Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making in Kağıthane, Istanbul
By Architect Ayça Öztürk Lead Architect & Director of Space, SAGIST GROUP LUXURY
An architectural graduation project exploring collaborative artistic production, interconnected spaces and the relationship between architecture, landscape and urban memory.
Publication and Author Permission
This article presents the graduation project of Architect Ayça Öztürk and is published with her permission on the SAGIST GROUP LUXURY blog.
Ayça Öztürk is an official employee of Sagist Group and is listed as Lead Architect & Director of Space in the company’s official architectural and management team directory. [7]
The article has been adapted from her original twelve-board final jury presentation, prepared for ARCH 402 C — Graduation Project, at Özyeğin University, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Architecture, during the Spring Semester of the 2025–2026 academic year.
The project is an academic architectural proposal. Its drawings and visualizations communicate a design concept rather than a documented completed building. The article preserves the project’s central ideas and distinguishes original design intentions from additional editorial interpretation.
Abstract
Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making investigates how architecture can support artistic production as an interconnected social and spatial process.
Located within the Kağıthane context of Istanbul, the proposal responds to a setting shaped by industrial memory, dense residential development, a river corridor, significant topographical variation and continuous urban movement.
The Art Factory is conceived as a Living Machine: a spatial system in which workshops, circulation routes, gathering areas and places for experiencing art operate as interdependent components. Making, sharing and encountering creative work become overlapping activities within a continuous architectural environment.
The proposal develops this idea through interconnected circular forms, courtyard openings, differentiated building heights and a sequence of interior and exterior relationships. Its twelve presentation boards document contextual analysis, conceptual development, a site plan, six floor plans, architectural sections, elevations, visualizations, construction details and a structural diagram. [1]
Keywords: Collaborative making, cultural architecture, art factory, Kağıthane, spatial continuity, architectural symbiosis, creative production, circular architecture, urban context, Ayça Öztürk.
1. Understanding Kağıthane: Production, Landscape and Urban Change
The project begins with an examination of Kağıthane as a place where different urban identities overlap.
Its contextual analysis describes a district transformed by the gradual replacement of former production zones and industrial infrastructure with a dense residential fabric. Although the physical character of the area has changed, industrial memory remains part of the project’s interpretation of the urban landscape.
The opening board introduces a historical narrative connecting production, leisure, mechanization and subsequent cultural reinterpretation. This provides a conceptual foundation for the Art Factory: production is reconsidered through contemporary creative activity.
The relationship between manufacturing and recreation also appears in the official historical account of Kağıthane, which describes the district’s association with workshops, a gunpowder facility, gardens and recreational landscapes. [2]
The proposal translates this layered identity into an architectural question:
How can a building accommodate production while making the process of creation part of public experience?
Urban Density and Spatial Relief
The project identifies the Nurtepe area as a compact, high-density urban environment.
Within this setting, the Kağıthane River corridor introduces a contrasting condition. Open landscape, recreational areas, pedestrian movement and visual connections provide spatial relief within the surrounding development.
The Art Factory’s contextual analysis therefore considers the site through several connected layers:
The density of the existing urban fabric.
Access to open space and the river corridor.
Mobility infrastructure and traffic.
Existing vegetation and the sun’s path.
The relationship between the site, nearby public functions and its wider urban setting.
These layers establish the conditions from which the architectural proposal develops.
Topography as a Design Generator
The site analysis records an approximate 35–40-metre elevation difference across the terrain considered in the contextual study.
This figure describes the project’s site analysis; it is not a statement of the proposed building’s height.
The valley condition influences movement, visibility and spatial relationships. Different elevations introduce the possibility of layered approaches, changing viewpoints and connections between building volumes and landscape.
Rather than treating the slope only as an obstacle, the proposal incorporates topographical difference into its spatial narrative.
Urban Flow and Soundscape
The contextual study also identifies traffic movement and major road intersections as sources of acoustic pressure.
This establishes sound as one of the environmental conditions to consider alongside access, landscape and orientation.
The presentation’s references to acoustic experience express design intentions. They do not constitute measured acoustic results or demonstrate a certified level of sound isolation.
