All that is solid | PATTU Architecture

Buildings anchor memories, but buildings do not last forever. The solidity of the structure and materials does not always guarantee a building’s permanence. As Karl Marx once said, “ALL THAT IS SOLID melts into air.”

The approach was to study the history of the area around Istanbul Modern and to borrow and reassemble forms from earlier structures, showing the ephemeral side of architecture. Influenced by the region’s industrial history, ALL THAT IS SOLID is constructed with oxidized metals. The design borrows geometries from buildings of the past and crunches them together in a chaotic way. However, this chaos starts to make sense over the course of a day as these geometries become visible. Light-responsive shades open when it is cool and close when it is hot, revealing that they are printed with images. ALL THAT IS SOLID is not only a reminder of the past but also a statement about the imminent changes the future holds.

According to PATTU, who were inspired by the industrial history of the area, “ALL THAT IS SOLID” is not just a reminder of the past but also a statement about the imminent change the future holds, so that we can be more critical about it: “Buildings are like anchors to memories because they tend to last longer than our human lifespan. But how solid are buildings? The fact that they are made of stone, cement and marble does not really make them last eternally. They can easily be gone in a day. So we borrowed a part of the famous quote ‘All that is solid melts into air.’ Our approach was to dissect the space around Istanbul Modern with all its elements and previous constructions, and reassemble them, showing the ephemeral side of architecture. The design borrows geometries from past buildings that once stood in the area and crunches them together in a chaotic way. But this chaos starts making sense over the course of a day as the transparent shapes become opaque. Past geometries become visible, and invisible.”