Ipragaz is a subregion in Batman that covers three neighbourhoods with official names: Cudi, Petrol, and Bayindir. The region is only one of the new settlement areas that emerged as a result of rapid, intense internal migration caused by political conflicts and the industrialization process in the Kurdish provinces after the 60s. These neighbourhoods are particularly important because they have been a transition area for the Kurds in their adaptation process from rural life to urban life. They consist of extremely low-budget housing units that were built based on the traditional knowledge and experience of families and construction workers, rather than with professional knowledge of architecture and urbanism.
Thus, immigrant families in effect transposed their cultural codes, consumption habits, and daily lifestyles to the urban fabric in these regions. This saw the emergence of a unique aesthetic in these settlements, which turned into places of social and urban memory where many cultural elements from different regions were gathered and blended. Therefore, academic and artistic studies on such neighbourhoods will play a crucial role in correctly understanding the cultural, social, economic, and political values seen in today’s Kurdish societies. In this context, the project “Ipragaz, A Neighbourhood Expands Inward” investigates the unique aesthetics that emerged in this neighbourhood.