This studio engages students in an intensive process of making and doing, where architectural knowledge is constructed through hands-on exploration, experimentation, and spatial problem-solving. Through design projects, students tackle fundamental design challenges, developing spatial awareness and design literacy. The studio emphasizes conceptual thinking and research, encouraging students to critically examine architectural precedents, articulate design ideas, and build their own intellectual frameworks. At the core of the course is an investigation of architectonics—the relationships between space, structure, and form. Students are guided to think spatially and materially while producing coherent and contextually responsive design outcomes.

The escapecore project introduces the conceptual and philosophical foundations of the Escapecore Studio. Escapecore is not a tiny house studio, an exercise in square meters, or a performance of aesthetic minimalism. Instead, this studio investigates how belonging can be produced within movement in an era where permanence is collapsing. You will not design houses; you will design through a “reflex of finding place”.

After student produced their own Escapecore, their needs, their way of dwelling within movement. Then, a new question emerges: 

• What happens when cores meet? 

Escapecore is not only about the individual. It is also about coexistence within fragility. This module investigates how belonging expands from the self to the collective. 

 

Course Instructors:

Prof. Havva Alkan Bala

Assist. Prof. Özlem Kevseroğlu Kurban

Ress. Assist. Aslıhan Atılgan

Ress. Assist. Gülsüm Polat

Ress. Assist. İrem Baz Sözüer

Ress. Assist. Nurefşan Yıldırım

 

Click to see Collective Escapecore ‘OBA’ studies and individual student projects.

 

Jury Photos: