To ground

"Yerebasan", a book from the Venice Architecture Biennales Turkey Pavilion series, has been published in collaboration with the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and YEM Publishing.

The Turkey Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, which will host its 19th edition in 2025, has been organized by İKSV since 2014. For each biennale, the Turkey Pavilion project is determined through an open call by a selection committee. This year, architects Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa curated the Turkey Pavilion exhibition, titled "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.", and created their exhibition called Yerebasan. They also prepared an accompanying book, edited by Melis Cankara.

19TH VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE TURKEY PAVILION: YEREBASAN
The Yerebasan project, inspired by the sensory and cyclical nature of soil, brings sustainable and environmentally harmonious ways of living to the forefront of architecture. Curators Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa invite visitors to rethink humanity's relationship with nature, urging them to explore the depths of the soil. The exhibition is designed as a space where the texture, scent, and sound of soil can be experienced, surrounded by artworks and architectural projects that address soil from various perspectives.
Hüseyin Aksoy, Michael Akstaller, E. Füsun Alioğlu & Senem Akçay, Ali Mahmut Demirel, Sinem Dişli, Yelda Gin, Ali Miharbi, Özgül Öztürk, Serkan Taycan, and Orkan Telhan contributed individually to the exhibition, while Atelier FY, Bire-Pan, Common Action Walls, Herkes İçin Mimarlık & Poçolana Works, Mono Earth, Ozruh, Rec II, ReYard House, Solidified, and Yalın Mimarlık contributed as teams.

THE YEREBASAN BOOK
The book, titled Yerebasan, which accompanies the exhibition, opens with the questions: “Are you an architect? Have you ever thought about how much soil you have shaped or displaced? Could the layers you interact with hold the key to a more harmonious relationship with the earth?” Throughout the book, which forms an independent intellectual foundation for the exhibition, the themes explored by curators Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa are deepened by writers from different professions, offering various perspectives. The book also contains detailed articles about the artworks and architectural projects in the exhibition, as well as autobiographical narratives about the exhibition from the curators.
Edited by Melis Cankara, the book features contributions from Aytek Soner Alpan, Sevince Bayrak, Enise Burcu Derinboğaz, Ceren Erdem, Ömür Harmanşah, Bilge Kalfa, Burcu Serdar Köknar, Aslı Odman, Bülent Tanju, and Evren Uzer. The book's design is by Paleworks (Ozan Akkoyun, Yağmur Ruzgâr), who are also responsible for the exhibition's visual identity.

The English edition of the book, published in partnership with İKSV and ListLab, is available at Venice Biennale bookstores and through international distributors.

The Turkish editions of the books prepared by İKSV to accompany the Turkey Pavilion exhibitions have been published in partnership with YEM Publishing for the last two architecture biennials. The first collaboration in this framework was for the Ghost Stories: The Theory of the Sack of Architecture exhibition, prepared by Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş, the curators of the Turkey Pavilion exhibition at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale.