RE_Lab program carried out with the collaboration of 2017 Tandem Turkey partners, ‘TAK Kadıköy’ from Istanbul and the art collective ‘Hablar en Arte’ from Madrid, started in May 2017, with the meeting of the collectives in Istanbul. To on the improvement of the field surrounding the willow tree and seating units just next to Kadıköy Bull Statue at the entrance of Bahariye Street was decided. During the process in which the circular design principles are prioritized, the warehouses of Kadıköy Municipality are visited and the opportunities for using the waste materials of the municipality are discussed. The iron and wood workshops of Kadıköy Municipality are visited as well and the equipment that might be used during the workshop are determined.
In a system where the actions carried out at the street perceived as ‘rebellion’ and the interventions coming from the top seen as ‘system requirement’, an intervention process between two was built.
One of the most crucial aims of this project was to design alternative ways against the interventions made by the authorities and break the city users’ frustration. Therefore, we aimed to run the urban intervention project by a participatory process. Accordingly, participants are selected by an open call and a 10 day workshop has been organised for September. The field search and and design drafts that are made between May and September shown to the participants in the beginning of the workshop and a design workshop has been carried out.
The production proposals and projects in several scales were developed during the workshop process, but the most workable one was carried out as we contacted with the municipality for the first time and the workshop period was limited. Other proposals were submitted to Kadıköy Municipality as a transformative potential of the urban furniture.
After the lectures on the usage of tools in the studios and work safety information were given to the participants in the iron and wood workshops of Kadıköy Municipality, all of the designed urban furnitures were produced with 1:1 scale and anchored to the field by the participants.
After the urban furniture produced on 15 September 2017 were placed to the field and the landscape design was done, the renewed space was put in service. The “At the Bull” project for the improvement of a part of the city we use in our daily routine was performed together with the people of Kadıköy as users and designers of Kadıköy.
Another important point about the “At the Bull” project was to make up an example to organize the municipalities carry out a project from the viewpoint of the users by using us.
After the project field was put into service, a conversation was carried out at Cervantes Institute in which the daily users of the space were invited.
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