About SO?

Founded in 2007 by Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş, SO? Architecture and Ideas is an Istanbul-based studio focusing on design, architecture and urbanism. They have won numerous awards in competitions and their articles and projects have been published in a number of magazines including Huffington Post, Wallpaper, Dezeen, A10, Concept, Architect’s Journal. In 2013, they won the Young Architects Program by MOMA/PS1, creating “Sky Spotting Stop” for Istanbul Modern that was exhibited at MOMA and MAXXI, and published in Architekturführer Istanbul. Their work, including “Urban Age 2009” with LSE Cities, “Cityness” and “Test Tube” in Rotterdam, “Sky Garden” in Istanbul and “Unexpected Hill” in London, has been published internationally. Most recently, they won the invited competition by the Royal Academy of Arts, and their project, an installation made using ceramics titled “Unexpected Hill” was open to the public in London in the summer of 2015. In December 2015, they were invited to the Istanbul exhibition held at MAXXI, and their installation “Lost Barrier” was realized in Rome. This project has been acquired by MAXXI for the permanent architecture collection. The duo has given lectures in various symposia and conferences in different cities such as London, Florence, Bordeaux and Rome. Sevince Bayrak recently completed her PhD dissertation titled “The Square” on Beyazıt Square and the evolution of public space, and she currently teaches at MEF University. Oral Göktaş is an adjunct professor at MEF University.