2. The Central Idea: Architecture as a Living Machine
The conceptual foundation of Symbiosis is the relationship between individual components and a larger working system.
The original presentation states:
“The Art Factory is conceived as a Living Machine—a dynamic organism where space, people, and creativity operate as interdependent components of a larger system.”
In this interpretation, architecture supports a continuous exchange of people, ideas and activities.
A workshop is connected to circulation. Circulation leads to gathering. Gathering creates opportunities to encounter work in progress. The experience of an exhibition becomes connected to the processes that precede it.
The proposal therefore treats the building as an evolving cycle of making, sharing and transformation.
Five Connected Design Principles
The conceptual diagrams organize the project around five recurring ideas:
InterdependenceSpaces support one another as parts of a larger creative environment.
CoexistenceDifferent activities and users occupy a shared architectural framework.
FlowMovement connects spaces and allows creative activity to unfold through a sequence.
Living SystemThe building is understood through relationships between people, space and production.
Spatial ContinuityThe transition between components contributes to the experience of the whole.
Together, these principles define the project’s use of the term symbiosis.
3. Mechanical Imagination and Architectural Precedent
Agostino Ramelli and the Logic of Interconnected Components
The concept board references Agostino Ramelli’s mechanical imagery from 1588, described in the presentation as a “Theatre of Machines.”
Ramelli’s Le diverse et artificiose machine is documented in the Science History Institute’s digital collection. [3]
Within the graduation project, this reference supports a way of thinking about relationships: individual parts become meaningful through their contribution to a functioning system.
The architectural proposal develops that idea through connected spaces, overlapping forms and movement between activities. The reference operates at the level of conceptual organization rather than implying that the building contains moving mechanical architecture.
H.C. Andersen’s House by Kengo Kuma & Associates
The project identifies H.C. Andersen’s House in Odense, Denmark, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, as an architectural precedent.
The architect’s official project account describes linked circular forms and relationships between museum spaces, gardens and movement. [4]
Ayça Öztürk’s proposal draws inspiration from the relationship between architectural form and spatial narrative. The precedent is reinterpreted through interconnected geometries and layered spaces that connect interior experience with the surrounding landscape.
The source board records the precedent as 5,600 m² and 2022, consistent with the architect’s published project listing. The museum’s own account identifies its inauguration in summer 2021. These refer to different published date descriptions and should not be treated as interchangeable milestones. [4][5]
4. Spatial Narrative: Experiencing Art While It Is Being Made
The project’s spatial narrative places visitors within a sequence of encounters.
The original presentation explains:
“Entering the site, the visitor encounters a spatial system that operates much like a machine. Each architectural component functions as a distinct element within a larger mechanism, where spaces interlock, support one another, and collectively sustain the process of artistic production.”
Art is presented as a living process involving people, workspaces, shared experiences and opportunities for observation.
The narrative collage brings together several dimensions of that experience:
Encountering the slope and the surrounding landscape.
Moving toward an exhibition.
Discovering views across the setting.
Experiencing the atmosphere created by light.
Working with people from different disciplines.
Considering the acoustic character of a space.
Gathering outdoors.
These scenes communicate anticipated experiences within the proposal. They are conceptual scenarios rather than post-occupancy testimony from an operating building.
The objective is to allow artistic production and public experience to coexist within a connected spatial environment.
5. Site Planning and Interconnected Circular Forms
The 1:500 site plan translates the conceptual diagrams into an architectural arrangement.
Circular and curved building components are connected through a continuous composition. Openings within the forms create courtyards and introduce landscape into the architectural sequence.
The site plan shows how the proposal relates to surrounding routes, green areas and the broader geometry of the site.
The circular language also appears in the internal organization of spaces. Curved circulation, rooms arranged around central openings and connections between differently sized volumes establish a recognizable spatial vocabulary.
The resulting composition combines repetition with variation. Its parts share a formal language while accommodating different scales and arrangements.
6. Floor-by-Floor Architectural Organization
The presentation includes six floor plans, each identified at 1:200: basement, ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor and fourth floor.
