelerle orjinal tasarımını kaybeden caddenin Quadrant denen kısmı bu değişimlerden en çok etkilenen parçasıdır. 1848’de yıkımı gerçekleşen Quadrant’ın, kolonları ve geniş saçağı ile Naiplik döneminde teatral bir atmosfer sunan arkadları, yerini boşluğa bırakmıştır. Bunun sonucunda orijinal tasarımın izleri günümüzde tamamen unutulmuştur. Yokluk ve kayıp kavramları, filmler ve tiyatro oyunlarında oldukça popüler bir tema olarak ele alınsa da, kayıp çoğunlukla bir öznenin yani insanın kaybı üzerinden işlenmektedir. Oysa insan dışı nesne olarak mimari yapıların ve tarihi dokuların izlerinin silinmesi de bir kayıp olarak ele alınıp, üzerinde dramaturjik bir araştırma yapılamaz mı, sorusu bu makalenin çıkış noktasıdır. Regent Caddesi, şehir planlama ve mimari tasarımda bugüne dek birçok kez araştırılmıştır. Ancak yarattığı karanlık atmosferden dolayı Quadrant’ın, 19. yüzyıl Londralıları tarafından suçlu bir birey gibi görülüp yargılandığından, yıkım kararı ile tıpkı idam edilen bir özne gibi anlamlandırıldığından bugüne dek bahsedilmemiştir. Bu boşluğu doldurmak amacıyla, mimari yapıya farkında olmadan yüklenen bu yarı insansı rolü merkeze alan bu makalede, Quadrant’ın yarı-öznel rolü Serres ve Latour’un quasi-subject (yarı-özne) kavramı üzerinden tartışılarak, mimari ve kentsel yapılara kullanıcılar tarafından yüklenen yeni anlamlar ve işlevler irdelenmiştir. Bunu yaparken Quadrant’ın ontolojik anlamı ve buna bağlı olarak ürettiği değişken rolleri, 1818-48 tarihleri arasında, yıkımı öncesi tarihi bağlamda ele alınarak, kazılıp çıkarılmıştır. Naiplik ve Viktoryen dönemi görsel ve yazılı kaynaklara başvurularak, Quadrant’ın tıpkı yaşayan bir canlı gibi doğan, yaşayan ve ölen evreleri incelenerek, mimari üretimin her zaman yeni anlamlar üretebilen ve yaşamsal bir doğası olduğuna, bu yarı-canlılığı gereği de bir drama ve senaryo öznesi olabileceği sonucuna varılmıştır.

RE-INTERPRETATION OF THE REGENT STREET- QUADRANT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF PERFORMATIVE ARCHITECTURE & QUASI-SUBJECT

Built in 1818, Regent Street, named after its patron Prince Regent, later King George IV, has been one of the most famous thoroughfares in Europe. Much of its original design had been lost, including the spectacular section known as the Quadrant, which was characterized by arcades that created a theatrical setting. What remains visible today is the fabric replacing the Quadrant colonnade functioning as a shelter, a feature that was lost after it was removed in 1848. Although the notion of absence is a quality often attributed to physical beings depicted in the films or plays, it has not been discussed within the context of a loss of an architectural entity or element. This article probes the following question: Can architecture be dramaturgical? The shelters of the Quadrant were blamed for creating dimness, as if the shelter was a person. Several studies have examined Regent Street from the perspective of urban planning. This article aims to view architecture as a half-subject rather than a fixed or a static object and narrate the architectural story of the Quadrant between 1818 and 1849. Accordingly, I argue that the shelter of the Quadrant can be considered a theatrical object or quasi-object, a term borrowed from Michel Serres and Bruno Latour to describe the half-subjectiveness of unlived beings. To do so, using an ontological approach, I will decipher the architectural history of the Quadrant as the shelter in the nineteenth century to unearth its roles and explore its transformation. Using the Regency and Victorian visuals and texts, I will examine how the Quadrant has generated new meanings and functions as a lived creature. This paper aims to explain that architecture is not a static or durable production but rather it is transformative and potential to be a half-subject as it was born, lived, and died.

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