Future Interior Architects Work on Real Designs at University Amphitheatres.
Through university – industry collaborations, projects and workshops, students are able to meet with the world of business while at their faculties and work on real projects.
In this scope, Yeditepe University’s Faculty of Architecture realized the design workshop that will continue through 2022-2023 Fall semester, in collaboration with Idealist Interior Architecture Foundation. In the retail oriented workshop that aims to strengthen the ties between academy and industry, young future interior architects will be able to work with Arch. Hakan Sekman, one of the renowned faces of the industry. Stating that the projects at the end of the workshop may be implemented within the industry, Hakan Sekmen also said; “If the student projects are realized, it is not only a gift of the workshop, but also a moment of pride for our efforts”.
15 students from the third year students of the Department of Interior Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture have applied to the project, to be conducted by Arch. Hakan Sekman and Dr. Aslan Nayeb. Students participating in the workshop will, at the same time, take part in the design process of a project that is conducted by Hakan Sekman’s office. All the design aspects of the project will be implemented into the workshop efforts that will be conducted by the students. Stating that the most important part of the workshop is the students encountering the risks and opportunities that they may experience within the scope of the industry prior to their graduation, and realizing their own potential, Prof. Dr. Ece Ceylan Baba, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Yeditepe University, also stated that an exhibition and jury announcements for the workshop will also take place.
“They will Realize that This Is not a Job on Paper, but in Real Life”
One of the founding members of Idealist Interior Architecture Foundation and Deputy Director of the Board of Executives, Arch. Hakan Sekmen, stated his views as follows; “Today, I met 15 Yeditepe students who I will teach for a semester. This process will be one where industry realities will meet academical theories. When I established my own office 23 years ago, I was at a complete loss. I learned everything by experience, sometimes with more losses than gains. Our aim is to enable young architects to experience all these as students and be much more experienced when they graduate. This workshop coincided with a great time because, as Hakan Sekmen Architecture Office, we have a multi-story retail space project that we are working on at the moment. It has just started and has a timeframe of three and a half months to be completed. Courses take place just in this timeframe. So, students will experience everything in real time. Here, everything is real, students will take the necessary measurements and calculate everything. So, they will realize this is not a job on paper, but in real life.”
“There is a Possibility of Realizing the Project”
Stating that as Yeditepe University’s Faculty of Architecture, they put great importance on the active relationships with occupational organzations as well as theoretical courses, Prof. Dr. Ece Ceylan Baba, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Yeditepe University said the following regarding the project:
“A collaboration will take place between the Idealist Interior Architecture Occupational Organization and the Department of Interior Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture at Yeditepe University. Our students, under the supervision of our faculty member and a real architect assigned by Idealist, will work on a project that has the potential to be realized. Within the scope of the collaboration, our students will design a real department store. There is a possibility that this project may be actually approved and constructed. Our students will learn about being present in a real life business atmosphere and designing something while still at school. This makes the collaboration even more important. The project that will take place throughout the Fall semester of the 2022 academic year will be completed at the end of December. We will also have an exhibition for the workshop and will announce the jury soon.”
“The Reason We Work with Hakan Sekmen is His Specialization”
Deputy Head of the Department of Interior Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture at Yeditepe University, Dr. Aslan Nayep pointed out the fact that students will work on different scales of the project depending on their classes and project groups, and stated the following: “We also undertook this project within the scope of the retail project of the third year students that take place in the third year of their studies. The reason we work with Hakan Sekmen is his specialization. Due to his office conducting a real project at the moment, our collaboration could not have a better timing. Thanks to this, our students have the opportunity of having a workshop education that will enable them to have experience on both design and implementation processes of a project. The project of a department store has been selected in line with their capabilities as a class. With the collaboration of Idealist, we are able to turn it into a real project. Students could have these practical experiences in their internships, yet having the opportunity of 4 months of time working on such a project is not an opportunity we always have. In this integrated process, students will experience both sides. We start as the Department of Interior Architecture. We will conduct this collaboration with the help of Idealist, and we also plan to have different workshops with different architects in different classes with different project scales”.
“We will Take Part in a Project that We can Show Our Skills in the World of Business for the First Time”
3rd Year Student at the Department of Interior Architecture, Elçin Nur Türeli also stated that she is excited for the opportunity to participate in the workshop and stated the following: “We will take part We will take part in a project that we can show our skills in the world of business for the first time. We are also excited to work with distinguished architects who are specialists in their fields. There has been no opportunity for our projects to be implemented in real life before. So, I believe the workshop will be invaluable for our resumes when we step into the world of business. I hope we will have great projects”.