Istanbul: dream land; a place where anything is possible.

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The eternal city; capital of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires located at the intersection of flows of people and ideas. Istanbul is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the world and the world’s only megacity located on two continents with 15 million inhabitants. The metropolis, subject to rapid population growth is spreading in all directions. The studio located itself in the central neighbourhood of Tarlabaşı, a primarily low-income,historic and diverse area, known for its Kurdish, Syrian Refugee, Romani,and transgender communities.

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We explored the threat to these marginalised communities, the government’s regeneration renewal law for the Protection of Deteriorated Historic and Cultural Heritage resulting in displaced and removed communities. Strategies of signification & eradication….amplification and subtraction. The studio critiqued the museumification / musealisation of Istanbul at the expense of the complex, mixed up, messy disorder.

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Derived through observation and artistic participation, students developed a narrative describing a speculative proposition which is critical of the current status quo and offers an alternative amplification of evident cultural and social activity. A celebration of being together as strangers’ –throwntogetherness (Massey 2005).