Prof. Dr. Dogan Kuban (1926-2021) in the Aga Khan Award Steering Committee, First Cycle, Boston 1978.

 


Aga Khan Award Steering Committee, First Cycle, Boston 1978.

Back row (from left): Hasan-Uddin Khan, William Porter, Dogan Kuban, Sir Hugh Cassan, Oleg Grabar, Garr Cambell, Nader Ardalan and Charles Correa. Front row (from left): Hassan Fathy, His Highness the Aga Khan, Renata Holod. Photo: Archnet

I am deeply saddened for the loss of Prof. Dr. Dogan Kuban, one of my professors at the Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture. He was one of the first professors in architecture to open my eyes to "architecture history, urban history" and "the vital importance of science, scientific thinking, and scientific research methods". It was a surprise for me to come across with one of his photographs with the Aga Khan Award Steering Committee, "first" cycle, in Boston in 1978. (https://ismailimail.blog/2016/04/05/today-in-history-the-first-seminar-of-the-aga-khan-award-for-architecture-was-held/, last accessed on 9.24.2021). He was a visiting professor at the MIT-Aga  Khan Program: https://akpia.mit.edu/past-faculty-and-visiting-faculty-and-lecturers, last accessed on 9.24.2021. 

When I came across with his photograph in Boston in 1978, it made me think why "the first step" of my scholarly career path in architecture history was Boston, and why I am still in this inspiring city. 

Prof. Dr. Dogan Kuban's light will always be with those who were his students, attended his classes, read his scholarly essays, books, etc. He was a leading critics to fight with "non-scientific" voices in his expertise field, and architecture. RIP.