All faculty members of the BİLGİ Architecture academic staff are involved with the Architectural Design Graduate Program. The team who are currently coordinating the compulsory courses are introduced below.

Prof. Tuğrul Yazar
(Program Director)

Architect and academic Tuğrul Yazar completed his doctoral research on the pedagogy of digital design education in 2009 at Yıldız Technical University (YTÜ) in the Computer-Aided Architecture PhD Program. He earned his master's degree in 2003 from the same institution with a thesis on the algorithmic design scheme of Mimar Sinan's mosques. Since 2011, he has been teaching courses such as Architectural Geometry, Design Computing, Design Mathematics, Digital Production, and Parametric Modeling at the Faculty of Architecture, İstanbul Bilgi University. Yazar received his associate professorship in 2016 and his professorship in 2021. He has worked as a project leader and researcher in scientific projects supported by TÜBİTAK, YTÜ, and İstanbul Bilgi University. In 2023, Yazar was a visiting researcher at Loughborough University in the UK. His areas of expertise include architectural geometry, algorithmic design, computational design, and architectural education. He has contributed to numerous publications, conference presentations, invited talks, thesis supervision, and peer reviews. In addition to his academic work, he provides digital design and production consultancy, has led national and international workshops, and his works have been exhibited at various exhibitions and biennales, earning awards. He currently serves as the program coordinator of the Architectural Design Graduate Program at İstanbul Bilgi University.

Prof. Şebnem Yalınay Çinici

Şebnem Yalınay Çinici completed her Bachelor’s (1989), Master’s (1991), and Ph.D. (1999) degrees at the Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University (METU). She pursued her postdoctoral research (2001) at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. Between 1991-2006, she served as a faculty member at METU’s Department of Architecture and worked at Yıldız Technical University’s Department of Architecture from 2006 to 2011. Since 2007, she has been teaching at İstanbul Bilgi University. In 2003, she established the Digital Design Studio at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, METU. In addition to leading fundamental design and various levels of architectural design studios, her research focuses on ontology, technology, philosophy, architectural design, contemporary design-production technologies, and their integration into education. She has numerous national and international publications and projects on these topics. Since 2009, she has been a faculty member at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, İstanbul Bilgi University, where she also served as the Department's founding Chair from 2011 to 2020. Currently, she is the dean of the Faculty of Architecture.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fulya Akipek

Fulya Akipek graduated from the İstanbul Technical University Department of Architecture. Got a master’s and PhD. Degrees from the Yıldız Technical University Computational Design Graduate Programme. Worked at the same institution as a research assistant and instructor until 2011. Still working at İstanbul Bilgi University Department of Architecture as an Assoc. Prof. She is an instructor and head of the department at the same institution. Has several national and international awards at architectural competitions, and participated in various competitions as a jury member. Fields of interest are performance-based design, material performance, permaculture and urban gardens, computational design, and production, design/ build studios, 1:1 architectural prototypes, and architectural education. Akipek has research project leadership roles and awards, and his works have been exhibited at national and international biennales.

Faculty Member, Elif Kendir Beraha, PhD

Elif Kendir-Beraha is a researcher and architect serving as a faculty member at the Faculty of Architecture at İstanbul Bilgi University. She completed her doctoral studies on the relationship between traditional stone craftsmanship in Anatolia and the epistemology of architecture at RMIT University. She earned her non-thesis master’s degree from Columbia University’s Advanced Architectural Design program and her thesis-based master’s and undergraduate degrees from the Faculty of Architecture at METU. Her primary areas of interest include the political ecology of urban environments, craft culture, architectural phenomenology, and the epistemological impact of land on building practices. Her art-design research has been featured on national and international platforms. She has also organized artistic events and participated in exhibitions under FOL Collective, which she co-founded with Ceren Balkır Övünç. Since 2023, she has continued her research within the Design Anthropology and Critical Practices Research Group [DACP], established with Amina Rezoug and Veli Şafak Uysal from the BİLGİ Faculty of Architecture.

