Since 2008, the Executive Board of the Chamber of Architects Antalya Branch has initiated significant efforts to host the World Architecture Congress—held every three years—in Antalya in 2023, the centennial year of the Republic of Turkey.
To support these efforts, the Branch has been organizing various symposiums, gradually elevating them to an international level each year. Moreover, our Branch has aimed to organize a biennial event in our city—similar to the “Architecture Biennales” held in tourism-centered cities like Venice—every two years.
The intent is for these biennales, held biennially until 2023, to contribute to the organization of the Architecture Congress and to continue existing in the following years as a recurring event.
The biennial aims to create a space where architects, artists, and architecture enthusiasts from our region, our country, and increasingly from around the world can openly share their knowledge, dreams, achievements, challenges, and resistances. It offers an opportunity to explore architectural culture, built environments, cities, and a variety of issues from different perspectives, along with genuine solutions.
Through the international and national platforms it will create, the biennial aims to establish a significant environment for discussion and ideas, with its biannual themes addressing a wide audience. These include architects, designers, planners, academics, artists, politicians, architecture students, city residents, and other participants.
The International Architecture Biennial Antalya (IABA-2011) made history by being Turkey’s first-ever architecture biennial. It was successfully held on October 26–29, 2011, under the leadership of the Chamber of Architects Antalya Branch.
The Second IABA Architecture Biennial will be held in Antalya between September 7 – October 7, 2013, with broader opportunities for international participation.
To revitalize the historic district of Kaleiçi, the biennial venue has been designated to include the Kaleiçi – Marina – Kale Kapısı and Republic Square areas.