Barış Altan M.Sc.

Studied architecture at Istanbul University of Technology and attained his M.Sc. in Restoration at the same university

1999–2003: Member of the editorial team for the publications Architecture in Turkey 2000 and Architecture in Turkey 2004

1998–2000: Work at the History Foundation on various cultural heritage projects

2000, 2002: Worked as a researcher and assistant curator for two exhibitions at the Imperial Ottoman Bank Archives and Research Centre

2008–2010: General Director of the Cultural Awareness Foundation

2010: Activity Coordinator for the Europa Nostra annual congress in Istanbul

2010: Founding secretary general of Europa Nostra Turkey

2010-2013: Cultural heritage surveying projects

2013-2015: Project coordinator for the project LIMEN: Cultural Ports from the Aegean to the Black Sea

2016-2020: Administrative Coordinator at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at of Koç University

2020-2023: Member of the DFG-funded Research Training Group 1913 "Cultural and Technological Significance of Historic Buildings" at BTU

since 2023: Teaching Associate with the Chair in Architectural Conservation at BTU

Barış Altan is a member of ICOMOS Turkey and Europa Nostra.

Focus areas in research and teaching

• Heritage politics
• The restoration practices of the Byzantine monuments in Istanbul
• Heritage activism

Doctoral dissertation (in progress)

Architect Cahide Tamer’s Personal Archive: Approaching Byzantine Heritage of Istanbul through Restoration Practices
Supervisor: Prof. em. Dr. Leo Schmidt, Chair in Architectural Conservation

Journal articles

Altan, Barış. "Heritage Processes Between Democracy and Autocracy / Two Decisions on Hagia Sophia 86 Years Apart", in: Sabine Coady Schäbitz and Svenja Hönig, eds., Heritage and Democracy, Annual Conference of the Working Group on Theory and Education in Architectural Conservation, 3.-6. Oktober 2024 in Coventry, Heidelberg 2025, s. 108-115.

Altan, Barış. Changing Approaches to Turkey’s Byzantine Heritage: The Contexts of the 10^th and the 24^th International Congresses of Byzantine Studies, in: Gönül Bozoğlu, Gary Campbell, Laurajane Smith and Christopher Whitehead (eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Heritage and Politics, Abingdon and New York 2023, pp. 326-345.

Altan, Barış / Ercan, Ayşe. Discovering and Preserving Byzantine Constantinople: Archaeology and Heritage Policies in Istanbul, in: Fiori Emiliano und Trizio Michele (Hg.), Proceedings of the Plenary Sessions of the 24th International Byzantine Studies Congress, Venice 2022, pp. 7–25.

Altan, Barış / A. Ricci. Sustainable Cultural Routes in Istanbul: The Küçükyalı ArkeoPark and its Vicinities, in: Flora Karagianni and Ufuk Kocabaş (eds.), Proceedings of the Symposium on City Ports from the Aegean to the Black Sea, İstanbul 2015, pp. 215–225.

Conference contributions and public lectures

“Who is a democrat, and who is an autocrat? Two decisions on Hagia Sophia 86 years apart", Annual Conference of the Working Group on Theory and Education in Heritage Conservation, 4 October 2024 in Coventry (UK)

“Turkey’s Centennial Struggle with Hagia Sophia: Conservation and Management”, 2nd International Congress on Heritage and Conflict, 12 April 2024 in Granada (Spain)

"Byzantine Archaeology of Istanbul Through a Cultural Heritage Perspective: The Church of St. Polyeuktos, The Theodosian Harbor, The Land Walls“, 29^th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archeologists, 30.08.-02.09.2023 in Belfast (Ireland)

"Considering the Opportunities of ICFA Together with Other Complementary Archives“, Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, 06 January 2023 in New Orleans (USA) / online

"A Century-Long Effort to Protect the Byzantine Heritage of Istanbul“, Koç University - Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, 15 December 2022, online

"A Century-Long Effort to Protect the Byzantine Heritage of Istanbul“, University of Marburg - Christian Archaeology and History of Byzantine Art, 17 November 2022 in Marburg (Germany)

"Discovering and Preserving Byzantine Constantinople: Archaeology and Heritage Policies in Istanbul“, 24^th International Byzantine Studies Congress, 22-27 August 2022 in Venice (Italy)

"Cahide Tamer’s Personal Archive: What Does a Restoration Archive Contain and How Can it be Interpreted?“, Yıldız University of Technology - lecture series on conservation, 21 December 2021, online

Master's theses - Secondary supervision

Kasttet, Imane (2024) Heritage and Conflict: Entanglements and Opportunities: Exploring the Morocco-Algeria Case.
Master's Programme in World Heritage Studies, Brandenburg University of TechnologyCottbus-Senftenberg.
Primary supervision: Dr. phil. Alexandra Skedzuhn, BTU.

Leighner, Hannah (2024) Integration of preventive conservation as a component of sitemanagement in the World Heritage framework: A comparative review of site management and conservation practice and education forthe improvement of heritage site management and preservation.
Master's Programme in World Heritage Studies, Brandenburg University of TechnologyCottbus-Senftenberg.
Primary supervision: Dr. phil. Alexandra Skedzuhn, BTU.

Jeong, Yurim (2024) Building Resilience through Climate Adaptive Reuse of Cultural Heritage: A Conceptual Framework and Its Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches.
Master's Programme in World Heritage Studies, Brandenburg University of TechnologyCottbus-Senftenberg.
Primary supervision: Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Ludger Gailing, BTU..

Obradović, Marija (2024) Preservation of Archaeological Heritage in the Context of Urban Development: Insights from the Belgrade Fortress.
Master's Programme in World Heritage Studies, Brandenburg University of TechnologyCottbus-Senftenberg.
Primary supervision: Dr. Peter Schneider, BTU.