Faculty Member, Gamze Gündüz, PhD

Gamze Gündüz is an architect who graduated from Yıldız Technical University's Department of Architecture in 2010. After gaining experience in various design studios, she pursued an M.Arch degree at the Digital Tectonics Studio of IaaC (Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia), where she also participated in the Open Thesis Fabrication Program. In 2024, she completed her Ph.D. at İstanbul Technical University in the Architectural Design Computing Program. Currently, she is a Lecturer at İstanbul Bilgi University, where she teaches courses in the 1st-year basic design studio, design geometry, design computing, and electives focused on interactive systems, digital and robotic fabrication techniques, and their integration into design processes. In addition to her academic work, she has participated in several international and national exhibitions, including the 4th İstanbul Design Biennale. She is also the co-founder of Epitome {Collaborative Network}, a multidisciplinary platform that creates interactive installations. The platform’s work has been showcased in temporary exhibitions such as İstanbul Modern and Contemporary İstanbul (Plug-In). Her research interests center on computation-based design, design education, composite material studies, and exploring ways to integrate traditional materials with contemporary digital fabrication technologies, including robotic clay printing.

Faculty Member, Amina Rezoug, PhD

Amina Rezoug is a faculty member at İstanbul Bilgi University. She graduated from Middle East Technical University, Department of Architecture in 2008. She earned her MS. Arch in Architectural Design and Computation Program from ITU with her thesis “Fast, Cheap & Adaptable: A Digital Model for Designing Temporary Post-Disaster Housing.” She completed her Ph.D. at the same institution, where she wrote her dissertation, “A Visual Method of Analysis for User Modifications in Climat de France.” She was a visiting researcher at the Faculty of Architecture of Porto Digital Fabrication in 2019. She has been involved in conceiving and constructing many architectural projects of different scales. Her work has been presented at exhibitions and conferences in different countries. She has taught interior architecture and design courses and studios at different levels since 2016. Her research focuses on decolonial approaches combined with formal methods and computational research. She is particularly interested in housing and dwelling issues in controversial contexts such as post-disaster, marginalized mass housing, and post-colonial modern housing. Her research therefore is highly inspired by cultural studies, design anthropology, and decolonial theories.

Faculty Member, Alpay Akgüç, PhD

He graduated from the Building Sciences PhD Program at ITU Faculty of Architecture in 2019. His expertise includes building energy performance, passive system design, HVAC system selection, green building certifications, renewable energy, and energy sustainability in buildings. He has studied at institutions such as Yeditepe University, ITU ARI Technopark, and ARUP-Turkey. In addition to these studies, he has also participated in national and international research projects, which are detailed below:

• TÜBİTAK 1001 project titled "Utilizing POD and Kriging Methods in Optimization Analyses of Computational Fluid Dynamics Problems."
• TÜBİTAK 1001 project titled "Determination of the Methodology and Reference Buildings Suitable for Turkish Conditions for Cost-Optimal Energy Efficiency Levels in Buildings."
• European Union project under the SMARTSPACES program focused on improving the energy efficiency of building climate control systems for İstanbul Fatih Municipality Spor A.Ş.

Since 2019, he has served as an assistant professor in the architecture departments of Girne American University and İstanbul Aydın University. He has been continuing this role at İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture since 2024.

Res. Asst. Serra Aşkın

Serra Aşkın is an architect, researcher, and writer. She is a PhD candidate in Architectural Design at İstanbul Technical University, with an MA degree in Architectural History from the Bartlett, UCL, and a B.Arch degree from ITU. Her main research interests are post-war social housing, the housing crisis, and socially conscious and community-oriented design processes. She has written articles on architecture, architectural theory, design, and visual media for various online and in-print publications. She is a research assistant at İstanbul Bilgi University Department of Architecture, attends 4th-year studios, and is the administrative assistant for the Graduate Programs in Architecture.

Res. Asst. Münir Keleşoğlu

Münir Keleşoğlu completed his undergraduate education in the Department of Industrial Product Design at İstanbul Technical University. He worked on project-based designs, particularly in the furniture and kitchen products sectors. During this time, he completed a master’s degree in the Department of Architecture in Computer Environments at Yıldız Technical University. Then, he started teaching industrial design and architecture part-time at various universities and is now continuing as a full-time lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design at İstanbul Bilgi University. At the same time, he is pursuing doctoral studies in the ITU Architectural Design Computing program. His areas of interest include digital design tools and computational design.