#basic-design

This project named Two Plus One explains itself very well. The students explained their motivation differently from the rest of the studio. In our Computation-based Basic Design Final Project, we are inspired by Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest sculptures, and we wanted to make our arboriform kinetic. First, we made a copy model of the original kinetic sculpture for ourselves in order to observe its shape, parameters, and movement patterns. We realized that the system can also move and generate interesting variations without actually “walking”….

Student project of the first year Computation-based Basic Design I studio at İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture. The contextual background is based on “Arboriform” which aimed to drive students’ design research process. Here is a quote from the student’s presentation: …Many of us do not believe and even do not want to believe in the compatibility of natural phenomena with things done by humans. Nature eliminates unfitted environmental factors while generating new potentialities from it. In our project, “symbiosis”, “tropism”, “branching”, “holding”, “rooting”…

This year’s first semester at Basic Design Studio was full of surprises. Together with Can Sucuoğlu and Birgül Çolakoğlu, we coordinated 9 student groups in their 4-week final project called “Arboriforms“.  “Arbori-” is derived from the Latin word “arbor,” meaning “tree,” and “-form” indicates a shape or form. Therefore, we can understand “arboriform” as an adjective describing something that is tree-like in appearance, structure, or form. For example, one might use the term “arboriform” to describe the branching pattern of…

Here are some of the student works from this year’s Computation-based Basic Design Studio, centered around the captivating theme of Metamorphosis. Throughout the course, we tasked the students with pushing the boundaries of their creativity and innovation and encouraged them to construct designs that transcend conventional limitations and embody the essence of shapeshifting systematic wholes. The metamorphosis concept catalyzed their artistic exploration. Then, urged them to delve deep into the realm of design possibilities. A pivotal aspect of this studio…

This is an interesting material project of this year’s computation-based Basic Design II studio. Students experienced a well-known structural system tensegrity, composed of cables, joint details, and aluminum sticks. Although their overall macro form had serious problems, the exploratory process of this group was very successful. *Students: Deniz Ağaoğlu, Fatma Sezgin, Serkan Ateş, Aysel Abasova, Kardelen Kıroğlu, Sedat Tolga Kalcıoğlu, İlayda Yörük, Nikol Sergici, Kıvılcım Dişli, Uğur Polat

Here is another computation-based Basic Design II final project. It is made of paper tubes, joined angular by nuts and bolts in order to give the desired form. This group had serious problems with project development and exploration, but anyway they managed to finish this inspirational prototype. *Students: Abdullah Selim Buldu, Ecem Aksoy, Lachyn Tuliyeva, Neda Khorshidi, Selenay Geyik, Sevgi Yücel

It is the geometry of Mantı components, that enable quick cooking for its ingredients (usually meat) but also is a structurally stable form. I’m excited to see this transformation as a structural capacity, half folding, and bending behavior of these shells. Two years ago, one of the final projects of our computation-based Basic Design studio experimented with similar forms to see how a relatively weak surface material could be transformed into a structurally better one. I don’t know if this similarity…

Here is the winning team of this year’s mid-term jury competition in the first-year Basic Design studio at İstanbul Bilgi University. The challenge they undertook was called “Void by Subtraction.” Initially, the students engaged in a series of short-term exercises exploring solid and void relationships. Alongside the studio sessions, they honed their digital modeling skills through Architectural Geometry courses. Their task was to create a contoured structure within a restricted 8m3 volume. Through various iterations using clay and foamboard prototypes,…

Here are some before and after photos of our first-year Computation-based Basic Design student works. In the beginning, they were all full of life, nevertheless, after a couple of seasons, things started to change slowly. Although they look old and deformed, they are still standing. Reason: Extending the phase space of material performance, unfolding the impossibility of permanence… Or just snow load. It used to be quite durable until recently. Reason: Rot. Or, in academic language, revealing unintentional symbiotic relationships with…

The final countdown has started until the jury of this semester’s Basic Design studio. Everyone is excited to see the products of this year’s architecture, interior design, and industrial design students, while they are trying to set a higher standard for the exercise.  They’ll use both digital and physical media to unfold their design intentions about a systematic whole. Below is the current situation of our group together with Fulya Akipek, Nur Gürbüz, and Alper Derinboğaz; We are discussing geometric…