The following descriptions interpret what is visible in the supplied drawings. They do not assign detailed room names, capacities or operational schedules that are not established by the presentation.
Basement
The basement plan documents the principal parking arrangement, vehicular circulation and access ramp.
Parking bays, accessible parking symbols, vertical circulation and ancillary areas are visible in the drawing.
This level introduces the supporting infrastructure beneath the public and creative spaces above.
Ground Floor
The ground floor brings together the project’s principal interconnected geometries.
The drawing shows a large circular courtyard, smaller circular spaces, areas furnished with worktables, informal seating and an area of tiered audience seating.
Curved circulation connects the different components and establishes relationships between arrival, activity and gathering.
The courtyard acts as an organizing reference within the plan, allowing the building’s internal arrangement to remain connected to an open space.
First Floor
The first-floor drawing develops the relationship between rooms, working areas, shared spaces and the circular circulation system.
The organization maintains connections between the main building components while introducing a different distribution of enclosed and open areas.
The plan demonstrates how the project’s formal language can support variation between levels.
Second Floor
The second-floor plan continues the arrangement of furnished spaces around circular openings.
Grouped tables and seating are visible within the curved building perimeter, suggesting different scales of occupation within the overall composition.
The drawing contributes to the project’s exploration of coexistence: smaller spaces and larger shared areas remain connected through a common architectural framework.
Third Floor
At the third floor, the distribution of occupied areas changes as the building volumes step in height.
The plan shows a more selective arrangement of spaces, while lower components remain legible through their roof outlines.
This helps explain the proposal’s differentiated massing and its relationship to the open areas below.
Fourth Floor
The fourth-floor plan concentrates enclosed accommodation within the highest remaining circular component.
The reduced footprint makes the vertical hierarchy of the proposal clear. The building reads as a family of connected volumes with different heights, rather than a uniform extrusion of the ground-floor plan.
7. Sections: Connecting Levels, Courtyards and Building Mass
The presentation includes A–A, B–B and C–C sections, each at 1:200.
These drawings explain relationships that cannot be fully understood through plans alone:
The position of the basement beneath the building.
Differences in height between connected volumes.
The vertical extent of courtyard openings.
Relationships between internal floors and outdoor spaces.
The presence of landscape within the architectural composition.
The sections show how the proposal combines horizontal continuity with variation in height.
Courtyards interrupt the building mass and provide a reference for understanding the relationship between occupied space, open sky and landscape.
The accompanying aerial visualization reinforces this reading by showing the distribution of roofs, openings and interconnected forms.
8. Elevations and Architectural Visualizations
The fourth presentation board includes three architectural visualizations and south-east, south-west and north-west elevations.
These views communicate the relationship between the building’s curved geometry, glazed areas and more solid surfaces.
Daytime and nighttime visualizations explore different readings of the same composition. The daytime imagery emphasizes mass, surface and landscape, while the nighttime imagery gives greater prominence to illuminated openings and the continuity between internal and external space.
Additional visualizations appear with the sections and construction details.
Together, the five numbered renders document the project’s intended architectural atmosphere. They are representations of the proposal, rather than photographs of completed construction.
9. Structural Strategy and Material Expression
The structural diagram presents a steel-framed system organized around the project’s circular geometries.
The exploded view separates vertical supports, floor structures and roof components, helping explain how the formal composition is conceived as an assembly.
The construction board also identifies:
Aluminium façade joinery.
Triple-glazed glass.
Steel structural elements.
Precast concrete panels.
Rock wool insulation.
Gypsum board and internal surface finishes.
Composite floor components.
A column-to-foundation connection.
These annotations show an intention to connect architectural expression with a proposed construction logic.
