One of the world's leading architecture events, the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia will take place on 26 May-25 November, 2018. Following an open-call and a two-stage evaluation, the Selection Committee has determined the project that will be exhibited at the Pavilion of Turkey, under the coordination of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts.
Vardiya / The Shift, curated by Kerem Piker, will be presented at the Pavilion of Turkey, in the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia. The project has a promise of a broader participation and Cansu Cürgen, Yelta Köm, Nizam Onur Sönmez, Yağız Söylev and Erdem Tüzün are taking part as assistant curators in the project.
The project proposes a spatial organisation for meeting, encountering and architectural production. Departing from the biennale's theme Freespace, the Pavilion of Turkey welcomes architecture students, who will be hosted by İKSV in shifts, throughout the Biennale Architettura. Following an international open call, undergraduate and graduate students of architecture will be expected to visit the biennale, participate in the designated workshop programmes and contribute to architectural production with using various media. The exhibition content is expected to derive and flourish from this programme of workshops, performances and the participants' individual contributions in situ, as well.
The Pavilion of Turkey exhibition is coordinated by İKSV, and realised under the co-sponsorship of Schüco Turkey and VitrA, and the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey.The Pavilion of Turkey opened at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia in 2014 for the first time, upon a 20-year allotment of the Arsenale with İKSV's initiation and the contribution of 21 supporters.
The Selection Committee for the Pavilion of Turkey at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia
The Selection Committee chose Vardiya project among the applications made in response to an open-call, after a series of evaluation meetings. The Committee's members are Prof. Dr. Sibel Bozdoğan, Levent Çalıkoğlu, Prof. Dr. Arzu Erdem, Prof. Dr. Murat Güvenç, Yeşim Hatırlı, Prof. Dr. Süha Özkan and Prof. Dr. Uğur Tanyeli.
The application process ended on 4 August, leaving 31 eligible projects to Committee's evaluation. Vardiya was chosen among the 3 projects that made their way to the final round completed on Friday, 22 September.
The three projects that passed to the second stage of the selection process all had different and unique positive qualities. For representing Turkey at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia, the Committee selected Vardiya, a project by Kerem Piker, due to its competent and authentic spatial construction, and its dynamic and interactive process design that held a promise to change through time and to allow international participation.
Details regarding the Pavilion of Turkey at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia and Vardiya project will be announced in 2018.
KEREM PIKER, curator
Kerem Piker was born in Ankara in 1978. He received his BArch degree in Architecture in 2001 at Istanbul Technical University and his MArch degree in 2004 at TU Delft. In 2010, he was awarded as one of "The Best 40 Architects Under The Age Of 40 in Europe" by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design . He is the winner of many architectural competitions both nationaly and internationaly. In 2016, his design of Akyazı Cultural Center project was awarded by XVth National Architecture Awards, in the category of "Design". Since 1998, Kerem Piker has taught in architecture schools as a visiting lecturer and juror, including İstanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University, Gebze Institute of Technology, Bilgi University and Kültür University. Kerem Piker is the founder of KPM-Kerem Piker Mimarlık, architectural studio.
CANSU CÜRGEN, assistant curator
Architect and scholar. She works in İstanbul Bilgi University and pursues her PhD degree in Istanbul Technical University. Her specific topics of interest are the culture of daily life, open design practices and architectural debates on regulating principles.
YELTA KÖM, assistant curator
Architect, researcher. He has graduated from Städelschule Architecture Class. He lives and produces in Berlin and Istanbul. He is one of the co-founder of the organisation Architecture for All, based in Istanbul. His research areas includes commoning practices, landforms and spatial practices in conflict areas.
NIZAM ONUR SÖNMEZ, assistant curator
Architect and academician. He lives in Istanbul, Turkey and works at Istanbul Technical University. He is also a member of the "off-center". His research topics include artificial intelligence for design, utopian / visionary / narrative architectures, and personal identity.
YAĞIZ SÖYLEV, assistant curator
Architect. He received his BArch degree in Architecture at Istanbul Technical University in 2014. He lives in Rotterdam, works at TU Delft while continuing his graduate studies. He is interested in common spaces.
ERDEM TÜZÜN, assistant curator
Architect. He lives in New York and works with Eisenman Architects. He is a co-founder of Architecture for All, and independent architecture organization based in Istanbul. He received his BArch degree in Architecture at Istanbul Technical University and MS Arch degree at Pratt Institute. He was presented with the National Architecture Award in Turkey in 2016 with his Giant Machine project.
