Ankara Product Design Workshop Started

Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and Gazi University are hosting the “Ankara Product Design Workshop” for the first time in Başkent. Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, which brings together industrial design students, professional professionals and lecturers from different universities in Turkey, in Atatürk Sports Hall, aims to reveal new designs and ideas about the city.

Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, which took the opinions of all segments of the society in order to add value to the capital, broke new ground.

Hosting the “Ankara Product Design Workshop” for the first time, organized in cooperation with Gazi University, the Metropolitan Municipality brought together the industrial design department lecturers and students from different universities in Turkey, as well as professional professionals at this workshop.

NEW IDEAS FOR THE CAPITAL NEW DESIGNS

By adopting a common mind in city management, taking into account the opinions of professional organizations, academics, students, tradesmen and citizens, especially NGOs, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality also took action to create design models and ideas that would reveal the values ​​of the city.

In line with its goal of making Ankara the capital of design, the Department of Culture and Social Affairs, which organized a design workshop at the Atatürk Indoor Sports Hall, also laid the groundwork for the discussion of different approaches and ideas in order to give the city a more aesthetic appearance.

OBJECTIVE TO BRING THE URBAN IDENTITY TOGETHER

Within the scope of the project carried out by Gazi University Design Application and Research Center, it is planned to reveal design projects that progress step by step through a well-defined theme, while highlighting the unique identity of the city.

Emphasizing that it is important that the equipment and designs to be chosen in line with this understanding are made in accordance with the identity and values ​​of the city, Gazi University Faculty of Architecture member officer Prof. Dr. Serkan Güneş made the following assessments:

“During the pandemic period, we submitted a proposal to our Metropolitan Municipality mayor so that we could make a common sense on the design of urban equipment suitable for Ankara's urban identity. Fortunately, they gave a positive answer. Here, we will try to make designs for Ankara with 13 people from 120 different universities. Every city needs reinforcement in the context of its own unique identity. They need to be consciously designed. It needs to be designed with a participatory approach, and we work with ABB with this approach. We will present the outputs of the workshop at the recommendation level. We are in search of what kind of contributions our designs will make to Ankara. Our aim is to introduce polyphony and Ankara at the same time. We are very happy that this opportunity was provided to us, thank you very much.”

WORKSHOP SUBJECT: ANKARA

Ali Bozkurt, Head of the Department of Culture and Social Affairs, who attended the workshop, explained the history and artistic symbols of Ankara to the participants who came to Ankara for the first time, and answered the questions of the participants one by one.

Expressing that he believes that the designs of city furniture for Başkent will also be revealed in the workshop held in cooperation with Gazi University, Bozkurt said:

“We have hope that beautiful designs and works that will contribute to the perception of our Ankara will emerge from here. Such activities and support will continue, which will give Ankara an identity, carry it to the level of modern cities and make it more livable. Apart from the universities in Ankara, we also have students from other universities in Turkey that have design departments. These works will continue for a week here, and at the end of this, the products that are found suitable from the designs will be converted into production and used in the appropriate parts of the city, exhibited and presented to the service of our people.”

Head of the Police Department, Mustafa Koç, introduced the 'Ankara on the Street Project' and made a presentation at the workshop, and Head of Urban Aesthetics Department Selami Aktepe and Head of Women and Family Services Department Serkan Yorgancılar also exchanged ideas about designs with young designers.

YOUTH VISIT THE CITY AND OBSERVED

While visiting the city in groups to have an idea about Ankara, young designers from different cities made observations especially in social areas and closely examined taxi stands, sales kiosks, bus stops, sitting groups and city equipment.

The students, who also visited the Ankara Public Bread Factory and the Confederation of the Disabled to examine the problems experienced by the disabled, stated that they wanted to bring colorful designs to Ankara, which is known as the gray city, and expressed their thoughts with the following words:

Beautiful Beyesengul: “I just moved to Ankara. After moving, I found many problems here. As a resident of a city, the difficulties experienced by the disabled, whether it be transportation, living conditions, traffic, bothered me a lot. I attended this workshop thinking that it would be good to produce solutions for this city. Fresh minds and professionals of this business also take part in the workshop. I believe that we will produce very good solutions. Everyone has different information and experiences in their pocket. I think good results will come out of our exchange of ideas. I also noticed that the municipality is trying to create an identity in the identity studies. Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity.”

Yusuf Yayla: “A cooperation is being carried out with Ankara Metropolitan Municipality to determine the city elements and equipment of Ankara. We, as professionals and young people, will design these urban equipment together. It is an important project for us. We will provide the best support we can in this workshop as well.”

Tugce Gul Ulker: “First of all, we would like to thank Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and Mansur Yavaş for organizing such an event. I feel very lucky. It is very nice to have an environment where everyone can share their experiences like this, I hope it will continue.”

In the workshop where brainstorming on new ideas and design models that reflect the spirit of the capital and highlight the product identity of the city, the presentation and evaluation meeting of the products that emerged after the completion of the design project studies will be held on Sunday, February 13.