20 June 2021, Dilara:

The form of the borders between land and water in Istanbul, which has a coast to the open sea, is more complex than that of Lucerne, which has shores to the Reuss River and Lake Lucerne. It is possible to control the water level in the Reuss river, also the lake is quite calm, but the same cannot be said for Istanbul. Especially near the Bosphorus, depending on the various flows and weather conditions, water is really dynamic and the level is unstable. It means that the border must be both durable and also leachier. So that, in many waterfronts near Bosphorus we see some holes either on the dock floor or on the concrete parapet walls for letting water pass through.

The second image is from Beylerbeyi, and the one following is from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University where Eda and I studied architecture at. When we were at the dock of the university, those holes always had the potential to get you wet, maybe because of the wave of a passing catamaran, or maybe just of a strong wind that got your feet wet. And the following image is from Heybeliada.

Superposing those holes on a Lucerne photo would make you think: How would it be if Lucerne had a coast to an open sea?

İstanbul photos were taken by Eda, and Lucerne photos by Dilara.