Architecture and Ghostlore: The Turkish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture
- Anthony Youssef
- Jul 11, 2023
- 3 min read
I recently spoke with Sevince Bayrak, the co-curator of the Turkish Pavilion at this year's Venice Biennale of Architecture. The pavilion features an exhibition titled "Ghost Stories: The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture”. Sevince founded the Istanbul-based studio SO? Architecture and Ideas along with partner Oral Göktaş. Through the lens of stories and narratives, Sevince and Oral aimed to reimagine these neglected structures, challenging traditional notions of beauty and functionality. Sevince spoke about the personal and pragmatic motivations behind this focus on abandoned buildings and discussed the urgency and relevance of addressing this issue in both the Turkish and international context.
Abandoned Buildings: A Childhood Fascination
Sevince's childhood memories of mysterious, overgrown gardens in abandoned spaces laid the foundation for her fascination with abandoned buildings. She realised that abandonment offers a multitude of possibilities for architectural exploration. By focusing on these forgotten structures, the exhibition aimed to showcase the potential of adaptive reuse, encouraging viewers to see beyond conventional ideas of architectural beauty and functionality. It challenged the notion that abandoned buildings are nothing more than decaying remnants, instead highlighting the unique stories and hidden potential they hold.
Recounting Ghost Stories: Designing the Exhibition Experience
Ghost Stories was carefully designed to engage a diverse range of visitors, including architects, students, and professionals. It consisted of three primary components: the cloud installation, the work branch, and the test drive installation. The cloud, an installation suspended from the ceiling, featured moving projections of ghost stories and provided an immersive experience for even the most time-constrained visitors. The work branch comprised 15 tables, each representing an article from the exhibition's manifesto. These tables offered deeper insights into the discussion on abandoned buildings, both within Turkey and globally. Lastly, the test drive installation showcased the possibilities of re-imagining abandoned buildings through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), allowing visitors to envision the transformative potential of these structures.
Reimagining Abandoned Buildings: A Collaborative Approach with AI
An intriguing aspect of the exhibition was the use of AI to explore the reimagination of abandoned buildings. By training a pre-trained AI model, the exhibition team aimed to utilize AI as a tool for small touches and flourishes rather than designing entire buildings from scratch. The AI was trained using photographs and information collected from an open call, allowing it to provide accurate responses that enhanced the existing potential of abandoned structures. This exploration with AI demonstrated the collaborative nature of technology and its potential to produce satisfying results when used effectively in the architectural process.
Architectural Imagination and Addressing Built Environment Challenges
Ghost Stories presents architectural imagination as an evident solution to many issues facing the built environment. Locally, and in light of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in 2022, the exhibition's research contributes to the post-emergency scenarios and the future of architectural reconstruction. By emphasizing the value of repairing and repurposing neglected structures, the exhibition prompts visitors to envision innovative possibilities for rebuilding and repurposing spaces in light of continued challenges of vacant commercial properties, the race to net zero and the housing crisis.
Sevince’s hope is that visitors will leave the exhibition with a renewed sense of responsibility and empowerment, realizing that everyone has the ability to shape the future of cities and buildings by embracing the potential of abandoned structures and engaging in dialogues that breathe life into these forgotten spaces. Ghost Stories is on view at the Turkish Pavilion as part of the 2023 Biennale of Architecture in Venice until November 26, 2023.
This article is based on an episode of “Talking Architecture”, a podcast on architecture, buildings and the stories they tell. You can listen to the full episode in the player below.
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