Armenian Architects of Istanbul in the Era of Westernization exhibition conducted with collaboration of the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, Hrant Dink Foundation and HAYCAR, opened on 8th of December and on 14th of December 2010 with a panel discussion was held at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. Hasan Kuruyazıcı from Bahcesehir University, who has conducted the Project, moderated the discussion whose panelists were Prof. Edhem Eldem from Bogazici University, Prof. Dr. Afife Batur from Istanbul Technical University, Dr. Ahmet Ersoy from Bogazici University and Dr. Elmon Hançer.

After the opening speech, the moderator Hasan Kuruyazıcı gave the floor to Edhem Eldem. In his speech, Eldem said that erasing the differences may lead to assimilation and it is problematic to talk about the Armenians as people only building palaces, houses and doing music. Eldem also talked about the problematic of document fetishism and emphasized the flaw with the arguments.

Prof. Afife Batur explained that while dealing with the architectural structures, she does not look at the ethnic origins of the architects; whether they are Armenian, Greek, Italian, Levanten, etc. She looks at the structure itself and she adopts a methodology based on observation, not based on speculation. Batur said that she has been working on the Balyan Family for 35 years and the ethnic origin of the family was never her concern; to her, Balyans had very important architectural characteristics. She argued that the Balyan architecture uses the local and traditional elements and showed the Dolmabahce Palace as an example. For this reason, she looks at the Balyan Family not as a member of an ethnic group but as an example of the Ottoman Architecture. She also talked about the reasons why the 19th architecture should be studied.

´The perception of architecture in the Ottoman Empire´ was one of the topics that were discussed. Afife Batur explained that there was no significant distinction between an architect and a contractor in the 19th century; people who were the contractors were also the designers of the structures.

The comments of Batur brought to mind the arguments of the art historian Selman Can; Can previously argued that the Balyan Family was like today´s contractors and worked like a contractor company and make advertisements abroad.

As the third speaker, art historian Elmon Hançer informed the audience about the church architecture and the historical development of the church architecture as well as the history of the Armenian Church.

Dr. Ahmet Ersoy talked about the necessity of writing history with different perspectives and multiple layers, and said that what is understood when talking about the Ottoman architecture and who was called an architect should be questioned.

Moreover, the use of the term ´foreman´ (kalfa) in architecture and its meaning was discussed. The panel discussion ended with panelists answering the questions of the audience.