Invitation | KENAN PENÇE

DESIGN STORY

FORM/ SCALE / CONTACT: AKM, located in Taksim Square, the focal point of Istanbul, is an
iconic building that brings the city together with culture and art in the history of modernization in
Turkey. The building, which establishes spatial, relational, historical, artistic and identity ties with the
square it is located in, has a strong character and spirit. Naturally, it was considered important that the
statue to be designed for this building should have a simple, strong dialogue and inviting
communication with the square as well as with the AKM. While the statue was being designed,
analyzes were made on the ground on which it is located, the area it occupies in space, its relationship
with the building, and its visibility from different points in the square. In this context, the use of
monumental tectonic forms (size, length, depth), the inclusion of space in the design, the radical
placement of forms on the AKM structure and the choice of color enabled the sculpture to be
perceived at near and far scales.
Although the inclusion of fluid monumental and majestic forms in the geometric and rational form of
AKM is a surprising, intriguing, courageous and radical attitude; It is also the expression of a fair
design language that strengthens AKM's iconic expression and where the structure and sculpture
support each other positively.
The sculpture also carries the artistic and architectural heritage of the old and new AKM buildings into
its story. Rhythm, dynamism and rotating forms in Cevdet Bilgi's "belly dancer" sculpture; The sharp
forms and power of abstraction in Sadi Diren's ceramics; The color of the hemisphere inside the new
building and the fluid forms of the interior spaces and the concert hall are carried to the outside of the
building, establishing a connection with the historicity, memory and emotion of the building.
The masses that make up the sculpture are inspired by natural mineral forms rooted deep in the earth,
and this expression of form also emphasizes the universal bond of culture and art with place and
tradition.The tectonic masses, which emerge from the soil ground determined for the competition and
first form an abstract cornered geometric spiral, jump in space (Gestalt / completion principle of the
eye) and combine with the masses on the surface and roof of AKM to form an elliptical form. In a
sense, the sculpture designs the void along with the masses (fullness). Thus, the spatial gap between
the statue on the ground and AKM gains a spatial and symbolic meaning.
SUBJECT/THEME/CONTEXT: Art is a bold and creative proposal for people to question and make
sense of their coordinates (mathematical, spatial) and place (mental, sensory, historical, religious). The
sculpture proposed for AKM aims to question and present timeless (ancient), universal and
contemporary ideas about creativity and art from a multi-layered world of form, design and meaning.
Monumental masses extending from the ground/tradition to which they are affiliated with an
expressionist expression form a geometric spiral on the ground (also a reference to the rational form of
AKM) and complete the elliptical cycle with a quantum leap in space and time. Spiral and ellipse
forms are ancient symbols that have been used since prehistoric times to express the laws and cycle of
creation. Fluid and dynamic cycle, rhythmic and proportional growth expressed by spiral and elliptical
forms are used in painting, architecture, music, dance, etc. It can be seen in all branches of art. The
"golden ratio spiral", which is the symbol of the relation of order that gives harmony and proportions

to human creation from the laws of creation, is abstracted and extends to the AKM building, which
represents art and culture, as a monument that can be experienced spatially and spatially in 4
dimensions. As in Michaelangelo's "Creation of Adam" fresco, the space between the fingers/khôra
(Plato)/Riss (Heidegger), which has not yet been united but has a strong potential for the concepts of
creation/life/art, is the absence that always drags people to question, search and rethink. , has been
added to the design and meaning dimension of the sculpture as an empty arch that symbolizes both the
connection and the distance between being and existence.
CONCLUSION: The sculpture is a call to art, which is a multi-layered field of inquiry, by
strengthening the communication between ancient symbols, historical, relational, identity and
universal ties and the individual, the building and the environment (square), and therefore to the
artistic activities taking place inside the AKM building.