Defne Akşin Akyol has been practicing landscape architecture since 1994. Her work spans the intimate scale of private gardens to the broad public realm of resort grounds. Having been employed at an architectural firm for 12 years, she has dealt with urban and landscape design on all scales and has been exposed to a further gamut of interdisciplinary practices and methods. Her design approach is based on paring a site down to its essentials, then building layer upon layer, providing it with all its functional components, as well as a character reflecting the genius loci. Her landscape designs strive at providing creative, innovative solutions while at the same time being both sustainable and responsible.

Education 

1982-1987 – TED Ankara College, Ankara (High School)
1987-1991 – Ankara University Dept. Of Landscape Architecture, Ankara (BA)
1991-1993 – Edinburgh College of Art,
Heriot-Watt University, UK (MSc)
1993-1994 – Université Paul Valéry,
France (French for Foreigners)

2008-2011 - Pera Fine Arts, İstanbul (Singing)

Membership

1994 – Chamber of Landscape Architects, Turkey
2012-2021 – IDS, International Dendrology Society
2016 – ICOMOS Turkey, International Council
on Monuments and Sites
2016 – ICOMOS – IFLA, International Scientific Committee
on Cultural Landscapes (ISCCL)

Publications

Ege Mimarlık 112: Denge; ‘The Effect of Forest Fires on Landscape and Ecology’

Historic Gardens and Society, ISBN 987-3-7954-3535-6
Gardens In Cultural History
‘History Of Garden Culture In Turkey’

Professional Experience

1990 – Central Park Conservancy, City of New York Parks and Recreation, Trainee
1991 – M. Paul Friedberg and Partners, New York, Intern L.A.
1995 – Dokap Şirketler Topluluğu, Naturland Doğal Yaşam Beldesi, Landscape Architect
1995 – Bilkent University Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Department, Lecturer
1996-2007 – Atelier T, Architectural Design Office, Landscape Architect
2008 – Founded private practice, Defne Akşin Akyol Landscape Design

2008 – Children’s book ‘Evergreen’ was published

2021-2023 – Fall Term – Bilgi University Industrial Design Department,
Project Studio Instructor
2023 – Spring Term – Bilgi University Architecture Department, ARCH 222, Instructor
2024 – AURA (The Istanbul Architecture and Urban Research Academy) x IPA (Istanbul Planning Agency), Summer Academy, Towards Sustainable Normalisation’, Studio Instructor

Metal Works

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