Public Space in IstanbulThis June, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Istanbul objecting to the demolition of Taksim Square, one of the city's last remaining green public spaces. What began as a reaction to poor urban planning decisions quickly changed into something larger: "The movement shows the deep discontent within a large cross section of Turkish society against the increasingly authoritarian government, and especially its prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of the ruling Islamist AKP party," wrote historian Heghnar Watenpaugh, a professor at the University of California, Davis. Photo 5 of 18 in Architecture and Design: 2013 Year In Review by Diana Budds

Architecture and Design: 2013 Year In Review

5 of 18

Public Space in IstanbulThis June, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Istanbul objecting to the demolition of Taksim Square, one of the city's last remaining green public spaces. What began as a reaction to poor urban planning decisions quickly changed into something larger: "The movement shows the deep discontent within a large cross section of Turkish society against the increasingly authoritarian government, and especially its prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of the ruling Islamist AKP party," wrote historian Heghnar Watenpaugh, a professor at the University of California, Davis.