The new HDA format world_wide_wisdom invites international architects and thinkers to give keynote speeches and talks to accompany the exhibitions. As part of the exhibition BHP'24 on he road, the Istanbul-based architecture firm SO? architecture and ideas, curators of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria 2025, will provide insights into their positions and working methods.
SO? architecture and ideas was founded in 2007 by Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş. Their work ranges from small-scale interventions to major public building projects. In addition to their architectural practice, the duo is also involved in teaching as well as curatorial and conceptual projects. They gained international attention in particular as curators of the Turkish national pavilion at the 2023 Architecture Biennale in Venice.
The event will be held in the English language.
The architecture firm SO? architecture and ideas was founded in Istanbul in 2007. The metropolis forms the backdrop for their exploration of urban spaces, urban life and places of community and togetherness. Since the office was founded, the city has experienced a building boom, which quickly brought international attention to the young architects' early projects. In 2013, they won the Young Architects Programme at MoMA PS1. Since then, their urban interventions, expansive installations and architectural projects have been published worldwide and included in the collection of the MAXXI - National Museum of the Arts of the XXI Century in Rome.
The completion of their first public building in 2019 coincided with a political upheaval. Under the changed conditions, SO? succeeded in transforming a former private swimming pool, which was once reserved exclusively for Istanbul's mayors, into a public event hall. Since 2021, the office has been working on the revitalisation of Istanbul City Hall, a building from the 1950s. In this megaproject, the architects advocate both the careful treatment of the architectural substance and the integration of public functions.
In addition to its architectural practice - which encompasses residential, cultural and urban development projects - the firm continues to be involved in curatorial and conceptual projects. It is also active in teaching and regularly gives guest lectures at various universities in Europe and the USA. Their work has been honoured several times and nominated for prestigious prizes such as the Aga Khan Award and the Mies van der Rohe Award.
With the Turkish Pavilion, the architecture firm has curated one of the most highly regarded national contributions to the Architecture Biennale in Venice 2023. Their project Ghost Stories: The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture was created in the face of economic challenges and the consequences of severe earthquakes. The pavilion documented abandoned buildings in Turkey, telling the stories of their decay and searching for methods to revitalise them.
Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş were appointed by the Styrian provincial government as curators of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria 2025.
The Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria 2025 was awarded to Architektursalon and su.n – spaceunit.net for the Salon Stolz. The curatorship was commissioned by the Styrian Provincial Government to the architectural office SO? architecture and ideas.
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OPENING 5 FEBRUARY, 7 P.M. || The exhibition BHP'24 shows 23 nominated and award-winning architectural projects from all over Austria, which were created in particularly intensive collaboration between clients and architects.
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The Prize Bag: Double Lives of Architecture exhibition was developed within the framework of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria. Curated by Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş of the Istanbul-based studio SO? architecture and ideas, the exhibition and accompanying publication propose shifting our understanding of architectural prizes—seeing them as instruments for inquiry rather than final judgments.
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The exhibition BHP'24 will focus on the professional practice of architects. The presentation of the book Black Turtleneck, Round Glasses by Karin Hartmann, followed by a panel discussion, will shed light on the perspectives of women in architecture.
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The exhibition BHP‘24 on the road focuses on the professional practice of architects. After more than 20 years of existence, the Graz-based architecture firm balloon architekten can look back on a significant number of planned and precisely realised architectural projects. Their work brochure ‘-1 / 0 / 1+’ sheds light on the different project phases of planning and their influence on the positive development of our built environment. Using the example of the Zeltweg education campus, which was nominated for this year's Bauherr:innenpreis, the importance of early project development and the successful interaction of the project team are discussed.
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HDA, in cooperation with the Province of Styria and the Regional Chamber of Chartered Engineering Consultants, is pleased to invite you to the exhibition opening of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria 2025. The curators, Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş (SO? architecture and ideas, Istanbul), and HDA programme coordinator Zerina Džubur will discuss the exhibition’s design and its core themes.
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