Istanbul Design Biennial

With the aim of underlining the importance of design for production, economy, cultural interaction and quality of life, the Istanbul Design Biennial is open to all disciplines of the creative industries in major fields such as urban design, architecture, interior, industrial, graphic, new media and fashion design, as well as their subfields. The biennial aims to explore the products, creative ideas and discourses of the relevant fields and generate interactive relations within the society.

Turkey’s growing role as an economic, political and cultural center has highlighted the importance of innovation and design and encouraged the development of creative industries, particularly in the multicultural metropolis of Istanbul. One of the biennial’s primary objectives, therefore, is to celebrate this creative potential and share it with the international audience in the belief that diverse perspectives and the distinctive design discourse of Istanbul will enrich the global design culture.

The Istanbul Design Biennial primarily aims to raise public awareness with regards to “design” issues, to create a platform that supports the development of design and innovation policies and to support the constitution of a design archive on national and international scale. The biennial exhibitions aim to tackle global design problems by displaying various solutions and reveal the creative potential inherent in this area.

By displaying important examples both from Turkey and abroad, the Istanbul Design Biennial aims to discuss the notion of design and introduce different tendencies, movements and progressive thoughts to the audience. The biennial does not only intend to be an event that brings together a variety of activities lasting for two months, but also seeks to ensure long-term developments in social and cultural fields and to create an ongoing process with its yearlong activities.

Curators

Internationally renowned architectural historian and theorist Beatriz Colomina is Professor of Architecture and Founding Director of the Program in Media and Modernity at Princeton University. Her books include Manifesto Architecture: The Ghost of Mies (Sternberg Press, 2014), Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X-197X (2010), Domesticity at War (2007), Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media (1994) and Sexuality and Space (1992). She is curator with a team of Princeton Ph.D. students of the exhibitions Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X-197X (which opened at Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, 2006 and has travelled to 11 venues worldwide), Playboy Architecture, 1953–79 (which opened at NAi Maastricht, 2012 and was at the DAM (Deutsche Architektur Museum) in Frankfurt in 2014, and Radical Pedagogies: Architectural Education in a Time of Disciplinary Instability (Lisbon Triennale, 2013 and Venice Biennale 2014).

Architectural theorist, critic, and historian from New Zealand based in New York, Mark Wigley is Professor and Dean Emeritus of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. The author of The Architecture of Deconstruction: Derrida’s Haunt (1993), White Walls, Designer Dresses: The Fashioning of Modern Architecture (1995), and Constant’s New Babylon: The Hyper-Architecture of Desire (1998), he coedited, with Catherine de Zegher, The Activist Drawing: Retracing Situationist Architectures from Constant’s New Babylon to Beyond (2001) and was one of the founders of Volume magazine. He has curated exhibitions at the MoMA in New York, the Witte de With in Rotterdam, The Drawing Center in New York, and the CCA in Montreal. His forthcoming book is Buckminster Fuller Inc.: Architecture in the Age of Radio.

Graphic Design

Pemra Ataç Açıktan was born in Eskişehir. She finished Anadolu University Fine Arts Faculty Graphic Design Department. After working as an art director in Y&R/Reklamevi, Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe / Y&R London and Alametifarika, she worked as a creative director in TBWA\Istanbul. She was awarded “Eczacıbaşı Foundation, Young Designer of the Year” twice. She founded her own design agency, Daniska in 2008. Moreover, she is Managing Creative Director of Rabarba since 2013. She is honoured by tens of awards from many platforms such as Turkish Graphic Designers Association and Crystal Apple. She was listed as one of the 15 women who made a change in Turkey in “Women to Watch” organised by Advertising Age all over the world in 2014. She focuses on fields such as brand name, brand strategy, emblem, logo, poster, packaging, book, press release, commercial film and interactive design.

Yetkin Başarır is a multi-disciplinary designer living and working in Istanbul, and is currently a creative director at I-AM design agency. Başarır was recently honoured with 2011 Turkish Industry and Business Association Logo Design Award and was selected as a jury member for the Exhibition of Graphic Products in 2004. Başarır’s photographs were exhibited in such exhibitions as Edisyon, Istanbul (2010); …için Sanat, Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Centre, Istanbul (2005); and IFA Galleries in Stuttgart and Berlin (2004). Selected design works include Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture identity design, the Kent typeface for Istanbul city identification system (2006), except for his innumerable book and exhibition catalogue designs. Başarır has recently designed the comprehensive “Contemporary Art in Turkey 1986-2006” authored by Halil Altındere and Süreyyya Evren. Başarır was the co-founder of design and consultancy company Pakt and independent artists’ gallery Edisyon among others.

After graduating from the Anatolian Highschool of Fine Arts, Özge Güven went on to study Graphic Design at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts completing both a Bachelor and Masters degree. During this time she also took part in a placement program with Ontwerpwerk Multidisciplinary in their Graphic Design department. Özge has previously worked at Emre Senan Design and Consultancy, where she worked alongside Emre Senan for both their clients and the Yahşibey Design Workshops. During this time Özge also worked as a freelance designer for her own clients, and occasionally collaborated with other designers on special projects. At İletişim Publishing Özge created a new brand identity for the company and also designed various book covers. Additionally she has worked at Serdar Benli Design Studio, MAT Design and Lava Design Amsterdam and is currently working as an Art Director at TBWA\Istanbul. Özge’s work has garnered awards from the Association of Turkish Graphic Designers, European Design Awards, Crystal Apple, Kırmızı Best in Print, MediaCat Felis and EPICA, and has been shortlisted at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Okay Karadayılar was born in Bursa in 1983 and graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University’s Visual Communication Design Department. He co-founded İmkanmekan, a thought platform for design in/of public space; Bandrolsüz, a collective of independent artist book publishers, and Book Lab, an annual book design event. He has been working independently, mostly in the cultural field and he values sincerity above all in every branch of communication.

