Once upon a time, where horses were swarming, instead of cars and buildings  taking up space, and where the environment was greener than now, there was a place which today we call the Shawmut peninsula. Today, perhaps, many do not know how Beacon Hill and the State House were brought about, but it is recognizable that there is a slope behind it. There was a real hill before people began to dig it up to fill out what would become the Back Bay. Regardless, this sketch is a view of the State House -today’s Boston- from MGH. It is apparent that everywhere there are buildings. Fortunately, Bostonians have many pleasant parks, such as Boston Common and the Public Gardens.

A late spring zephyr whistling in my ears gives me chills in this intimate landscape. People are incessantly walking along the river’s edge; friends and lovers. No one disturbs anyone. This sketch is near Harvard Square, on Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA. The majority of them are students. I know this from the t-shirts they are sporting, and yet some of them are naked in this May cold -preposterously. Of course, they deserve this weather after a severe winter. Despite everything, Boston may be the finest place for them as it is beautifully designed for them.

Mimar Sinan Fine Arts university library is probably one of my best study places as a site looking out on the Bosphorus is hard to find in today’s Istanbul. Indeed, if the purpose of this florid landscape serves as an educational building, individuals are certainly taken back. I, consequently, do not thirst for libraries although I saw many libraries in European cities. Nothing is changed -it is still my fondest study, -and yet I have discovered another swanky library which egregiously eclipses many other libraries I have seen thus far, that is, the Boston Public library. This sketch is from the main study room, in the old wing.  It is truly mystical. While studying within the building, it is possible to be lost in history. In fact, if one experiences its courtyard, one may simply immure one’s self. -I do.

A place where you undergo the deprivation of existence, a lack of life, directness and the silence of welfare transmits a great deal of senses, perhaps, which words can not begin to describe, that is, the Mental Health Building Chapel, Boston Government Service Center -by Paul Rudolph. The space is entirely concrete material. This leads individuals to experimenting with the power of grey- concrete and the natural light -from the opening in the ceiling. The architect’s premeditation is certainly felicitous as the feeling of space gives chills with the monumentalization of concrete. It is possible to be perceptually far from our ephemeral lives in this space. This is by merit the fact that the space is a chapel, a place for prayer and a transition point.   

Finding solitude from the crowd, fracas and traffic is ultimately unprocurable, in today’s Istanbul. This leads many to getting away, perhaps, merely for the weekend. And yet, Istanbul's population believes that this escape is not far from the city, knowing very well that the places where they can banish these problems of modern life is the islands. This sketch was done from one of my friends’ homes on Burgaz Island -May, 2012. The view is of Istanbul, and, genuinely, I can say that Istanbul is molting. Istanbul is replete with buildings, even if my sketch does not have any as they were not there at the time. Now, they are everywhere. Despite everything, I wish that the islands could have equanimity and maintain their halcyon years.