YAP Istanbul Modern Finalist Entry by ONZ Architects

Earlier this month, the installation Sky Spotting Stop had been chosen as the first-ever YAP Istanbul Modern winner in conjunction with the Young Architects Programs at MoMA PS1 in New York, MAXXI in Rome and the cultural organization CONSTRUCTO in Santiago, Chile.

Here is now also one of the five YAP Istanbul Modern finalist entries: Tearing the Ground by young Ankara-based firm, ONZ Architects.

Tearing The Ground - ONZ Architects from ONZ Architects on Vimeo.

Project Description from ONZ Architects:

Tearing The Ground

Designed by ONZ Architects, “Tearing the Ground”is a contemporary interpretation of a flying carpet constructed with reused plastic units, made of marine litter. People tend to ignore things they don’t want to see however the Marmara Sea is getting more and more polluted every day. We don’t usually realize the gravity of the problem but still it remains, like it’s been swept under the carpet. We believe we can only change this situation by stopping people to forget the problem, by constantly reminding them, what’s going on under their feet.

The project team tears the ground and lifts up this carpet and put it in the air with everything it conceals. Thus the plastic waste produced by the city becomes the main material for the installation. What is rubbish becomes value. In a way, the project will be a reflection of what is discarded into the sea, what the city produces as waste and all that waste that is beyond the recycling system.

The project therefore is in a constant interaction with the nature, the sea and also in an indirect relation with the people of the city, by exposing them what they consume. The strength of the project comes from this exchange between the installation-the nature-and the urban life.

Project Details:

Architects: ONZ Architects
Location: Istanbul / Istanbul Modern
Design Team: Onat Öktem - Zeynep Öktem - Gökhan Kınayoğlu - Refik Burak Atatür
Project Team: Esat Can Meker - Besmir Kamberi
Thanks to: Hülya Ertaş – Peter Lewis