About CM
We are architects and designers. We are interested in the city, people and buildings. We are a collective of diverse cultures. Our company was established in 2002 in İstanbul. We have produced and still are producing projects in Turkey as well as different countries around the world.
CM Architecture works within a wide range of project typologies and scales. Our work includes housing blocks in various scales, private residences, mixed-use commercial buildings, office buildings, cultural buildings for public use, open and urban spaces, studies and works related to archeology and conservation, restoration, renovation, retrofit and urban development projects.
We think every project has its own unique design process and should have its own voice even if it’s a modest one. We try to deal with and respond to the local potential and conditions of a project’s location.
Approach
We have engaged ourselves with the dynamic relationships that architecture has developed with other fields, especially with the temporal and spatial sustainability. Our inclusive way of working is to manage and explore these dynamics and let them factor into our design processes.
We call this the dynamic architectural relationship.
A project should get developed keeping the social, material and cultural data in mind. In addition to this, it is necessary to preserve a working rhythm that allows potential feedback to be included and supported in the design process.
Uncovering the creative potentials of the dynamic process assumes a holistic approach in which multiple scales are included in the system.
How We Work
At the first stage, we try to understand and deal with the ideas and needs of our customers and future users. We engage in a question-and-answer type of dialogue to find and nurture the possibilities that the project brings. This often emerges from a large, cross-scale study of the site and the context of the project.
After all, every project depends on and is a part of larger systems that shapes and forms the future.
Together with our customers, stakeholders and business partners, we seek to discover, identify and develop this natural potential for positive change.
Cem Sorguç
Having completed Architecture studies at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Sorguç started his own company CM Architecture in 2002. Since then he has been actively working as an architect within his firm.
Alongside teaching at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University since 2013, he worked within AURAistanbul (Architectural Urbanism Research Academy) as an undergraduate and graduate project manager at Architecture departments of Bilgi University and Istanbul Technical University.
In 2016, he curated the “Geç Olmadan Eve Dön” (Get Home Before It’s Late) exhibition at Istanbul Modern, and in 2012 he contributed and designed the exhibition “Uzayda Bir Elektrik Hâsıl Oldu” (A Kind of Electricity Appeared in Outer Space), Turkey with music in the 1960s, at Depo Gallery.
He contributed to the making and presentation of a documentary film about Gazhane (Gasworks) for IZ TV. For the same channel he also contributed to the documentary “Geçmişten Günümüze Yatak” (Beds from Past to Present).
With the multidisciplinary approach he assimilated from DJing to writing, he has numerous publications and periodicals on topics such as music, city, space, architecture in newspapers and magazines (Express, 1+1, Post-Express, Genç, Roll,İskenderiye Yazıları, Radikal, Istanbul Art News (IAN), XXI, etc.).
For 27 uninterrupted years he has made and continues to make various radio programs at Açık Radyo. He also started a new podcast series called Hey! Beyoğlu in 2022 where he talks about the city, history, buildings and architects in the centre of istanbul Beyoğlu and Galata.