Heterotopia

2021

Contemporary metropolises have become a reflection of the policies and globalized economies that shape our world. These territories are often marked by paradoxes, both fragmented and homogeneous, segregated and standardized. These neoliberal cities are characterized by their sprawl, compartmentalization, and increasing discontinuity. They are themselves heterotopias, in the sense that they have the power to juxtapose several incompatible spaces in the same place (Foucault, 1967), creating closed communities with their systems of openings and closures, distinct identities, and inclusive characters.

If utopia is an ideal without a real place, heterotopia corresponds to a real place. How does heterotopia take shape in today's urban landscapes? How can we appropriate these heterotopic spaces and identities?

Through the photographic study of the peripheral landscapes of neoliberal cities, the Heterotopia project aims to see and glimpse the urban heterotopia through its geographic margins. The approach is both simple and complex: to propose a counterpoint to the traditional visual imagery that embodies the identity of the city, and thus to question the mental representation that everyone has of it.

Ankara, the capital of Turkey, is in constant mutation. With more than 5 million inhabitants, the neoliberal development of the city in recent decades has led to significant changes in its urban landscapes, underpinned by rapid, if not uncontrolled, urbanization. Privatization and economic liberalization have favored the construction of new buildings, shopping centers, infrastructure, and luxury housing, which have significantly altered the morphology of the city. By contrast, the weight of moral conservatism remains present, notably through the construction of new mosques in these new neighborhoods.