The theme of “Continuity” was chosen for IABA 2017. As in previous editions, the experimental architectural works produced within the scope of the biennial met the public in open urban spaces, this time offering a critical perspective on how the concepts of ecology and sustainability, now popularized across disciplines, reduce architecture to purely technological apparatus.
The 4th International Architecture Biennial of Antalya was held between September 22 – October 13, 2017, curated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ebru Erdönmez and Architect Alişan Çırakoğlu, under the theme of “Continuity.” The biennial, chaired by Prof. Dr. Abdi Güzer, is organized by the Chamber of Architects Antalya Branch.
As Turkey’s first architecture biennial, the event was first held in 2011 and has explored the following themes in previous editions:
2011: Intersection, curated by Prof. Dr. Tülin Görgülü
2013: Template, curated by Prof. Dr. Abdi Güzer
2015: Rethinking the Future, curated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tansel Korkmaz
This year’s theme, “Continuity,” was introduced in the curatorial statement as follows:
“The increasingly emphasized notion of ‘sustainability’ across nearly all fields represents both an environmental and cultural awareness, and at the same time, a newly legitimized field of consumption. In contrast, the concept of ‘continuity,’ which is closely related to sustainability, emerges with less distortion by daily culture and maintains a direct relationship with design, architecture, and urbanization. Global culture tends to ignore local sensitivities, turning them into consumer goods, and breaks the essential continuity that should exist between concepts shaping architecture—such as history, culture, climate, tradition, topography, material, and belonging—and the built environment. In today’s context, where eclectic constructions and arbitrary urban transformations are legitimized, readdressing the notion of continuity within interdisciplinary frameworks is of vital importance. In this sense, continuity refers to an enhanced contextual sensitivity, and a preserved or renewed consciousness of environment, culture, and history.”
Main Exhibition: Experimental Architecture Works
Location: Karaalioğlu Park, Antalya – Public outdoor spaces
The exhibition’s presence in public space offered a meaningful setting where architectural production met the urban public through diverse conceptual frameworks.
Just Awesome (Âdeta Mükemmel)
Burak Haznedar, Büşra Koçak, Ufuk Polat
By exploring hidden states of the built environment through a ‘new historicism’, the project aims to create future processes of “yet-to-be-achieved perfection.”
Mediterranean Triangle (Akdeniz Üçgeni)
Oral Göktaş, Sevince Bayrak and team
A wooden structure installed between two trees to experience the spatial power of shadow—engaging people with sunlight, sky, and scenery.
alve0sis: Animat
Nilüfer Kozikoğlu and project team
An experimental process combining sawdust and mycelium into a porous structure, resembling a giant root or creature’s bone, questioning organic architectural systems.
Tide (Gel-Git)
Sacit Arda Karaatlı, Lebriz Atan Karaatlı
A structure derived from abstracted tree forms in the park, interpreting the theme of continuity through spatial patterns based on continuous thread movement.
In Pursuit of Cultural Continuity – Rural Landscape Explorations / Aegean Region
Coordinated by Meltem Erdem Kaya
A field research project analyzing the unique structures of rural settlements through their landscape identity.
Cube (Küp)
Funda Alyanak Kaya, Kürşad Kaya, Ayça Yasinci, Ceyhun Dirik
A spatial volume designed to offer an interactive experience around the themes of water and continuity, open to multiple perceptions.
LOCAL V2.0 (YEREL 2.0)
Selçuk Kişmir, N. Gökçe Tüfekçi
An installation exploring the relationship between global and local building actors through a double-layered matrix.
Motion in the Shell (Kabuktaki Hareket)
Melike Altınışık and team
An architectural investigation blending natural learning and digital technologies, questioning the relationship between memory and continuity in design.
Commun-Action Walls (Komün-aksiyon Duvarlar)
Fulya Özsel Akipek, Tuğrul Yazar and team
A participatory urban garden wall that supports the growth of edible plants. The redesign of the wall brings together collective production and the concept of continuity in architecture.