-trak,

-trak thinks up the interaction between the space and the user and offers permanent and temporary designs to enhance the space. In a world where urban areas getting crowded day by day, following its own norms and terms, -trak finds ways to create spaces and products that give enjoyment to the users.

Founded in 2011, -trak is a team focusing on ‘temporary situations’ and flows into all spaces in which the temporality should be designed. With small-scale but collective works, -trak enhances the diversity of its portfolio.

These ‘temporary situations’ include indoor and outdoor organizations, traditional marketplaces/bazaars, and public spaces in need of multifunctionality.

By designing systems, which work simultaneously with the projects and the relevant products, we contribute to the economy and sustainability of them. Additionally, we perform works that question the permanence of ‘temporality’ and opens this up for debate.

Thanks to its small-scale character, -trak is an agile team that can create more with limited intervention and this practice enables us to take risks on 1:1 scale production to achieve ‘real experiences’.

What is essential for -trak is ‘to try’ in a world where hierarchies and large-scale producers are unable to do it. The information comes out of our experiences is not numerical data but users’ stories for us.  We collect them and we learn from them, and as of today, we share them with our words.

TEAM ’19: BİHTER ÇELİK (founding partner), ELİF KARAKÖSE, KIVANÇ BAŞAK,
LİNDA BÜYÜKSİMKEŞYAN, MUTLU GÜNGÖR, SEDA SULTANSU D’AGOSTİNO, SEZİN KARCAN KAYA
Bihter Çelik
Designer and Architect

Bihter Çelik is an architect and a designer based in Istanbul.

 She holds a bachelor degree from the Architectural department of Istanbul Technical University. Bihter is a maker, artisan, project coordinator. Since her graduation, she teamed up with several designers under the name  -trak, a design and collective architecture firm co-founded by Bihter. -trak is a suffix for a way to make things as possible as more ephemeral and mobile. -trak devises projects having social and environmental impacts by pursuing the spatial equity and material economy with urban patching.

 In 2016, she became a community member of ATÖLYE for collective practices. She continues her work with -trak.

Elif Karaköse
Designer and Architect

Elif Karaköse is an architect and a designer based in Istanbul.

She graduated from the Department of Architecture at Yıldız Technical University in 2012. During her undergraduate studies, she spent a year at University of Alicante as an exchange student with Erasmus Scholarship. She has participated in numerous workshops and exhibitions with multidisciplinary approach. She completed her Master’s studies with honors in Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain with the thesis entitled ‘Strategies For Urban Actions_ Informal City and Participation’. Since 2014 she has been collaborating with different teams in different projects.

She is collaborating with -trak since 2018.

Kıvanç Başak
Architect and Architecture Historian 

Kıvanç Başak is an architect and an architecture historian based in İstanbul.

He studied architecture in İstanbul Technical University and holds a masters degree in Architecture History. He works as an architect in archaeological excavations focusing on restoration and site management since 2005. Being a member of teams working in major sites of Turkey, Kıvanç participated many research projects in his field. He is currently working on his publications and the design of the new restoration workshop for the Pergamon Excavations.

He is collaborating with –trak since 2011.

Linda Büyüksimkeşyan
Designer and Interior Designer  

Linda Büyüksimkeşyan is an interior designer based in İstanbul.

She completed her high school education in Private Saint Michel French High School. In 2016, she graduated with high honors from Kadir Has University, Faculty of Art and Design with a degree in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. She is interested in chess and photography. Linda, who has been interested in ceramics for many years as well, held her first major exhibition in Tarık Zafer Tunaya Culture Center in 2011.

She is collaborating with -trak since December 2018.

Mutlu Güngör
Designer and Architect

Mutlu Güngör is an architect based in İstanbul.

He studied architecture in İstanbul Technical University and holds a MBL Architectural Design Computing and took part in various architectural and urban projects. He continues to produce new design/ production techniques for a sustainable design approach. He thinks that design/ production should be shared and experienced within the community. He thinks about usability, likes to produce, build and install.

He is collaborating with -trak since 2015.

Seda Sultansu D’Agostino
Project Manager, Master Architect and Landscape Architect

Seda  Sultansu D’Agostino is an architect, landscape architect and a designer based in Barcelona.

She graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Architecture and Landscape Architecture Department. She holds a master ’s degree at in Architectural Design. She took part in the project of Istanbul Teknopark Office Buildings. She continued her career within ATELYE 70 Planners& Architects and worked with in many projects with different scales and subjects. She followed her thesis research at Rome La Sapienza  University with the Erasmus Scholarship, and participated workshops and lessons at Napoli Federico Secondo Unversity as a guest lecturer.

She is collaborating with –trak since 2011.

Sezin Karcan Kaya
Designer and Architect

Sezin Karcan Kaya is an architect and designer based in İstanbul.

She holds a bachelor degree from the Architectural Department of Istanbul Technical University, and she continues her studies at Kadir Has University Master at Design Program. She also attended Politechnika Poznańska with Erasmus Exchange Program. During her studies she joined “Yerden Yüksek Architecture Community with Children” in order to seek alternative practices to the current educational disciplines. She volunteered as a coordinator at various workshops examining child and design relation. She explores various design practices and activities since the beginning of her architectural studies. Her recent curiosity is graphic and product design.

She is collaborating with -trak since 2016.

CONTRIBUTORS
DİLARA KARA, MUTLU GÜNGÖR, BERKE ÖZKAY ÖZKÖK, ILGIN HANCIOĞLU, ELİF TAN, KIVANÇ BAŞAK, ÖZGÜN GÜRSÜRER, ANIL ÇATIK, GÜNEŞ TANIŞ, SEDA SULTANSU, TUĞYAN KEPKEP, ASENA GÜRMERİÇ, BENGİSU ECEM YILDIZ, UĞUR LATİF ÇELEBİ, EZGİ ÇİFTÇİ, DOĞAN MÜCAVİROĞLU, TUĞÇE AKBULUT, TÜMER KESER, AĞACAN BAHADIR, ZELİHA ÖZTÜRK, RENGİN AYTAN, DENİZ ENGİN
COLLABORATORS
BANAA, DESIGN ATLAS, FARKLI MEKAN, HABLAR EN ARTE, HERKES İÇİN MİMARLIK (ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL), ISTANBUL PERFORMANCE ART, ONARANLAR KULÜBÜ (REPAIRS CLUB), PICO COLECTIVO, TAK, TXP, INSTITUTE OF CREATIVE MINDS
CLIENTS
BOMONTİADA,  CAFFE NERO, COCA COLA, POZİTİF, EFES PİLSEN, NUHOĞLU LANDSCAPE, NUROL REIT, RED BULL,  SANALARC, SHOW-HOW, TAK KARTAL, TAK KADIKÖY, TEKE AJANS

Istanbul

info@design-trak.com
+905362209131
ATÖLYE, Bomontiada
Bomonti Eski Bira Fabrikası,
Merkez Mahallesi, Silahşör Caddesi,
Birahane Sokak, no:1  Şişli, İstanbul