Roof Assembly Annotations
The 1:20 section detail records the following roof-related layers:
Source annotation | Thickness shown |
Gravel layer / coarse aggregate | 5 cm |
PE geotextile / polyethylene geotextile | 0.2 cm |
Waterproofing layer / bituminous membrane | 2 cm |
Slope screed | 5 cm |
Protective cement-based screed | 4 cm |
XPS thermal insulation | 10 cm |
Cement-based levelling screed | 3 cm |
Floor Assembly Annotations
Source annotation | Thickness shown |
Floor layer | 2 cm |
Adhesive | 1 cm |
Levelling layer | 4 cm |
Concrete | 10 cm |
Reinforcing mesh | Not specified |
Corrugated panel | 8 cm |
Steel element | 25 cm |
Wall and Façade Assembly Annotations
Source annotation | Thickness shown |
Precast concrete panel | 10 cm |
Rock wool insulation | 8 cm |
Gypsum board | 4 cm |
Steel stud | 25 cm |
Internal surface coating | Not specified |
The column-base detail additionally identifies a metal column, stiffeners, support and base plate, levelling mortar, anchorage bolts, bottom footing reinforcement, mud slab and compacted base.
Technical reading note: These dimensions reproduce the academic board annotations. They are not presented as approved construction specifications. Material thicknesses, assembly order, structural sizing and performance requirements would require coordinated design development before construction.
10. Environmental and Sensory Design Intentions
Symbiosis brings together several environmental and experiential considerations.
Landscape connections appear through courtyards, planted areas and the relationship with the river corridor.
Daylight and atmosphere are explored through glazing, openings and visualizations of internal space.
Acoustic experience appears in the contextual soundscape analysis and the project’s narrative scenarios.
Thermal-envelope intentions are represented through insulation and glazing annotations.
Topographical response is expressed through the site analysis and the proposal’s layered spatial arrangement.
The supplied presentation does not include measured energy results, daylight simulations, acoustic calculations or post-occupancy evaluation. Its contribution lies in the architectural proposal and the relationships it sets out to explore.
11. Discussion: A Cultural Building Organized Around Relationships
The central contribution of Symbiosis is its interpretation of architecture as a relationship between activities.
Its identity develops through the connection between production and observation, movement and gathering, interior and landscape, individual work and collective experience.
The circular forms establish a visual language, while the plans and sections examine how that language can support different levels of occupation.
The project also connects its contemporary programme with Kağıthane’s production-oriented urban memory. The Art Factory becomes a proposal for continuing the idea of making through cultural activity.
As an academic graduation project, it brings together urban reading, conceptual development, architectural representation and construction thinking within one design study.
12. Complete Presentation and Drawing Register
The original submission comprises twelve boards:
Board | Content |
01 | Kağıthane context, historical narrative, urban density, movement, soundscape, landscape, sun path and topography |
02 | Spatial narrative, Living Machine concept, Ramelli reference, H.C. Andersen museum precedent and design-process diagrams |
03 | Site plan, 1:500 |
04 | Renders 1–3 and south-east, south-west and north-west elevations |
05 | Basement plan, 1:200 |
06 | Ground-floor plan, 1:200 |
07 | First-floor plan, 1:200 |
08 | Second-floor plan, 1:200 |
09 | Third-floor plan, 1:200 |
10 | Fourth-floor plan, 1:200 |
11 | A–A, B–B and C–C sections, 1:200, and Render 5 |
12 | Section and façade details, 1:20, material annotations, Render 4 and structural diagram |
Project and drawing credit: Architect Ayça Öztürk. Historical illustrations and photographs of architectural precedents appearing within the original boards retain their respective source credits and rights.
Publisher’s Perspective: From Collaborative Architecture to Bespoke Interiors
The following commentary is provided by SAGIST GROUP LUXURY and is separate from the original academic project.
Symbiosis raises questions that extend beyond cultural buildings: how can an interior support different activities, encourage interaction and maintain a coherent relationship between furniture, circulation and architectural form?
These questions can inform the briefing process for hospitality lounges, collaborative workplaces, restaurants and shared residential spaces.
Gensler’s 2026 hospitality outlook discusses cultural immersion, personal experience and opportunities for human connection. [6] In our editorial interpretation, Ayça Öztürk’s attention to gathering and spatial continuity offers a relevant starting point for considering how shared interiors are organized.
This is a professional application of the design discussion. The graduation project itself is an Art Factory proposal rather than a hotel or commercial fit-out study.
