Hayri Dortdivanlioglu

Hayri Dortdivanlıoğlu is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Dartmouth Society of Fellows, affiliated with the Studio Art Department. His scholarship examines the intersection of craft, architecture, and technology, focusing on how established frameworks have historically separated theoretical knowledge from material and embodied processes in architectural discourse. His research critiques the canonical foundations of the architectural discipline, addressing the exclusionary practices that have shaped the field of architecture.

Dortdivanlıoğlu earned his Ph.D. in Architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2024 as a Fulbright Scholar. His current book project, Toward a Woven Theory of Architecture, builds on his doctoral dissertation by broadening the counter-canonical analysis of Vitruvius to examine the role of canonical frameworks in shaping architectural theory and discourse from antiquity to the present. Toward a Woven Theory of Architecture demonstrates how the marginalization of manual labor in Vitruvian theory reflects broader social hierarchies and advocates for a more inclusive model that reconciles intellectual work with the embodied, material processes of making. Building upon the historiographical focus of his book, Dortdivanlıoğlu's work also examines the relationship between architects and their tools, exploring how designers can critically and thoughtfully engage with emerging technologies to enrich architectural practice. Drawing on theories from Science and Technology Studies (STS), he employs weaving both as a metaphor and a method to highlight the interconnectedness of thinking and making in design. His work traces this relationship from ancient weaving practices to the Jacquard loom— an early computer precursor—and extends to contemporary computational design and fabrication technologies. Examining these technological shifts demonstrates how the boundaries between manual and intellectual labor in architecture have been continually mediated and redefined. 

In addition to his scholarship, Dortdivanlıoğlu has taught architectural history and design studios at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, where he received multiple awards for excellence in teaching and service. He co-founded the ConCave Ph.D. Student Group, which supports Ph.D. candidates and fosters an international community of scholars. As chief editor of the Divergence in Architectural Research Journal, he led the journal to win the prestigious Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals in 2023. He currently serves as the Director of Communication for the SAH Architectural Studies Affiliate Group. Prior to his doctoral studies, Dortdivanlıoğlu earned his B.Arch. and M.Arch. from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey, where he graduated with the Excellence in Graduation Award.