“Expanding the Biennial in Time and Space”: In Conversation With Mariana Pestana, Curator of the 5th Istanbul Design Biennial 


Dansbana! Kalamış. Image © Kayhan Kaygusuz

Dansbana! Kalamış. Image © Kayhan Kaygusuz

With an on-going digital and physical evolution, the 5th Istanbul Design Biennial took a new approach. “Rather than focusing on the presentation of final results in a compressed period of time and space”, the global circumstances created the opportunity to present new projects on a longer period of time and in expanded spaces, offering not an exhibition but “a digital and research program with a series of permanent interventions in the city.”

Launched on October 15, 2020, the event brought together, with its new structure, different formats under the theme of Empathy Revisited. As the first part of the physical display has ended, ArchDaily had the chance to discuss with Mariana Pestana, architect and curator of the 5th Istanbul Design Biennial, the event and choice behind this year’s theme, the programs and the participants as well as the evolution of her approach due to the global circumstances.

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