The 4th Istanbul Design Biennial has been opened to press and professionals at the Yapı Kredi Culture Centre in Istanbul today. The biennial's theme, titled "A School of Schools", investigates different norms of design education as a transdisciplinary and experimental base.

Curated by Jan Boelen and associate curators Vera Sacchetti and Nadine Botha, the exhibition will reflect the role of design and the role design education, knowledge, and global connectedness in contemporary Istanbul and beyond by testing and revising a variety of educational strategies through the exhibition. 

Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), the biennial houses projects from more than 200 interdisciplinary practitioners from across the globe. 

The biennial is presented at the six of the city's most iconic cultural institutions in the Beyoğlu District - Akbank Sanat, Arter, Yapı Kredi Culture Centre, Pera Museum, SALT Galata and Studio-X Istanbul. The Biennial will be opened to the public on September 22 and will be on view until November 4, 2018.

One of the most striking projects at the biennial is the "Transitional School" which is presented under the sub-title of "Currents School" at the Yapı Kredi Culture Centre at Beyoğlu District in Istanbul.

Transitional School by Formal Academy and Ark.World focuses on local sources and network where the local knowledge and exchange are explored with different collaborations in Bangkok, Doha, Saigon and Istanbul. 

"Two thousands years ago multiple flows of materials, cultures, and ideas interlinked the living centers between Asia and Europe. Now we see the rise of another constellation of urban centers around the same region," said the statement at the exhibition.

Transitional School research the context of this urban constellation, while creating its own network for trans-local knowledge exchange and production related to design. 

Through workshops in four of these centers - India/Bangkok, VCU/Doha, RMIT/Saigon and Bilgi University/Istanbul - design research and interventions were deployed in order to learn about trans-local flows, and the layers of production and labour ambodied by materials and objects.

See WAC's exclusive coverage of the biennial with the first images here. "The Biennial is a questioning of learning mechanics" said Jan Boelen at a press conference today. 

All images © World Architecture Community

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