The Istanbul Design Biennial will organise a series of Workshops between 22 and 27 March in order to bring institutions, students, and industrial representatives together with designers to feature design training and enable mutual learning and interaction. The events within the framework of the biennial theme “Imperfection” will provide an opportunity to participants by bringing professionals in local and international creative industries and different brands together with university students and co-experience the thinking and producing processes.

200 university students will have the opportunity to work with approximately 30 international designers in 11 different workshops in different venues for five days. Clay designer Max Lamb with the Designer of the Future Award, chef Marc Bretillot, an important name for culinary designs, Luis Urculo known to the architectural sector, Anon Pairot who made a name with his product designs and his works with important brands like Hermes and Fendi, and Amina Agueznay who designs jewellery with natural and daily materials are among the 30 designers who will come to Istanbul in order to participate to workshops within the Istanbul Design Biennial.

The Istanbul Design Biennial will be held with the support of Coca-Cola, Matraş, Nef and Roman Ready-to-wear as well as the co-sponsors Koray Group of Companies, Vestel and VitrA. Works, ideas, products and the process itself, after the Workshops, will be exhibited in venues/places where works during the Istanbul Design Biennial will be created. The information with regard to venues of workshop exhibitions and events will be in the Istanbul Design Biennial programme booklet and map.

The Workshops will be carried out under the leadership of successful institutions and teams such as Domaine de Boisbuchet, Made in Şişhane&Design Quartier Ehrenfeld (More Than Design), SALON/Amsterdam-Istanbul, Design and Innovation Initiative for Sustainable Life and TAG Platform. The works will be carried out at venues determined together with the partner company with the participation of 20 university student.

After the Workshops which will begin on Thursday, 22 March and continue for five days, there will be a general presentation, which will bring all contributors together, at Beyoğlu Youth Centre on Tuesday, 27 March. Presentation will be free of charge and open to general public and workshop leaders will sum their works and present selected examples. General presentation with the participation of the designers will be preview for the workshop exhibitions in the Istanbul Design Biennial.

Participation to the workshops

The Istanbul Design Biennial Workshops will be open to all undergraduate and graduate students in urban design, urban and regional planning, environmental design architecture, interior architecture, industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, fine arts, and new media design departments of relevant universities and will be free of charge.

Participant students suggested by the head of departments of the universities and students applied to the Istanbul Design Biennial will be placed on space-availability basis and in accordance with the order of precedence.

WORKSHOP PROGRAMMES

•More Than Design – Design Quartier Ehrenfeld & Made in Şişhane
“More Than Design” workshop organised by the partnership of Made in Şişhane and Design Quartier Ehrenfeld (DQE) which enables the development of the underdeveloped regions in Köln, Germany trough creative methods, aims the development of lighting manufacturers in Şişhane, Istanbul. The workshop will be carried out by young German designers, who are experts on lighting units, Felix Stark, Joerg Mennickheim, Katharina Pawlik, Pierre Kracht and Ulrich Exner. The university students from Siegen and FH Mediadesign Düsseldorf as well as the university students from industrial design, architecture, cinema, and media department of Turkish universities can participate to the workshop which aims to bring out the potential of lighting manufacturers in Şişhane district.
During the workshop, participants will pair with German designers; they will visit lighting ateliers in Şişhane for five days and make them use their own designs. Lighting units as a result of this workshop will be exhibited in different venues in Galata-Şişhane district such as cafes, restaurants, and hotels during the Istanbul Design Biennial. The same exhibition will be presented in January 2013 in Köln, Germany.

•Domaine de Boisbuchet Workshops
Domaine de Boisbuchet established by Alexander von Vegesack, Advisory Board Member of the Istanbul Design Biennial, organises international workshops on architecture and design. Five different workshops executed by five expert designers are planned with the cooperation of Domaine de Boisbuchet within the Istanbul Design Biennial.

Clay Ceramics Workshop with Max Lamb
This workshop will be carried out by Max Lamb, who was awarded with the Designer of the Future Award by Design Miami/Basel, global design forum, in 2008, in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of Ceramics and Glass Design, Ceramics Atelier. This workshop will be carried out under the sponsorship of VitrA.

Architectural Workshop with Luis Urculo
Within the workshop, carried out by Luis Urculo known closely by the architectural sector, it is planned that the relationship between architecture, design and graphic design will be questioned and works pushing the limits of these fields will be created. Nef undertakes the sponsorship of this workshop.

Food Design Workshop with Marc Bretillot
Food Design Workshop will be carried out by Marc Bretillot, founder and executive of culinary classes in “ESAD Art and Design School of Reims.” In this workshop, different and experimental works will be done with the regard to culinary design and the relationship of cooking and presenting processes with design will be questioned.

Jewellery Design Workshop with Amina Agueznay
This workshop will be carried out by Moroccan designer and architect Amina Agueznay who designs jewelleries by using her background in architecture. The designer, who designs her works with completely natural and daily materials, will present methods which will demolish routine perceptions on jewelleries and a different aesthetic.

Leather Design Workshop with Anon Pairot
Under the scope of the workshop carried out by Thai product and furniture designer Anon Pairot, a special collection will be prepared by using various leather materials and handcraft will be emphasised in design processes. Workshop will be carried out under the sponsorship of Matraş.

•Happy Designs with Recycled Materials – Istanbul Design Biennial Team & Coca-Cola
Merve Yücel and Özlem Yalım Özkaraoğlu from the Istanbul Design Biennial team will design objects which will make people happy by using recyclable materials such as cans, bottles, and crowns within the workshop. Coca-Cola undertakes the sponsorship of this workshop.

•Salon Amsterdam/Istanbul
SALON/Amsterdam is a centre established by Cathal McKee, Gijs Stork and Manon Schaap, which creates inspiring dialogs and experience on art, design, and fashion. Within the Istanbul Design Biennial, SALON/Amsterdam will realize a workhsop, under the sponsorship of Roman Ready-to-wear.
Dutch designers from different disciplines, Mattijs van Bergen, Vroonland, Desiree Hammen, Hyun Hyeu, BCXSY, Antoine Peters, Borre Akkersdijk, Noman and Reinier Bosch will work on a large spectrum from fashion to product design, from embroidery to usage of experimental materials in different fields.

•Design For All – TAG Platform
The workshop, under the leadership of TAG Platform specialised on urban design and raising awareness in urban venues and sponsorship of Koray Group of Companies, will focus on the relationship of people and streets to the city and to the design problems in the city. The workshop will determine the points that make life in streets harder for people while analysing the relationship of privileged people to urban life. Within the workshop, participants will determine the places where city and people are “incoherent” to one another and conceptualise them in a project and exhibit the analysis process. The team also plans to label “conflict” areas of city and people and make them visible. Within the workshop, the representative of EIDD (Design For All Europe), Peter Frank Kercher will be present at the workshop and interview on the topic.

•Customization in Design – Vestel
During the workshop the participants will work on customization processes within the framework of a certain concept on a wide spectrum of products from whiteware to televisions. The participants to the workshop will analyse characteristics of the 20 cities determined and design customized products with the light of these characteristic features defined by them. This workshop will be carried out under the sponsorship of Vestel.

•Design For Basic Needs Workshop – Design and Innovation Initiative for Sustainable Life
Design for Basic Needs Workshop will be carried out by the Design and Innovation for Sustainable Life under the leadership of Merve Titiz, Pınar Öncel and Tuna Özçuhadar. Approximately 25 students will participate to the workshop which will extend the traditional definition of sustainability and make the concept understood in a deeper sense. During the workshop, basic needs of the current consumption society will be defined and role of design in terms of covering these needs will be discussed.