PROFILE

Born in Istanbul in 1945, Cafer Bozkurt earned his architectural degree from ITU, Faculty of Architecture, with honours in 1968. Since 1971, he has run his own firm and is the president of Cafer Bozkurt Architecture.

Since its foundation, the firm has completed a great number of projects in Turkey and abroad, ranging from distinguished residential settlements, holiday resorts and recreational architecture to cultural and educational facilities. Bozkurt is also highly recognized and specialized in restoration projects and working in the historical urban context. The firm has been nominated nine times for the Aga Khan Architecture Award and has received the TMMOB Chamber of Architects’ National Architecture Award four times. The Kılıç Ali Pasha Hamam Restoration Project won the Europa Nostra Award in the Conservation Category in 2017. Furthermore, Bozkurt received a variety of national and international architecture awards such as the Union of Historical Towns Award, THBB Architecture Award ,and Chicago Athenaeum’s International Architecture Award and Green Good Design Award.

Bozkurt is frequently invited to speak on a range of topics at conferences and meetings related to architecture, as well as being a juror in many architectural and urban planning competitions throughout his career. He has served as a visiting professor and lecturer at schools of architecture in Turkey and abroad, including Istanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University, Bursa Uludağ University, and Eastern Mediterranean University. He also attended the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain and the University of Stavanger in Norway as ga uest lecturer for the EU Erasmus Programme.

Serving as a member of various associations, non-governmental organizations ,and public institutions that generate ideas and solutions regarding the needs of people and society in the context of national and universal culture, Bozkurt perpetually works to create awareness and respect for the architecture profession.

Bozkurt was a founding member of the Turkish Association of Architects in Private Practice, founded in Ankara in 1987 ,and served as chairman in 2002-2004. He became one of the founding members of the Istanbul Association of Architects in Private Practice, which was established in 2003 for the same purpose, and chaired this organization between 22005 and 2007 He also became a founding member of the Foundation of Turkish Architects in 1996 and actively serves to this day.

In 2008-2011, he served as a member and chairman of the Historical Heritage Committee No.IV of Istanbul, responsible for the Historic Peninsula, under the Ministry of Culture. In this position, he played a decisive role in important urban planning, transportation ,and cultural projects concerning the metropolis. Subsequently, he served as a member and chairman of the Historical Heritage Committee No.III of Istanbul, responsible for the protection of the cultural heritage of the Bosphorus, between 22011 and 2013