Dr. Emine Filiz Kölmek is an Assistant Professor of Sustainable Urbanism at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). Her research focuses on Islamic aesthetics, Ottoman architecture, urban transformation, and sustainability. She has contributed to scholarly discussions on the spatial organization of Topkapı Palace and methodological approaches for analyzing Islamic art and architecture. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed books and presented at international conferences, with ongoing work on sustainability in urban transformation and meaning in Islamic architecture.

With more than ten years of professional experience, Dr. Kölmek worked as an Urban Designer and Landscape Architect at Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, leading key urban transformation projects, including Hıdırlık, İsmetpaşa, and Atıfbey, and contributing to Türkiye’s largest initiative, the New Mamak Project. She also taught architecture and design at Yıldırım Beyazıt University.

Dr. Kölmek holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from Middle East Technical University (METU), where she graduated with a perfect 4.00 GPA. She earned her MA in Interior Architecture and her BA in Urban Design and Landscape Architecture from Bilkent University with full scholarships. She is a recipient of the HBKU-CIS Research Cluster Grant for a book project on Islamic aesthetics, a collaborative research initiative led by HBKU faculty.

• Urban transformation and recreation projects
• Cultural sustainability
• Social sustainability
• Islamic aesthetics
• Islamic art and visual culture
• Ottoman architectural culture
• Islamic palatial architecture
• Cultural tastes in interior and landscape design
• Anatolian Seljuk architecture
• Ottoman art and architecture in the 18^th Century

06/2024 Assistant Professor of Sustainable Urbanism

Hamad Bin Khalifa University- College of Islamic Studies

Program for Islamic Art, Architecture and Urbanism

Fall 2023-24 Part-Time Instructor

Yıldırım Beyazıd University Department of Architecture, Ankara, Turkey

• ARCH 101 Design Studio 1
• ARCH 321 Architectural History III

06/2013-2024 Landscape Architect and Urban Designer

Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, Department of Special Projects and Transformation (on sabbatical leave between 7/2019-8/2023)

• Controlling the applications of urban and landscape design projects of Hıdırlık, Ismetpasa and Atıfbey Urban Transformation Project
• Managing the landscape and urban design program of New Mamak Urban Transformation Project (the biggest and the most comprehensive urban transformation project of Turkey)
• Settling the disputes in the expropriation program of Dikmen Valley Project, Ankara
• Developing new urban transformation projects

10/2007 – 06/2013     Urban Designer          

Başkent Natural Gas Distribution Company, Ankara, Turkey                       

• Maintaining appropriate enlargement of the natural gas network in compliance with the city development plans
• Integration of new pipelines to GIS of the gas distribution network and metropolitan city infrastructure database
• Coordination of network connection applications

August 2006 Summer Internship III - Application

Kalyon Construction Co., Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) – Construction Project of 459 Houses on Protocol Road, Ankara, Turkey

• Worked on landscape design of the project

August 2005 Summer Internship II – Plant

Kutman Forestry and Mining Co., İstanbul, Turkey

• Studied plant characteristics
• Utilization of plants in landscape design

June 2004 Summer Internship I – Computer and Topography

Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

• Studied computer applications in architecture and effects of topography on design