Welcome Aboard, Zeynep Turan
Today, we welcome Zeynep Turan to Village Preservation as our Director of Preservation and Research. Trained as an architect and architectural historian, Zeynep brings scholarly expertise, experience in preservation advocacy, and a strong understanding of the relationship between the built environment and urban life. At Village Preservation, she looks forward to exploring the histories of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, and helping protect the architectural and cultural heritage that makes these neighborhoods distinctive.
Before joining Village Preservation, Zeynep served as Director of Preservation at FRIENDS of the Upper East Side, where she worked on advocacy initiatives and community engagement. She led Preservation Committee meetings, tracked projects through the review process, and prepared testimony for public hearings. To keep residents informed about the work of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), she launched FRIENDS’ “Friends at LPC” e-blast series, covering upcoming hearings and Commission decisions.
Through her writing and photography, Zeynep documented the architecture of the Upper East Side and brought attention to the stories behind its historic buildings. Her work also addressed the loss of affordable housing in Yorkville and how it contributes to the displacement of longtime residents, underscoring the importance of preserving not only historic buildings but also the communities that give neighborhoods their character.
Zeynep’s work in historic preservation extends beyond New York. In 2013, she contributed to an evaluation of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture’s preservation initiatives, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the Historic Cities Program. She developed and analyzed surveys of design professionals and students across several countries and authored reports documenting the preservation conditions of four award-winning historic sites in Türkiye.
As an educator, Zeynep has taught design, architectural history, and urban studies at colleges and universities in New York City, Istanbul, and Philadelphia. Her teaching and research examine how people interact with their surroundings, from individual objects and buildings to public spaces and urban landscapes.
Zeynep holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center, an M.A. in Architectural History from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, and a B.A. in Architecture from Middle East Technical University in Ankara. She moved to New York in 2001, just weeks before September 11, and has since made the city her home. She also serves as Treasurer of the Board of the Victorian Society of New York, which promotes appreciation and preservation of Victorian-era architecture.
Zeynep is especially interested in adaptive reuse and how historic buildings can take on new life as hubs for learning, culture, and community while retaining the architectural details and histories that make them meaningful. “I feel privileged to join Village Preservation and be part of its fearless advocacy work to protect the neighborhoods it represents and their human scale and cultural fabric,” she shared on her first day. “I’m excited to advocate for new historic district designations through research and outreach, and to get more people engaged in how preservation sustains our cities and identities.”
Welcome aboard, Zeynep! She can be reached at zturan@villagepreservation.org.