BIOGRAPHY
Pelin Yoncacı-Arslan is an architect and architectural historian specializing in Medieval and Byzantine urban history, particularly the historical topography of Constantinople/Istanbul; creative mapping as a form of historical data curation; 3D visualization, and 3D knowledge design; and complexity science and its tools to understand architectural historical processes. Yoncacı-Arslan earned her PhD degree in Architecture and Urban Design from UCLA, the University of California Los Angeles (2015). Her publications include articles on the urban and processional landscape of Early Byzantine Constantinople, disciplinary boundaries of architectural historywriting, and the dynamic interface between digital humanities (DH) and architectural history. As a fellow researcher at UCLA Experiential Technologies Center, she participated in several DH projects, among others, “Visualizing Statues in the Late Antique Roman Forum” and “Magnesia Archaeological Site Survey and 3D Visualization Project.” She has taught several courses on the history of Byzantine architecture and urban landscape; urban processions and movement in the premodern era; and digital humanities as applied in architectural history research. She has also been involved in curating and writing for DH projects and exhibitions, including the 2019 exhibition “On the Same Page: 30 Years of METU Architectural History” and the 2025 exhibition “META JFA: Fifty Years of METU Journal of Faculty of Architecture”. As a practicing architect, she has received design awards, including the 1st prize in the Haliç (Region 1) Waterfront Urban Design Competition in 2020.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2025 Kahveci E., Yoncacı Arslan, P., “Designing negotiation: Osep Saraf ’s Şişli Culture and Trade Center.” A|Z ITU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, Special Issue: New Horizons, vol. 22: 1, 279-293. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58278/0.2025.79
2023 Yoncaci Arslan, P. “Designing a Mystic Writing Pad after Auschwitz: Daniel Libeskind and Peter Eisenman”, Prostor, 31(1), pp. 52–61. doi: 10.31522/p.31.1(65).5.
2023 Çakmakli, A. B., Dino, I. G., Daglioglu, E. K., Pinar, E., & Arslan, P. Y., “The diagonal axis from VERB to VOID: interdisciplinarity in basic design studio education.” Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol.17: 4, 2023 pp. 774-792. DOI 10.1108/ARCH-12-2021-0337
2022 Uçar B., Yoncaci Arslan P., “The Open Map: A Granular Structure for Performative Readings”, Footprint Delft Architecture Theory Journal, Special Issue: Open Architecture: Tradition, Possibilities and Shortcomings, vol. 16:2, 2022, 105–120.
2022 Sarıkaya Işık, F., Yoncacı Arslan P., “Visualizing the Valens Aqueduct in Early Modern Istanbul,” in J. Heartcott (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Infrastructure Designs: Global Views from Architectural History. Routledge, 2022, 131-141.
2016 Yoncacı Arslan P., “Towards a new honorific column: The Column of Constantine in early Byzantine urban landscape,” METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture vol. 33:1, 2016, pp.121-145.