Connecting Architectural Form with Interior Detail
Curved architecture introduces practical questions for interior design and bespoke manufacturing.
Furniture must relate to the geometry of the space without obstructing circulation. Fitted elements need coordinated dimensions. Seating arrangements must support the intended activities. Materials, lighting and finishes should contribute to a consistent spatial experience.
For a future project, these considerations might lead to curved reception joinery, radial seating, custom worktables, fitted storage or project-specific lounge furniture. Such items are possible applications, not a furniture schedule established by the graduation boards.
Explore Related SAGIST GROUP LUXURY Services
SAGIST GROUP LUXURY provides bespoke furniture manufacturing, architectural joinery and coordinated turnkey interior services for international projects, subject to an agreed scope.
Hotel Furniture and Hospitality FF&EExplore guestroom furniture, lobby seating and coordinated furnishing packages for hotels and resorts.
Office Furniture and Collaborative Workplace InteriorsExplore executive furniture, meeting environments, reception areas and workplace furnishing.
Restaurant Furniture and Shared Dining EnvironmentsExplore dining chairs, banquettes, bar fronts and bespoke joinery.
Bespoke Home FurnitureExplore residential furniture and fitted elements tailored to the architecture and everyday use of a home.
Luxury Villa Interiors and Turnkey Project ServicesDiscuss project-specific furniture, materials and interior delivery requirements.
Meet the Sagist Group Architectural TeamLearn about the team, including Architect Ayça Öztürk.
Discuss Your Project
For a hotel, villa, restaurant, workplace or other bespoke interior project, visit www.hotelmobilya.com.
Share your project location, architectural drawings, dimensions, quantities, intended use, material preferences and target programme to discuss a suitable scope.
SAGIST GROUP LUXURYBespoke Furniture Manufacturing · Architectural Joinery · Turnkey Interior DeliveryIstanbul, Türkiye
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making?
It is an architectural graduation project by Architect Ayça Öztürk. The proposal explores how spaces for making, sharing and experiencing art can operate as an interconnected cultural environment.
Who is the author?
The author is Architect Ayça Öztürk, an employee of SAGIST GROUP LUXURY and the company’s Lead Architect & Director of Space.
Is the article published with Ayça Öztürk’s permission?
Yes. The project is presented on the SAGIST GROUP LUXURY blog with Ayça Öztürk’s permission, with its academic context and authorship acknowledged.
Where is the project located?
The proposal is developed within the Kağıthane context of Istanbul, Türkiye, with particular attention to the Nurtepe urban fabric, river corridor, surrounding landscape and topography.
What does “Living Machine” mean in this project?
The term describes a building whose spaces operate as interdependent components. Workshops, circulation and gathering areas contribute to a continuous process of creative production and exchange.
Which architectural precedent influenced the project?
The presentation identifies H.C. Andersen’s House in Odense, Denmark, by Kengo Kuma & Associates. The project draws inspiration from its linked forms and relationships between architecture, landscape and spatial narrative.
Which drawings are included?
The twelve-board submission includes contextual analysis, conceptual diagrams, a site plan, six floor plans, three sections, three elevations, five numbered renders, construction details and a structural diagram.
Is the Art Factory a completed building?
The supplied material presents an academic architectural proposal. It does not document a completed or operational Art Factory.
Are the construction dimensions ready for site use?
The dimensions are annotations from the academic design presentation. They require professional coordination and verification before use in construction, procurement or fabrication.
How does the project relate to bespoke interior design?
It raises questions about circulation, shared activity, curved geometry and the relationship between furniture and architecture. These can inform project briefing for bespoke interiors, while each commercial application requires its own specifications.
Does the project demonstrate certified environmental performance?
The presentation communicates environmental design intentions through site analysis, landscape relationships and material annotations. It does not provide certification or measured building-performance results.
Where can readers explore Sagist Group’s services?
Visit www.hotelmobilya.com for bespoke furniture manufacturing and turnkey interior services, or explore the dedicated hotel, office, restaurant and home furniture pages.
