Workshop:
Beyond Time: Istanbul's Water Heritage
Onur Atay
Salt Beyoğlu
March 14, 2025 15.00
Mağlova Aqueduct, Istanbul, 1981 (Photo: Yılmaz Kaini)
Salt Research, IFEA Archive
Salt Research, IFEA Archive
Beyond Time: Istanbul’s Water Heritage is an immersive board game that explores the agents shaping the city’s water legacy from an intertemporal perspective. The game focuses on the relationship between Istanbul’s inhabitants and water, spanning from the Byzantine and Ottoman periods to the early Republican era and the present day. The aim is to uncover water’s cultural and social significance in relation to urban life.
Drawing inspiration from the widely recognized Dungeons & Dragons role-playing model, the game invites participants to step into a fictionalized narrative featuring both historical and contemporary characters. Guided by the facilitator and the roll of the dice, the players and the audience discover the shifting dynamics of Istanbul’s water policies across time.
Developed by architect Onur Atay and anthropologist Volkan Altınok—both members of the urban studies cooperative Urban.koop—the game was initially tested in a 2021 workshop at Salt. Since then, it has evolved through multiple iterations, incorporating diverse scenarios into its present form.
Beyond Time: Istanbul’s Water Heritage will be performed at Salt Beyoğlu on March 14 at 15.00, with the invitation of “Sea Snotting or Nothing Less than Flamboyant in the Salty Waters of Istanbul,” one of the five research strands in Water Assemblies. In this session, new characters linked to the phenomenon of sea snot—central to this research strand—will be introduced. The character cards featured in the game will be on view in the research space at Salt Beyoğlu until March 22.
Onur Atay received his BA in Architecture from Middle East Technical University and his MA in History from Boğaziçi University. Since 2013, he has been involved in municipal and civil society partnerships and socially-driven projects. He has worked as an executive and consultant on various local and international civil society programs and development initiatives. He has also led projects and workshops focused on participatory urban development and public creativity. Atay is the co-founder of Urban.koop, where he has been continuing his work since 2020.
Drawing inspiration from the widely recognized Dungeons & Dragons role-playing model, the game invites participants to step into a fictionalized narrative featuring both historical and contemporary characters. Guided by the facilitator and the roll of the dice, the players and the audience discover the shifting dynamics of Istanbul’s water policies across time.
Developed by architect Onur Atay and anthropologist Volkan Altınok—both members of the urban studies cooperative Urban.koop—the game was initially tested in a 2021 workshop at Salt. Since then, it has evolved through multiple iterations, incorporating diverse scenarios into its present form.
Beyond Time: Istanbul’s Water Heritage will be performed at Salt Beyoğlu on March 14 at 15.00, with the invitation of “Sea Snotting or Nothing Less than Flamboyant in the Salty Waters of Istanbul,” one of the five research strands in Water Assemblies. In this session, new characters linked to the phenomenon of sea snot—central to this research strand—will be introduced. The character cards featured in the game will be on view in the research space at Salt Beyoğlu until March 22.
Onur Atay received his BA in Architecture from Middle East Technical University and his MA in History from Boğaziçi University. Since 2013, he has been involved in municipal and civil society partnerships and socially-driven projects. He has worked as an executive and consultant on various local and international civil society programs and development initiatives. He has also led projects and workshops focused on participatory urban development and public creativity. Atay is the co-founder of Urban.koop, where he has been continuing his work since 2020.
