Since winter 2019, the whole world is living in a time where the keyword is social distancing. In this new world, physical and social boundaries have become more important either implemented by authorities or by people themselves. Countries have closed their borders and started choosing who is allowed to pass through. Region, cities, companies, communities, families are building up boundaries to protect themselves and their loved ones from the risks of a barely visible danger. But also, the world has witnessed that this difficult time can be handled as an opportunity to restructure the lines of demarcation between different parts of the world thanks to digital technologies.
While the walls built by daily dynamics in every aspect of our lives determine our life limits, our desire to change our understanding of the existence of “boundaries” is increasing day by day. Especially with the introduction of the pandemic into our lives, we met new limits and redefined the same amount by blending, changing, and including them with the others. In negative processes, the sustainability of systems that add value to the lives of all living things and support universal and positive transformations can be guaranteed with special design methods and approaches. In the process we are going through and redefining our life limits, the balancing role of design comes to the fore.
As Faculty of Architecture, we organize a [Virtual] Design Fest with the theme of “Breaking Boundaries” between 19-21 April 2021 which aims to provide the future designers and their educators with a scholarly environment to start discussing the “world after” and to explore the ways of breaking boundaries between individuals, between individuals and nature, between real and virtual to design new solutions for our daily problems. The program of the online Festival includes seminars, panels, workshop, and competition events. Among our guests are the distinguished professors Robert Mull, Kathryn Anthony and Suzie Attiwill, as well as the designers Kerem Piker and Seyhan Özdemir Sarper. The Design Fest will be open to the participation of all design disciplines, especially the Architecture/Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Departments of all universities.
