Dr. Günay Erdem

Biography

Mr. Erdem was born on April 18, 1978 in the Boyan Balgaranov district (Боян Българанов) of Shumen (Шумен) city of Bulgaria, a member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: СССР) as the child of a teacher family whose origins date back to the Turkish Raiders (Türkçe: Akıncı, Osmanlı Türkçesi: آقنجى Aḳıncı) of the Ottoman Empire period. He spent his childhood years in the city of Shumen, designed by the Soviet Constructivists. Unable to withstand the assimilation pressures that increased during the years of the collapse of the Soviet Union, he immigrated to Turkey in 1989 with his family. Today, he mainly lives in Turkey, apart from his business and academic travels.

Education

• Primary education, Средно училище „Трайко Симеонов“, Shumen (Шумен), Bulgaria, USSR (СССР) / 1989

• Secondary education, Gazi Osman Paşa Secondary School, Ankara, Turkey / 1992

• High school education, Gazi High School, Ankara, Turkey / 1995

• Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch.), Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey / 2001

• Master of Architecture (M. Arch.), Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey / 2006

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.), Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey / 2022

Professional Experience

Günay Erdem is the principal of professional architecture and landscape architecture practice Günay Erdem Architects.

In all his designs Günay Erdem dissolves the boundaries of Architecture and Landscape Architecture disciplines. By the help of this interdisciplinary approach Mr. Erdem develops his designs in a more comprehensive manner.

Since 1998 Mr. Erdem designed and supervised many different types of projects varying from single functional (1-4 users: up to 100m2) projects to neighborhood sized mixed use projects (10.000 inhabitants: up to 1.000.000m2). Type of projects he developed varies from very common daily types such as housing, retail etc. to very extreme ones like marinas, harbors, special forces training centers etc.

In 25 years Mr. Erdem designed hundreds of projects in more than 40 different countries. Some of them are awarded in national and international competitions. Some of his projects received recognition awards from Independent Turkish Architects (TSMD) and Chamber of Architects in Turkey. Mr. Erdem was invited to conferences to present his projects in many Universities in Turkey.

In 2018 Günay Erdem was elected as a Jury Member for the “The Black Taj: An Incomplete Memory of the Mughal Empire” international project competition by the Indian authorities. With this appointment, Günay Erdem became the first Turkish Architect invited to be a Jury Member in the international project competition organized outside Turkey without any Turkish governmental or any Turkish civil organizational involvement.

Günay Erdem has special academic expertise and deep knowledge in the fields of “Fundamentals of Design”, “Architectural Design”, “Architectural Idea Development and Presentation”, “Conceptual Design”, “Ethics in Architecture” and "Aerospace Architecture". Günay Erdem was invited to many universities to give lectures and share his academic expertise.

Jury Memberships

List of jury memberships in project competitions in Turkey and all around the world

(name of competition / organizer / year)

• Adıyaman Active Life Center Architectural Project Competition / Ministry of Family and Social Policies of Turkey / 2013

• Chamber of Architects Bursa Branch National Architecture Awards / Chamber of Turkish Architects Bursa Branch / 2009

• “The Black Taj: An Incomplete Memory of the Mughal Empire” international project competition / UNFUSE / 2017 

Editorial Board Memberships

• Journal for the Interdisciplinary Art and Education

• Science PG (Science Publishing Group): Science, Technology & Public Policy

Language skills

English (proficient), Turkish (native), Bulgarian (native), Slavic Languages (beginner)