THE PAVILION OF TURKEY AT THE 16TH VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL

Curated by Kerem Piker and coordinated by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the Pavilion of Turkey presents ‘Vardiya / the Shift’ at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennial, taking place from 26 May to 25 November 2018. Co-sponsored by Schüco Turkey and VitrA, the Pavilion of Turkey is located at Sale d’Armi, Arsenale.

Installation view of ‘Vardiya / the Shift’ at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennial, Photo by Tuna Ogut

Responding to the Biennale Architettura 2018 theme of ‘Freespace’, ‘Vardiya’ is a programme of public events that will transform the Pavilion of Turkey into a staging ground for creative encounter, collaborative production and cultural exchange across borders.

122 international architecture students from 16 countries will visit the Pavilion of Turkey in weekly ‘shifts’ as active producers of the evolving exhibition content. They will participate in workshops, engage in roundtable discussions and hear keynote lectures driven by guest scholars, designers and architects.

The programme will begin with multi-media installations, through which visitors will be informed about forthcoming activities and workshop themes. Throughout the twenty-five weeks of the biennial, the Pavilion of Turkey will host 13 workshops, focusing on a variety of topics; around 50 digital meetings with participants from a range of disciplines; and 6 lectures by keynote speakers, including an international roster of leading architects. All of the workshops, digital meetings and lectures will be open to visitors during biennale opening hours.

Kerem Piker, curator, lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey.

Kerem Piker was born in Ankara in 1978. He received his BArch degree in Architecture in 2001 at Istanbul Technical University and his MSC in Arch degree in 2004 at TU Delft. In 2010, He was selected as one of best 40 architects in Europe under the age of 40 by Chicago Atheneum.

In 2011 Kerem Piker founded KPM-Kerem Piker Mimarlık, Architectural Studio. KPM was awarded in several architectural competitions. In 2016, Akyazı Cultural Center designed by KPM received the best project prize in the 15th National Architecture Awards. Since 1998, Kerem Piker has taught in architectural schools as a visiting lecturer and juror, including İstanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University, Gebze Institute of Technology, Bilgi University and Kültür University.