VIRTUAL: Learning. Life. Work.
Abstract
Having somewhat exhausted the “computational turn” and on the verge of the “AI turn”, basic design education needs to be reformulated based on models that integrate the learnings of traditional and computational design methods – and those of experimental problem-solving and formal design logic. As a collective at the intersection of academia and practice, our intention is to present the outlines of a basic design studio, conducted at XXXX XXXX University, addressing this reorientation from the cross-disciplinary viewpoint of interiority. Taking the interior as both a container of objects (conventionally associated with the realm of industrial design) and contained by a building (the architectural object par excellence), TRANS- studio emphasized the inner workings of and the transitions between bodies, objects, and enclosures. Moving between part-whole dynamics and micro-macro scales, it challenged traditional understandings of objects, viewing them as hybrid configurations with emergent fields of objecthood within a field of forces rather than as self-contained entities. Inspired by interior design’s reliance on “the given”, we promoted design as invention always rooted in analysis, situated within natural, man-made, and social ecosystems. Engaging students through a series of sequential assignments in rule-based design, pattern generation, and transformation, the program revolved around three procedural themes (translation, generation, growth) relevant to systems-building. Placing intimacy at the center as means of inhabiting the threshold between various dualistically conceptualized realms, the curriculum unfolded as a dual inquiry, a “both/and” approach to all aspects of design (analog/digital, concrete/abstract, fabrication/representation, embodied/cognitive, etc.). It also emphasized continuity, where each assignment built upon the previous, with the students’ agency and command over their process being as significant as the final product.
V. Şafak Uysal teaches basic design and architectural/interior design studios as well as diverse theoretical courses on vision & visuality, theories of interiority, spatial narratives, and the history of ideas. His research interests include critical theory, architectural phenomenology, design education, body-space relationship, and the role of architecture in the construction of historical knowledge and experience.
Currently a PhD student at Istanbul Technical University and a research assistant at Istanbul Bilgi University, Büşra Balaban is a researcher/architect working with critical and interdisciplinary methods. Her research interests focus on feminist theories, mapping practices, and film-making/-viewing practices.
An interior architect pursuing a PhD at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Burçin Savaş is engaged in new models for design education, focusing on the interplay between music, film, stage design, and architecture. Her research encompasses music visualization, sensory perception, light, color, movement, and atmosphere.
Gonca Hande Şahin is a researcher/architect, with a PhD focused on traditional Japanese zen gardens, Ryoanji stone garden, its stones, and their composition. She is the co-founder and co-owner of a design studio based in Bursa.;
Hasan Gökbora has a master’s in architectural design computing and teaches geometry, computing, representation, and fabrication in design. His research interests are novel design methods, digital design tools/interfaces, animated representations, and body & space.
Özgür Kavurmacıoğlu is a researcher/experimental designer with a PhD on “Motion and Time-based Algorithmic Modeling in Architectural Design: Mathematical Curves under the Influence of Natural Phenomena”.
Pelin Alkan Gökmen is an interior architect with professional experience in exhibition design. She completed her master’s in Domus Academy and Kadir Has University combining practice and research on exhibition, representation, narrative, and cultural heritage.
Sıla Bozdeveci is a researcher/architect interested in ethics, critical spatial approaches, collective becomings, and science fiction. She received a transdisciplinary education and worked for international offices. Having finished her postgraduate studies at Istanbul Bilgi University, she now lives and works in London, and is part of the BAK Fellowship for Situated Practice.
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Monday 10th June, 2024