Sarp Sözdinler was born in 1989, in Izmir and studied Computer Engineering at Bahcesehir University and later, Graphic Design at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna and Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts. Sözdinler worked and lived in Belgium, Italy, Vienna and Istanbul. After various jobs at studios such as Base Design in Brussels, VtwoB in Modena, and working with designers such as Bülent Erkmen, Mehmet Ali Türkmen, Haluk Tuncay, Pemra Ataç Açıktan and Aslı Altay in Turkey, he founded his solo design studio in May 2014. Having worked for clients such as Olympic Museum in Lausanne, de Singel Arts Campus in Antwerp, Xavier Hufkens Gallery in Brussels, Ministry of Sound in London, and the likes of Mamut Art Project, Istanbul Modern, SALT, Borusan Music Centre, Art International, Contemporary Istanbul, Pozitif Live, SAHA, and with Semih Kaplanoglu in Istanbul, he is now heading to New York City to work for the design studio, Sagmeister&Walsh.

Exhibition Design

Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation is a Madrid and New York based architectural practice that explores the role of architecture in the making of societies at the intersection of design and politics. They are the makers of ‘COSMO, MoMA PS1’, ‘Plasencia Clergy House’, ‘House in Never Never Land’, ‘IKEA Disobedients’, ‘TUPPER HOME’, ‘PHANTOM. Mies as Rendered Society’ and ‘ESCARAVOX’. Their work is part of the MoMA collection and has been exhibited at the MAK in Vienna, Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Design Museum in London. Andrés Jaque (architect, ETSAM, 1997; Heinrich Tessenow Stipendiat, 1998-99) is Professor of Advanced Architectural Design at the Columbia University GSAPP and Visiting Professor at Princeton University SoA. His work has been extensively published in a great range of diverse media including A+U, Domus, El Croquis, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Volume and Wired.

Assistant Curator

Evangelos Kotsioris is an architect and architectural historian whose research interests center on the intersections of architecture with science, technology and media. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation at Princeton School of Architecture. Kotsioris graduated with first class honours from the School of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2009) and earned his post-professional Master in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2011). Previously, he had worked at OMA-AMO in Rotterdam (2007-08). He has taught at Princeton SoA and A&A, Harvard GSD, Boston Architectural College and The Cooper Union. He is co-curator of the ongoing collaborative research project Radical Pedagogies, which was awarded a Special Mention at the 14th Venice Biennale of Architecture (2014). Kotsioris’ writing has appeared in The Architectural Review, New Geographies, Volume, Conditions, On Site and Pidgin among others. His design work has been featured in exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2006), the World Triennial of Architecture (2009), the 6th Biennale of Young Greek Architects (2010), GREAT 2013 (2013) and in publications such as GSD Platform, Conditions, Frame and Mark.

Social Media Content Advisor

Iván López Munuera is a contemporary art and architecture critic and curator, and a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Theory of Architecture at Princeton University. He explores the inscription of contemporary art in the critical context of the social sciences and mass media studies. He worked as a curator, and held positions of documentation and management in institutions like Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, ACAX (Agency for Contemporary Art Exchange), Ludwig Museum, CA2M, Matadero Madrid, ARCO, MAPFRE Foundation, Comunidad de Madrid, Fundació Suñol, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo or Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales. He has curated, among other exhibitions, The Dark Side Of The Party, Festival SOS4.8, 2015; Fan Riots, Festival SOS4.8, 2014; Pop Politics: Activisms at 33 Revolutions, CA2M, 2012-13; El Ranchito, Matadero, 2010-12; Circuitos MMX, Comunidad de Madrid, 2010; Los Esquizos de Madrid, MNCARS, 2009; Fundació Suñol, 2009; and CAAC, 2010.

About IKSV

Istanbul Design Biennial is organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV).

Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV)

Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) is a non-profit cultural institution that was founded in 1973. The general objectives of the Foundation are: to make Istanbul one of the world’s foremost capitals of culture and the arts; to create continuous interaction between national and universal values and traditional and contemporary values via culture and the arts; and to contribute actively to the development of cultural policies.

IKSV was organising a single Istanbul Festival in the 70s, a festival that presented examples of different cultural and artistic disciplines. Over time, groups of events from different disciplines evolved into distinct festivals and biennials. Today IKSV organises the Istanbul Festivals of Music, Film, Theatre and Jazz, as well as the Istanbul Biennial, the Istanbul Design Biennial, Leyla Gencer Voice Competition, autumn film week Filmekimi and one-off events throughout the year. The Foundation hosts cultural and artistic events at its performance venue Salon, located at the Nejat Eczacıbaşı Building. IKSV also organises the Pavilion of Turkey at la Biennale di Venezia and coordinates an artist residency programme at Cité International des Arts, France. Furthermore, IKSV conducts studies and drafts reports with the aim of contributing to cultural policy development.

www.iksv.org