So? – No/02
Founded in 2007 by Sevince Bayrak (PhD, ITU, 2014) and Oral Goktas (MArch, ITU, 2009), SO? is an Istanbul based studio focusing on design, architecture and urbanism. They won numerous awards in competitions and their articles and projects have been published in a number of magazines including Huffington Post, Wallpaper, Dezeen, A10, Concept, Architect’s Journal. In 2013, they won the Young Architects Program by MOMA/PS1, creating Sky Spotting Stop for Istanbul Modern that was exhibited in MOMA and MAXXI and published in Architekturführer Istanbul. Their work, including Urban Age 2009 with LSE Cities, Cityness, Test Tube in Rotterdam, Sky Garden in Istanbul and Unexpected Hill in London has been published internationally. Most recently, they won the invited competition by Royal Academy of Arts, and their project, which is an installation made by ceramics, Unexpected Hill was open to public in London in the summer of 2015. In December 2015, they were invited to Istanbul exhibition in MAXXI, and their installation Lost Barrier was realized in Rome. This project is acquired by MAXXI for the permanent architecture collection. The duo gave lectures in various symposiums and conferences in different cities such as London, Florence, Bordeaux and Rome. Sevince Bayrak recently finished her PhD dissertation titled as “The Square” on Beyazıt Square and evolution of public space and she is currently teaching at MEF University. Oral Göktaş is an adjunct professor at MEF University.