As the perception of possession shifts in the world, we don't want to own things, we want to exchange, share and try new experiences.
This communal approach is shaping how we live and how we consume. We feel a mission and responsibility for the nature and the society in terms of consuming less in order to protect the environment with respect to each other. This might be the reason why the creative industry examines using what we already have in the nature rather than designing from scratch. The world doesn't need another object or another building but a new point of view reflecting the community power which brings diverse cultures and perspectives together in a common ground.
Last week, we experienced this common ground via The Social City Project supported by the Swedish Consulate General in Istanbul and the Swedish Institute.
The chapel located in the Swedish Consulate General in Istanbul, was turned into an experience platform of workshops and exhibition with the contribution of artists, architects and designers from Turkey and Sweden. This is the first part of a 6 months collaborative project with Swedish and Turkish creatives under the roof of a larger project named as Equal Spaces.
The Social City brought together a diverse group of creatives including, Erica Jacobson, Rebecca Ahlstedt, Eda Gecikmez, Pınar Akkurt, Burçak Bingöl, Günes Terkol, Merve Gül Özokcu – Herkes için Mimarlık, Atıl Ağgündüz and Oğul Öztunç of Piknik under the name of Patterns of Istanbul. Three groups worked on three installations reflecting the democratic and equal space idea with an inter-disciplinary approach. The creatives used different mediums taking references from the location and interpreted the patterns of the city within the respective surroundings.
The project focuses on the city and public spaces aiming to contribute to the dialogue, knowledge sharing and innovative solutions for a smart, creative and inclusive city. Exhibitions, workshops, labs and other public activities will mainly take place in Istanbul and Izmir in the fall. The project also aims to discuss the possibilities for digitization for an inclusive, smart and creative urban development.