The Making of Beyoğlu

Salt Beyoğlu

September 13 – December 31, 2011

Opening September 13 at SALT Beyoğlu, The Making Of Beyoğlu is a series of workshops examining specific case studies in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district. In collaboration with Rotterdam-based Bureau Venhuizen, the project seeks to deconstruct proposed changes to Beyoğlu in an open dialogue with participants of different backgrounds.

For centuries, spatial planning has been conducted behind closed doors by professionals of the planning discipline. There are, however, countless people interested in and affected by the processes designed to initiate change in the urban order. It is with this understanding that today’s urban planning approach has begun to employ in its processes the principles of participation and inclusion.

The Making Of Beyoğlu invites participants to reconsider projects currently being planned in Beyoğlu, all of which have the potential to significantly transform the area. As part of the exhibition, examples of spatial planning projects will be discussed within the framework of “The Making Of”, concept development workshops designed by Hans Venhuizen in the form of games. These workshops aim to encourage open communication and creative thinking among parties that will be affected, in a variety of ways, by processes of spatial change.

The eight workshops organized for The Making Of Beyoğlu will cover four topics in Turkish and English, and will be accompanied by a series of eight conferences addressing key concepts like cultural heritage and consumption. The contents of the exhibition will be initially formed by workshop topics in the context of urban practices; after every workshop, however, they will be updated based on the planning proposals of participants.

The Making Of Beyoğlu workshops, supported by the Netherlands Architecture Fund, are open to individuals from all disciplines and locations, and of all ages.

You can register to the workshop by emailing your contact information to salt@saltonline.org