The Physician's Garden of Dreams

15 years ago, Prof. Dr. Serdar Öztezcan started to recreate model trains and the places they pass through, creating a dream garden of about 20 square meters in his home. About his hobby of diorama, Prof. Dr. Öztezcan says, "We doctors have a stressful work life. When I come here, the topics in my head change."

Prof. Dr. Serdar Öztezcan, Dean of Yeditepe University Faculty of Health Sciences and Head of Clinical Biochemistry Department of Yeditepe University Hospital. He is also a diorama enthusiast. Diorama means that a real or fictional event, moment or story is modeled in three dimensions with the help of light plays.

Having met this hobby with the gift of a relative's diorama, Prof. Dr. Öztezcan was not content with this small start, he added a new composition every day. During his travels abroad, he processed the pieces he found in the shops in Kadıköy and other materials such as foam, bark, plaster, paint and created sections from both nature, city, and villages. The areas animated in the diorama that all objects are 1 in 87 of reality are managed by their electrical and electronic circuits.

There is Even A Concert

In Öztezcan's diorama, there are many compositions such as railway tracks and stations, as well as mountains, waterfalls, bridges, viaducts, passages, sea and beach, forests, lake, ski resort, port, brewery, taxi station, bus station, market place, stud farm, football and tennis match, fire and intervening firefight, wedding, concert, amusement park, camp, hotels, paragliding, dance floor, film plateau, demonstrators and police intervention. A different detail stands out in each section. With the light of the diorama, it can be adjusted day and night, accompanied by sound effects such as birds and insects. For example, songs play in the concert area with light plays.

Good for Stress

Öztezcan, who continues to build his diorama, explains that his hobby, which he spent long hours on, relaxes him: “Progressing step by step. This place relaxes me. I do not see myself a collector, but I have 20 trains, 100 small cars. I've reserved a room in my house for this. We doctors have a stressful and busy work life. When I get there, things change in my head.”

Stating that the materials related to dioramas are mostly found in Germany, Öztezcan also added: “There are also shops in Turkey that occasionally bring these materials. But most of the supplies I get when I go abroad, especially from Germany. I either imagine and find the pieces first, or I design them according to the pieces I find.”

A Project for Children

On the other hand, Öztezcan received an honorable mention at the 7 Hill 7 Idea Competition held at Yeditepe University last year with the diorama project titled "Two Dimension Teaches, Three Dimension Develops".