The London Design Biennale features 40 exhibitors from around the world from Chile to Nigeria, as well as the event’s first-ever humanitarian pavilion designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.
In London, a Turkish Artist has drawn attention with her striking pavilion.
Set in the central courtyard of Somerset House, the Turkish pavilion acts like a giant hexagonal wind chime that forms a series of steel gates.
Steel rods dangle from the three progressively smaller arches that make up each gateway, musically jingling in the breeze.
The pavilion was conceived by architect Melek Zeynep Bulut to act as a theatrical exhibition on the concept of gates and their role in enforcing borders and social hierarchies.
Bulut said it is both an architectural work and also features a performance, adding: “It has an acoustic design. There are dozens of people behind this work. In fact, we produced this work in a very short time. The production started in February. We can say that it is the product of about three or four months of work.”
Stating that the biennale will be organized around the main theme of “Global Game” this year, Bulut said, “They invite designers to a way of thinking about where the world is going, and the most basic metaphor they identified was that ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal last year.”
“It is a platform where we discuss how we, as designers, could produce solutions for some systems that are not progressing in the world. Here we went through the metaphor of thresholds. In other words, we studied a text on how humanity is on the verge of a new consciousness and how we can raise awareness about it. I hope it will be loved by everyone during the display and we get the results that will be a source of pride for our country,” Bulut added.
