VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series Presents: CAUTION! SLIPPERY GROUND

Istanbul Modern hosted the fourth exhibition of the VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series, a collaboration of VitrA and the Turkish Association of Architects in Private Practice. The project series aimed to document and discuss the contemporary architectural milieu in Turkey, and to create the basis for new works by focusing on different types of buildings.

Five exhibitions took place within the VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series between 2012 and 2016. Exhibitions such as "Happiness Factories" (2012), which focused on commercial buildings; "Please Do Not Disturb" (2013), addressing the concept of holiday; "Dreams to Realities" (2014), offering projections on education; "Caution! Slippery Ground" (2015), analyzing the culture of architecture; and finally "Don’t Be Late Home" (2016), which aimed to reflect the adventure of homes, all welcomed visitors within that scope. In addition to exhibitions, public programs and film screenings rendered visible reflections on the subjects at hand and focused on their evolutions.

"Caution! Slippery Ground" addressed the nature of architects and architecture: an introversive nature that communicates only with itself and holds on unwaveringly to a certain ground. Based on this perspective, the exhibition uncovered symbols and rituals of architectural culture on the one hand, while on the other, it demonstrated that there may exist additional structures lying outside this static received wisdom. This exhibition was a reminder that architecture and architectural culture, instead of being isolated in an ivory tower with a vague location, are always alive and constitute a part of daily life, with everyone participating in this cultural milieu as producers and consumers.

Curator: Yelta Köm

Coordinator: Pelin Derviş

Participants: Damjan Jovanovic, DEPURati, Epitome {collaborative network}, Günce Eşingen & Gökhan Kınayoğlu, H. Cenk Dereli, Hayrettin Günç, vgpd

Photography: Sahir Uğur Eren