Project Summary and Academic Context
Project: Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative MakingAuthor: Architect Ayça ÖztürkProfessional affiliation: SAGIST GROUP LUXURYCompany role: Lead Architect & Director of SpaceUniversity: Özyeğin UniversityFaculty: Faculty of Architecture and DesignDepartment: ArchitectureCourse: ARCH 402 C — Graduation ProjectAcademic period: Spring Semester, 2025–2026Project context: Kağıthane, Istanbul, TürkiyeProject type: Academic cultural-building proposalCore concepts: Interdependence, coexistence, flow, living system and spatial continuitySource presentation: Twelve final jury boardsPublication: With the author’s permission
References and Further Reading
[1] Öztürk, Ayça. Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collobrative Making. Original twelve-board final jury presentation. ARCH 402 C — Graduation Project, Özyeğin University, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Architecture. Spring Semester, 2025–2026. Supplied by the author for this publication. The original board title uses “Collobrative”; this adapted article uses the standard spelling “Collaborative.”
[2] Kağıthane District Governorate. İlçemizin Tarihçesi. Official historical context for the district.Read the official historical account
[3] Ramelli, Agostino. Le diverse et artificiose machine del capitano Agostino Ramelli. Paris, 1588. Science History Institute Digital Collections.View the digitized historical publication
[4] Kengo Kuma & Associates. New Hans Christian Andersen Museum. Official architectural project account.View the architect’s project record
[5] H.C. Andersens Hus. About Hans Christian Andersen’s House. Official museum account.Read about the museum
[6] Gensler. Trends to Watch: What’s Next for Hotels and Hospitality. Published 6 January 2026. Used for the separate publisher commentary.Read the hospitality outlook
[7] SAGIST GROUP LUXURY. Official team directory, listing Ayça Öztürk as Lead Architect & Director of Space.View the architectural and management team
Publication note: This article is an editorial adaptation of Ayça Öztürk’s academic presentation. It does not claim university endorsement, construction approval, a commissioned development or completion of the proposed building.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making
What is Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making?
Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making is an architectural graduation project by Architect Ayça Öztürk. It explores how spaces for artistic production, gathering and experiencing art can function as an interconnected cultural environment in Kağıthane, Istanbul.
Who designed the Symbiosis Art Factory project?
Architect Ayça Öztürk designed the project for ARCH 402 C — Graduation Project at Özyeğin University’s Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Architecture, during the Spring Semester of the 2025–2026 academic year.
Who is Architect Ayça Öztürk?
Ayça Öztürk is an architect and an official employee of SAGIST GROUP LUXURY. The company’s official team directory lists her as Lead Architect & Director of Space. Her graduation project is shared on the Sagist Group blog with her permission.
Is this article published with Ayça Öztürk’s permission?
Yes. This article presents Ayça Öztürk’s graduation project with her permission. It is an editorial adaptation of her twelve-board final jury presentation, with its authorship and academic context acknowledged.
Where is the proposed Art Factory located?
The project is developed within the Kağıthane context of Istanbul, Türkiye. Its site analysis examines the Nurtepe urban fabric, the Kağıthane River corridor, surrounding movement networks, landscape and topography.
What does “symbiosis” mean in this architectural project?
Symbiosis describes the interdependence of spaces, people and creative activities. Workshops, circulation routes, gathering areas and places for experiencing art contribute to a shared environment in which making and exchange can occur together.
What is the Living Machine concept?
The Living Machine concept treats the building as a system of connected components. Each space supports other spaces, creating a continuous relationship between artistic production, movement, observation and gathering.
How does the project support collaborative making?
The proposal connects working areas with circulation and shared spaces. Its spatial narrative considers how people from different disciplines might encounter one another, exchange ideas and experience creative work as it develops.
Why are circular forms important to the design?
Circular and curved forms provide a consistent architectural language across the proposal. They organize spaces around openings and courtyards, connect different building components and establish relationships between movement, enclosure and landscape.
How does the project respond to Kağıthane’s industrial history?
The presentation uses Kağıthane’s production-oriented urban memory as a conceptual starting point. It reinterprets the idea of a factory through contemporary artistic activity. The supplied material does not establish the conversion of a particular existing factory building.
