Of Mist and Memory

The master’s thesis at Oxford Brookes University explored "vernametric," a self-defined methodology that merges vernacular craft with parametric design principles. The research investigated how traditional, place-based techniques can be translated through computational tools to produce contemporary architectural forms, using boat construction as the primary lens. Set in Istanbul, the project focused on the city’s layered maritime heritage, shaped by Roman, Scandinavian, and Indian influences that over time gave rise to a distinct local tradition of wooden boat-making. This indigenous craft, once integral to daily life and urban identity, gradually declined, first through the outsourcing of production to France, then through industrial shifts to steel and later fiberglass, with the last timber boats locally constructed in the 1950s. The architectural proposal responds to this trajectory by establishing a program centered on timber boat construction, material education, and preservation. Framing the boat not just as a means of mobility but as a vessel of cultural and material knowledge, the design repositions craft as a foundation for contemporary spatial practice, aiming to revive tactile knowledge and embed it within an evolving architectural narrative.