The venue for the DRS LearnXDesign 2019 conference is METU Cultural and Convention Centre (CCC).
METU Cultural and Convention Centre is designed to host local and international conventions, seminars, meetings, conferences, concerts, other cultural activities and related services, and encompasses the most recent technological facilities. The centre consists of nine halls, two foyers, a restaurant, and support and service units. As it is centrally located in the campus, it benefits from its rich facilities and resources, including accommodation facilities and guesthouses, library, sports facilities, shops, medical centre, post office, banks, food courts and public transport stops to the city centre.
METU Cultural and Convention Centre website (www.ccc.metu.edu.tr).
Middle East Technical University
METU is a state university founded in 1956. The Ankara campus of the university comprises educational facilities, accommodation for students and staff, social, cultural and sports facilities, museums, and a medical centre as well as a shopping area.
Today METU has around 28,000 students, both undergraduate and graduate, and 2,225 members of academic staff. The university accepts students through the National University Entrance Examination, and the students applying to METU are among the top qualified applicants with the highest scores. As a competitive university, METU strives to excel in academic terms and maintain its leading position in Turkey with many activities. METU also has strong academic and research relations with other national and international universities and organisations, carrying out educational, social, cultural and research oriented cooperation.The Ankara campus is located 20 km out of central Ankara, owning a land of 4500 hectares, including 3000 hectares of forest area, and the Lake Eymir. It is well equipped with public transportation and has an underground stop at the main campus entrance providing transport to and from the city centre. The campus hosts a Technopolis, where enterprises, firms, academics and students come together in the conduct of various research and development projects. The liveliness of the campus extends throughout the year, despite the fact that the number of students in campus drop during summer months.
The university hosts many international and exchange students, and has a number of international members of academic staff, all contributing to the diversity of the METU campus.
METU offers 43 undergraduate programs under five faculties, and 107 Master’s and 69 Doctorate programs under five graduate schools. METU also has a School of Foreign Languages and a Technical Vocational School of Higher Education.
Middle East Technical University website (www.metu.edu.tr)
METU Faculty of Architecture
The METU Faculty of Architecture comprises three departments (arch.metu.edu.tr):
- Department of Architecture (the first department established at METU, in 1956)
- Department of City and Regional Planning (est. 1961)
- Department of Industrial Design (est. 1979)
METU Faculty of Architecture Building
Architects: Behruz and Altuğ Çinici
The construction of the METU Faculty of Architecture building was completed in 1963 and it is among the first buildings of the METU campus. This building is an example of modern architecture with its exposed concrete structure and landscape inspired from the Japanese garden. The building is built around studio spaces giving the central role to design education. Common spaces with intersecting galleries make use of the contrasting effects of light and shadow with high ceilings, sky lights and shared courtyards. The faculty building has recently received a conservation grant from the Getty Foundation’s “Keeping it Modern Program” in 2017.
The students of the three departments benefit from the educational building and its spacious facilities. The studios are a lively setting for the students during and out of course hours. The common spaces are used for social gatherings, academic events and exhibitions.
METU Department of Industrial Design
The first course in industrial design was given at METU Department of Architecture as an elective course by visiting Professor David K. Munro in 1969, who also prepared a proposal for a graduate program in industrial design at METU Faculty of Architecture. METU Department of Industrial Design was established in 1979. The undergraduate programme in our Department is four years, at the end of which, graduates receive a bachelor’s degree in industrial design. We have a Master of Science and a PhD programme in Industrial Design.
METU Department of Industrial Design attracts students with the most competitive profile in Turkey. The Department features an educational approach which encourages critical and reflective thinking. Design studios, where student projects are conducted in collaboration with local, national and international partners from diverse sectors, and the open jury system are the core elements of our education. The Graduation Projects Exhibitions, staged every year since 2002, has exhibited student projects advised by over one hundred different participating firms. In recent years, the Department has also taken significant steps towards integrating design considerations for sustainability into its educational approach.
The aim of the graduate programs at METU Industrial Design is the generation and dissemination of designerly knowledge, tools, techniques and methods based on design research. Our graduate programs have contributed to the training of design researchers who have had significant impact on academia and industry in Turkey and abroad. Since 2003, the METU/BILTIR UTEST Product Usability Unit has been supporting industry-funded research projects carried out by graduate students of the Department. The Design Research for Interaction joint program with TU Delft has provided opportunities for international academic exchange and research collaboration, with graduates becoming specialists in research and design for user-product interaction. In addition to pursuing research projects funded by the industry or the government, our graduate students integrate the educational environment of the design studios into their research practice with the purpose of developing tools, techniques and methods for improving industrial design education and practice.
The Department has international student and staff exchange agreements with design schools across the world, including Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA. We are active participants in local design events, competitions, fairs and exhibitions as well as international design events, research symposia and design networks, having regularly hosted international workshops with partner schools from Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel and the Netherlands. Our graduates contribute to the design of products and systems with local and global impact, and fulfil academic leadership positions at industrial design departments across Turkey. METU is recognized globally as one of the most prestigious educational institutions in Turkey; our department has been ranked among top design institutions in Red Dot Design Rankings and among Europe’s Top 100 Architecture and Design Schools by the Domus Magazine.