Competition: Socio Design Foundation, Social Vignette Competition, "Breaking From Plato’s" Cave, USA

 

Competition: Socio Design Foundation, Social Vignette Competition, "Breaking From Plato’s" Cave, USA

2011, Honorable mention, USA, 09.01.2012

Plato’s allegory of the cave can be taken as an example for Istanbul dwellers. This allegory can be represented through intertwined building layers in urban space. Against these boundary layers, Escape from Plato's Cave is proposed as a metaphor for constructing an alternative strategy to change our perception of rapid construction in urban space. In order to break the boundaries between the ideal world and the real world, there can be an escape by playing with the shown reality, by developing a holistic approach and a non-schismogenic artistic intervention. At the exit from Plato's cave, a way is sought to destroy this ‘reality’ perceived by many people as it needs to be, through play and active participation.

A transformation of the perception of the overlapping layers in the built environment can be opened up for new realms through the act of intervention: playing, stretching, and unfolding.

Later published in an article: Özdamar, E. G., 2013. Breaking from Plato’s Cave: Towards a Holistic 

Approach in Urban Housing in Istanbul, Arquitetura Revista, 9(2), pp. 153-160, ISSN: 1808-5741. doi: 10.4013/arq.2013.92.08

Design: Esen Gökçe Özdamar