How does the project respond to the site’s topography?
The contextual analysis records an approximate 35–40-metre elevation difference across the terrain considered in the study. The proposal explores how changes in level can influence movement, viewpoints and spatial organization. This figure describes the site analysis, not the building’s height.
Which architectural precedent influenced Symbiosis?
The presentation identifies H.C. Andersen’s House in Odense, Denmark, by Kengo Kuma & Associates as an architectural precedent. Ayça Öztürk’s proposal draws inspiration from relationships between linked forms, landscape and spatial narrative.
What drawings are included in the graduation project?
The twelve-board submission includes contextual analysis, conceptual diagrams, a site plan, six floor plans, three architectural sections, three elevations, five numbered renders, construction details and a structural diagram.
Which floor plans are included?
The project includes basement, ground-floor, first-floor, second-floor, third-floor and fourth-floor plans. Each is identified at 1:200 in the original presentation.
What structural system does the project propose?
The structural diagram illustrates a steel-framed system organized around the project’s circular geometries. The construction board also identifies glazing, aluminium façade joinery, precast concrete panels, insulation, floor components and a column-base connection.
Are the construction details approved for fabrication or site work?
No. They are academic design details and annotations. Structural dimensions, material thicknesses, connections and assembly requirements would need professional coordination and verification before construction or fabrication.
Is Symbiosis a completed building?
The supplied presentation documents an academic architectural proposal. Its visualizations represent the intended design and should not be described as photographs of a completed or operational Art Factory.
Does the project demonstrate measured environmental performance?
The project presents environmental design intentions through site analysis, landscape relationships, openings and material annotations. The supplied boards do not include measured energy results, acoustic calculations, daylight simulations or environmental certification.
How can this project inform collaborative workplace design?
As a design interpretation, Symbiosis encourages questions about how working areas connect with shared spaces, how circulation supports encounters and how furniture relates to architectural geometry. Applying these ideas to a workplace requires a separate brief, operational requirements and technical specifications.
How can the project inform hotel and hospitality interiors?
Its exploration of gathering, movement and spatial continuity can inform questions asked when briefing hotel lobbies, lounges and other communal interiors. These are editorial applications of the design discussion; the graduation project itself studies an Art Factory rather than a hotel.
What is the relationship between curved architecture and bespoke furniture?
Curved spaces can require project-specific furniture dimensions and layouts. Reception joinery, fitted storage, seating and worktables need to relate to circulation, access and the intended use of the interior. Symbiosis provides a context for discussing these relationships, but its boards do not establish a complete furniture procurement schedule.
What is SAGIST GROUP LUXURY’s role in this publication?
SAGIST GROUP LUXURY is the blog publisher and Ayça Öztürk’s employer. The publication shares her academic design work with permission. It does not establish that Sagist Group commissioned or constructed the proposed Art Factory.
Where can architects and developers explore related interior services?
SAGIST GROUP LUXURY provides information about bespoke furniture manufacturing, architectural joinery and turnkey interior services through its official website.
Readers can explore hotel furniture and hospitality FF&E, office furniture, restaurant furniture and bespoke home furniture.
What information helps begin a bespoke interior project discussion?
A useful initial brief includes the project location, architectural drawings, dimensions, intended activities, quantities, preferred materials and target programme. These details help define the design, manufacturing and installation scope.
Research and Publication Summary
Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making is an academic architectural proposal by Architect Ayça Öztürk, developed at Özyeğin University for ARCH 402 C — Graduation Project, Spring Semester 2025–2026.
Set within Kağıthane, Istanbul, the project explores collaborative artistic production through interconnected circular forms, courtyards, landscape relationships and a Living Machine concept. Its twelve-board presentation documents the design from contextual analysis to plans, sections, elevations, visualizations and proposed construction details.
The article is published by SAGIST GROUP LUXURY with Ayça Öztürk’s permission. She is the company’s Lead Architect & Director of Space. The proposal is presented as academic work, with professional applications discussed separately from its original design intentions.
Architect Ayça Öztürk Symbiosis: Art Factory for Collaborative Making in Kağıthane, Istanbul
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