"Ghost Stories: The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture" project, which seeks to question conventional notions surrounding buildings and architecture, and instead proposes a new perspective that emphasizes the potential and stories of unused buildings, will be exhibited at the Pavilion of Türkiye in during the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of Venice Biennale.
The project details, coordinated by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), were shared at the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA) meeting with the curators' presentation.
IKSV General Director Görgün Taner said: "Among the primary objectives of the IKSV is to contribute to cultural and artistic production and create international interaction opportunities for audiences and creative professionals in Türkiye. In this regard, we have been coordinating the Turkish pavilion at the Venice Biennale since 2007. It makes us happy to be able to provide opportunities for creative professionals in the field of architecture who are conducting groundbreaking and exciting works in Türkiye through this event."
Taner also shared his sadness for the Kahramanmaraş-centered Feb. 6 earthquake, highlighting that the country is going through difficult times. "In such a period, I would like to thank our curators and the entire project team for proposing a new way of thinking about how existing structures can be transformed and presenting a different future and a different vision of reconstruction," he said.
Curator Sevince Bayrak explained the project's starting point as making abandoned buildings in Türkiye suitable for reuse and said: "We believe it is important to evaluate these structures as resources rather than seeing them as a burden on the cities and reintegrate them into urban life. Our aim was to discuss what is necessary to revive these structures rather than uncovering new structures and building new ones."
Bayrak emphasized that the project has become increasingly important in countries like Türkiye, located on fault lines.
"There is a serious need for strengthening a large number of buildings in our country. We cannot demolish and rebuild all buildings. Demolishing and rebuilding are not feasible anywhere in the world. Therefore, it is a very important issue for earthquake preparedness to strengthen and reuse existing buildings, which should already be a part of our lives," she added.
The project's other curator, Oral Göktaş, mentioned that they identified unused buildings throughout Türkiye for the project and said: "We made an open call to document the unused building stock in Türkiye collectively and to reach as many people as possible with this discussion that concerns everyone. Thanks to the responses we received to our open call, we have started to create a collective archive."
The project, inspired by the American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Carrier Bag Theory" suggests listening to and understanding the stories of abandoned buildings. The project aims to uncover hopeful proposals for the future through research on transforming these structures, which can be seen as a "laboratory for the future," rather than demolishing or abandoning them.
The Venice Architecture Biennale Turkish Pavilion will be located at the Arsenale, one of the main venues of the Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibitions, and will open on May 20. The Turkish Pavilion, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is also supported by Turkish Airlines (THY) as the airline partner.
