Elif Merve Unsal - United States

Since September 15, 2017

Elif Merve Unsal has been appointed as the United States' Country Reporter, as part of the WAC's Country Editors/Reporters program. Elif has a very well-organized writing style on contemporary projects and general news coverage. She knows very well what is newsworthy on WAC. Elif has an ability to select a good and fresh project that tells something new in architecture and design. She has learned fast and developed herself in detailed Reporting and her articles never needed any major editing since her acceptance to the program. Elif's most popular article Framlab Designed Honeycomb-Shaped "Homed" To Give Shelter To New York's Homeless has reached over 5,161 at the time of this article.

"On today’s architecture platforms, not all the stories can identify themselves as for a community because the interests vary as the populations getting larger, so as a Reporter, in the process of finding the right story, this encourages you to learn new ways to capture architecture world’s attention on different issues of importance to many different communities," Elif added.

Elif holds her Bachelor's degree from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey and completed her Master's degree at Columbia University (GSAPP) in US, she has a great interest in architecture & urban related issues and perspectives of design in various scales. She is always interested in sharing her critical insights on specific fields.

"The main reason for applying to become a Country Reporter on WAC, beside my dedicated career to architecture, is to share my enthusiasm about the built environment of the country that I am living from my perspective. What that means is, a way of bringing light to a tiny local story I found significant, which may not be considered worldwide important to be taken place at architecture platforms, as well as the important issues or events happens in the country in a more focused way," Elif told World Architecture Community.

"Meanwhile, WAC supports you to write really accurate and quality content that could be done in a vastly flexible time and working environment, which urges you to write willingly. I think it would be nice to read the contents of other Reporters with whom you live in the same environment as a Country Editor, and to take new tasks to push your country page in a better content."

"Over time, I believe WAC’s great initiative will be more interested by encouraging readers and public figures in architecture to actively participate in the process of writing stories and ask for their feedbacks which I personally do by sharing with my family and friends. Even though I find all the stories quite intriguing, I would especially like to read stories on Mexico and UK’s page," Elif concluded.

You can follow Elif on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and her personal website. 

If you also want to be part of our volunteer reporters and become "the voice of your country on WAC while being the face of WAC in your country", please send your motivation message and your CV to [email protected]. We also accept more than one reporter by country.

Top image courtesy of Elif Merve Unsal