Making City Istanbul is the last exhibition of the 5th IABR: Making City. The exhibition is part of Musibet, the main exhibition of the first Istanbul Design Biennial that opens on October 10 at Istanbul Modern.
Inspired by the IABR's approach, architect Emre Arolat, the curator of Musibet, invited the IABR to present its working method and three key projects - the Test Sites in Rotterdam, São Paulo and Istanbul - in the form of a new, small exhibition: a 'manual' for the future of Istanbul.
"Like all metropolitan regions in the world Istanbul is preparing itself for the challenges ahead," commented George Brugmans, Director of IABR. "How can we harmonise rapidly advancing urbanisation with ecological and economic concerns? In the next few years, the urban planners, designers, politicians, cultural operators, citizens and entrepreneurs of Istanbul will need to find common ground on this issue."
Making City Istanbul presents three urban projects that not only offer concrete solutions for specific local issues, but also present inspiring strategies and examples that are offered as inspiration and possible benchmarks.
Test Site Rotterdam argues that Making City essentially depends on human beings: we all have a role to play when it comes to the sustainable transformation of our habitat. São Paulo provides us with examples of how the clash between social and ecological issues may be solved by playing the card of economics. And IABR Atelier Istanbul shows us that a separation of functions is less sustainable than an integrated vision that embeds agriculture, water management and forestry in the process of on-going urbanisation.