As part of its commitment to fostering international dialogue around spatial practice and climate imaginaries, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) recently contributed to a design writing course at the Bilgi University Istanbul, in Türkiye, engaging architecture and interior design students in a critical exploration of the 2024 theme Nature of Hope.
On April 30, IABR director Saskia van Stein and Nature of Hope co-curator Catherine Koekoek delivered an online lecture that introduced the curatorial framework of the biennale, with particular focus on the Practice Place section, highlighting spatial strategies rooted in care, resistance, and regenerative futures. This lecture served as both inspiration and provocation, prompting students to reflect on how hope can be expressed through spatial, artistic, and cultural practices within their own local contexts.
Course instructor Nurullah Kaya observed, “Given IABR’s foundation in words, duality, and relational discourse, I see a strong connection between its themes and my course. While the Biennale primarily focused on environmental issues, hope resonated with me differently—as a designer from Turkey, it’s something we actively search for in every aspect of life and space.”
Kaya’s insight highlights how the IABR’s theme was refracted through regional experience, encouraging students to approach design not only as a technical or aesthetic pursuit but as a means of cultivating resilience and imagining alternative futures.
In response to the lecture, students will select design projects or artworks from Türkiye or their own cultural backgrounds that embody hopeful narratives. Through critical texts and visual analysis, they will connect IABR’s curatorial vision with grounded, local expressions of design. The results of the course will be presented in Istanbul in the fall of 2025.
This initiative is one of the international collaborations IABR continues to support, affirming its role not just as an exhibition and research platform but as a catalyst for learning, exchange, and meaningful relationships across borders.
