Designing Life

Columbia GSAPP’s Studio-X Istanbul serves as one of the five main venues for the Biennial, hosting one of the four “clouds” of overlapping projects called Designing Life. It features experimental work on new forms of mechanical, electronic and biological life – including projects by Columbia GSAPP professors Juan Herreros, Hilary Sample and David Benjamin. Studio-X also hosts the major research project by Curious Assembly comprised of more than 50 experts in design. The installation documents the history of design in Turkey since the Ottoman reform of 1839 in a variety of fields including packaging, lighting, graphics, communications and advertising, housing, furniture, music, toys, landscape, health, industrial buildings, ceramics and non-governmental organizations. An extensive library of books and specialized reference material will remain at Studio-X Istanbul as a resource and reading-room for designers and scholars dedicated to the history of design in Turkey. In addition, Studio-X Istanbul will host a series of events, workshops, and panels through the course of the Biennial. Studio-X Istanbul is part of Columbia University’s global network, operating in Turkey through Columbia Global Centers | Istanbul.