Shaping Design Futures
Day Two at Global Design Forum İstanbul
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Four days of thought-provoking dialogue have shaped the opening chapter of Global Design Forum İstanbul and established a framework for future editions.
Developed by Forum Content Advisor Beatrice Galilee around the theme Worlds in Contact, the two-day talks programme examined how design responds when material, political and bodily worlds collide. Across keynote talks, panel discussions and in-conversations, the programme brought together international and local voices to examine sustainability, technology, authorship, identity, craft, institutional power and the role of public space in a changing world.
"Worlds in Contact revealed just how many divergent, yet deeply interconnected, ways there are to see and work with the world today. Speakers travelled to be with us in İstanbul from contexts that ranged from the museums and art being forged in the desert of Doha to Thailand’s elephant sanctuaries, from Uzbekistan’s Aral sea to major new institutions in Shenzhen. We saw a vision for a city of 8 billion people, as well as hearing from leaders on placemaking in İstanbul, London, Lisbon and Jeddah today. We watched the thoughtful, intertwined, community, art, ecological and pedagogical practices taking place in Athens, Dhaka, Mexico and Accra. It was an extraordinary few days of exchange and generosity, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone involved who made it possible."
Beatrice Galilee, Global Design Forum İstanbul Forum Content Advisor
The core talks programme took place at Hagia Irene, within the Topkapı Palace complex, where The Red Room by NUN Architecture, Celâleddin Çelik and People Places Ideas transformed the historic atrium into a temporary forum setting.
"The Global Design Forum İstanbul has emerged as a landmark international convergence, crowning the city’s multi-layered cultural tapestry with a profound design consciousness. İstanbul is inherently suited to play host to the dialogues and encounters that shape the trajectory of creative industries. Within this expansive vision, we must continuously bridge our manufacturing prowess and technical ingenuity with design, while seamlessly projecting these endeavors onto our international stakeholders."
Celâleddin Çelik, Global Design Forum İstanbul Architectural Advisor
Day Two Highlights
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Opening the second day, Prem Krishnamurthy’s meditative performance Zero to One introduced a quieter and more introspective atmosphere before the Forum turned towards systems of intelligence, computation and automation in Worlds in Code. Bringing together Melike Altınışık, Roland Lamb, Ahmad Angawi, Suhair Khan, Mehmet Mehmetalioğlu and Özlem Yalım, the session explored how machine learning, computational infrastructures and invisible digital systems are reshaping contemporary life. Rather than asking whether AI will transform design, the discussion questioned who will ultimately shape the political, ethical and economic conditions embedded within these technologies.
"It was thrilling to share my meditation Zero to One at this new event, which showcased global design changemakers who are pushing at the boundaries of their respective fields. Hopefully this conference will become a standard stop for designers looking for inspiration on how to transform our world." – Prem Krishnamurthy
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Themes of sustainability and material responsibility emerged forcefully in Nothing New Under the Sun, where Olaf Grawert, Ma Yansong, Andrew Waugh, Han Tümertekin and Prof. Dr. Lale Özgenel argued that the most radical design act today may not be creating something new but learning how to work intelligently with what already exists. Through discussions of adaptive reuse, anti-demolition architecture and industrial ethics, the session challenged the culture of endless production that continues to dominate both architecture and design industries globally.
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A major highlight of the Forum was the conversation between Professor Lesley Lokko OBE and Beatrice Galilee. One of the most important voices in architecture today, Lokko addressed the colonial structures embedded within architectural education and practice, arguing for a more inclusive and critically self-aware discipline capable of confronting the histories and inequalities it has long ignored. The conversation resonated throughout the wider programme, particularly in its insistence that architecture and design cannot be separated from questions of race, power, geography and representation.
"Always inspiring to be in İstanbul but this visit was exceptional. In a period of increasing gloom and anxiety, to be in the midst of a future-facing, forward-thinking collective will sustain me for months to come." – Professor Lesley Lokko OBE
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Material intelligence and craft traditions became central in Worlds in Hands, featuring Samer Yamani, Serap Ekizler Sönmez, Selva Gürdoğan and Guta Moura Guedes. Moving deliberately against the speed and abstraction of digital culture, the session foregrounded making as a form of thinking and cultural resistance. Through discussions spanning Palestinian glassmaking, archaeological preservation and collaborative authorship, speakers argued for the continuing political and emotional importance of tactile knowledge in an increasingly immaterial world.
"One of the most striking aspects of the forum was the sense of design consciousness that could be felt in even the smallest details of the organisation. The experience that emerged almost felt like a unique intellectual space established beyond the ordinary rhythm of daily life." – Serap Ekizler Sönmez
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The Forum’s ecological concerns culminated in Water Buffalo and Other Design Stories, where Cooking Sections, Jan Boelen and Anniina Koivu examined food systems as one of the most consequential design infrastructures shaping contemporary life. Expanding the conversation beyond aesthetics into agriculture, extraction, climate and labour, the session proposed food as a deeply political and environmental condition rather than a lifestyle category. A tasting session of water buffalo yoghurt further blurred the boundaries between discussion, research and embodied experience.
"Global Design Forum İstanbul was a new place where east and west met. A dynamic platform where great minds and bold ideas met but moreover new friendships were made beyond borders and disciplines." – Jan Boelen
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The inaugural edition concluded with a keynote by Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum, whose work in the climate-vulnerable Bengal delta has become internationally recognised for its social intelligence and environmental sensitivity. Reflecting on architecture’s responsibility to place, climate and survival, Tabassum posed the question that ultimately framed the entire Forum: “What are we actually designing for?”
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