UMUT ŞUMNU
BAŞKENT UNIVERSITY
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umut Şumnu completed his undergraduate education in 2000 at Bilkent University, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. He received his master's degree with his thesis titled “1912 Galata Bridge as a Site of Collective Memory” and he received his doctorate degree with the dissertation titled “Between Being and Becoming: Identity, Question of Foreignness and the Case of the Turkish House”. Both postgraduate studies have been published as books.
He served as a member of the central board of directors of TMMOB Chamber of Interior Architects between 2012-2014 and carried out the publication activities of the institution: İçmimar (Interior Architect) magazine's issues of 23-35. He recently published a book titled “Architects and Apartments: Examples from Housing / Housing Culture in Ankara” from Kitabevi Publications.
He worked as a researcher in the “Civil Architecture Memory Project in Ankara” between 2012-2015. He is one of the coordinators of the ongoing project named Architects Who Left Traces on Ankara. He is one of the founders and members of the committee of DOCOMOMO Modern interior in Turkey which was established for the purpose of documentation and preservation modern interiors.
He still works as a faculty member at Başkent University and as part-time instructor at TOBB University of Economics and Technology. In addition to the taught courses such as the Design Studio, History and Design of Furniture, Spatial Culture, Architecture and Philosophy, Theory and Criticism in Architecture, he has many translations, catalog texts, interior architecture practices, exhibitions and video performances.