Placemaking installations revealed across Istanbul
Global Design Forum İstanbul, Placemaking Installation
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Designers and architects reconsider the relationship between the human body and architecture through the notions of transience and permanence.
Part of the Forum’s Placemaking programme are 7 public installations sitting within the curatorial framework Praise of Transience by Artistic Director Melek Zeynep Bulut.
Together, the installations consider the structure not as an object resistant to time, but as an organism that works with time and accompanies the body.
Yakîn
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Yakîn explores the idea of space through the lens of Islamic mysticism. Instead of seeing space as something purely physical, the installation invites us to think of it as something that exists within us. In this view, space is not just defined by walls or boundaries, but by human experience, with the individual as the ultimate space where all possibilities exist.
At the centre of Yakîn is the idea of the human self as layered and evolving. Flowing silk curtains represent these layers, moving between two states: the busy, ever-changing energy of the city, and a quiet, deeper sense of inner unity. As visitors move through the installation, the curtains shift - light and animated at the edges, then gradually becoming still and dense toward the centre.
Walking through these layers becomes a journey inward. As visitors pass through the soft, moving fabric and reach the calm core, they are invited to reflect on a more essential idea of space - one that is not physical, but personal, infinite and deeply connected to the self.
Designers: YAKIN Kolektif, Dr. Nil Aynalı (Marmara University, Architecture and Design Faculty), Furkan Türkyılmaz, Muhammed Arif Aksu
Architecture Department students: Ahmet Selim Avsallı, Bennu Yorulmaz, Ceren Gül, Melda Köse, Melek Nur Öztürk, Mustafa Burak Yırıkoğulları
Venue: Topkapı Palace Complex
Dates: 13 May - 7 June 2026
Oblique Land
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Oblique Land is a site-specific installation created for the Bosphorus-facing grounds of Kabataş High School. It rethinks how we move through and experience space, using a sloped surface to create a new connection between people and the city. Rather than being a staircase or a flat platform, the structure sits somewhere in between. Its angled surface encourages visitors to move differently, shifting their balance and perspective as they engage with the view. In doing so, it recalls the historic hills overlooking the Bosphorus and invites people to reconnect with this shared urban landscape.
The installation challenges the idea of the ground as something passive. Instead, it turns it into an active element that guides movement, shapes how we look, and makes us more aware of our own bodies in space.
Oblique Land also functions as a flexible public space. It can be used for sitting, gathering, or simply observing the view, offering a new and unexpected vantage point over the Bosphorus. It becomes a meeting point between the individual, the city and its landscape.
Designer: Alper Derinboğaz & Salon Architects
Team: Rumeysa Karacuha, Ece Akbay, Selen Tüzün, Belinay Parmak
Venue: Kabataş High School, Bosphorus
Dates: 13 May - 7 June 2026
Wall | Tribune | Gate
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Located along the entrance axis of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Wall / Tribune / Gate is designed as a temporary installation that reflects on İstanbul’s layered history and urban form. The installation takes inspiration from the ancient Hippodrome, once one of the city’s most important public spaces during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Specifically, it references the tribune (sphendone), much of which now lies hidden beneath today’s ground level. The design draws directly from archaeological measurements, grounding the structure in the site’s history rather than treating it as a purely contemporary object.
By lifting visitors slightly above ground, the installation creates a new way of seeing the surrounding architecture, including the façade of Ibrahim Pasha Palace. In doing so, it brings back a sense of the area’s former scale and importance, turning history into a physical experience. At its centre, a gap between the seating elements forms a visual and spatial opening aligned with the museum’s exit.
This feature works both as a frame for movement and as a subtle reference to the entrances and exits of ancient arenas. At the same time, the installation acts like a low wall or tribune, offering a place to sit, gather, and observe. Lightweight and temporary in structure, Wall / Tribune / Gate connects past and present, using simple architectural gestures to reveal the hidden layers of the city.
Designers: Ali Derya Dostoğlu & Uğur Özer
Team: Berrin Sezer, Samet Şahin, Uğur Sağlam, Statik Danışmanlık, Mithat Bora Bulut, Tayfur Somer Tasarım Atölyesi
Venue: Topkapı Palace
Dates: 13 May - 7 June 2026
