The kyu Collective announced today that it has acquired a majority stake in ATÖLYE.

Headquartered in New York, kyu is a collective of strategically curated companies whose purpose is to be a source of creativity that propels the economy and society forward. kyu’s member companies include the global design firm IDEO; Kepler, the data-driven media and CRM services provider; Sid Lee, the multi-disciplinary creative brand-building agency; and SYPartners, the transformation consultancy. 

ATÖLYE, like kyu, is a pioneer in the building of a vibrant creative organization for the digital age. First and foremost, ATÖLYE is a community–a next generation creative practice that places a Strategic Design Studio within a wider Creative Hub. While the Studio itself tackles a diverse set of challenges in areas such as education, technology, finance, telecommunications, and social impact; the Creative Hub, comprising over 150 professionals with highly diverse skill sets, serves as the backbone of the organization by providing the widest range of creative services. 

In addition, ATÖLYE encompasses a Ventures arm, which is an investment vehicle for innovative products and services, as well as an Academy, which develops learning programs and builds talent recruitment processes. 

ATÖLYE was recognized as the most impactful spinoff of the Stanford University d.school in 2014, while in 2016 it was named as a sector-leading creative hub by Monocle. 

ATÖLYE’s operating and management model for curating and engaging a diverse creative community, when combined with kyu’s capacity to provide scale, will create a significantly more powerful and impactful offer in many markets that have previously been served in a more limited way by traditional network outposts. 

“Both kyu and ATÖLYE are 21st-century projects built on the guiding principle of community. ATÖLYE has fostered a vibrant and fluid creative community driven by a unique culture and a unique space,” said Farah Ramzan Golant, CEO of kyu EMEA. “As kyu looks to markets such as the Middle East, India, and beyond to lead with new forms of creative organization, we are thrilled to partner with ATÖLYE to explore how its innovative, community-first approach can be imagined, interpreted, and applied effectively.” 

On joining the kyu Collective, ATÖLYE’s Co-Founder Engin Ayaz said: “As an explorer organization, we are happy to be joining forces with the top-tier global companies in the kyu Collective to hone and refine ATÖLYE’s craft.” Co-Founder Kerem Alper added: “The possibility of applying ATÖLYE’s approach in other key markets is truly an exciting exploration opportunity for us. We feel invigorated to have such forward-thinking creative partners going into the future.”

Founded with the support of Istanbul Development Agency, Koç University’s KARMA Mixed Reality Lab was designed to develop next-generation interfaces for creative industries; conduct research using interactive design tools and concepts such as virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, IOT, biosensors, digital twin, 3D environments, and photogrammetry; as well as to train experts in these fields.

KARMA Lab will host a Virtual and Augmented Reality Training Program from February 18 to October 18, 2019. The 40 participants chosen from the applicant pool will be able to receive one-on-one and applied training from mentors at KARMA Lab, free of cost.

Established as part of the Koç University-Arçelik Research Center for Creative Industries (KUAR), KARMA Lab will offer weekly training sessions at Koç University’s Rumelifeneri Campus, which will be broadcast in real time at partner institutions ATÖLYE and K-WORKS.

The Sezin School Transformation Project by ATÖLYE is a story of transforming an educational institution via incremental spatial interventions over multiple years. ATÖLYE initiated this transformation in 2015-16 with the Open Roof Space Project, a flexible pedagogical space with a hybrid program that fostered meeting, making, learning, and working—built within a formerly dormant rooftop area, the space covered approximately 1,700 m² within 15,000 m². Working on a strategic level with the School Board, ATÖLYE recommended new programmatic elements based on global future-of-learning trends, such as comfortable parent-teacher meeting areas, a digital-first library, a multipurpose event space, a maker space, and a teachers’ coworking area.

The transformation of the school continued in 2017-18 with the redesign of the elementary school areas to accommodate the needs of first and second grades. Empathizing with the needs of young talents and their onboarding journey, ATÖLYE built spaces based around a mental model that flips a knowledge-centered experience towards a learner-centered one.

The design team developed a loft-within-the-classroom approach, the first of its kind in Turkey and possibly beyond, with soft cushion seating to allow alternative postures to exist within the classroom, be it reading, peer-to-peer learning, resting, or an intimate conversation. To emphasize the emergent nature of a learner-centered pedagogy, teachers’ desks were sized at the same dimensions as the student, thus implying a new dynamic that equalizes the power relationship within the classroom.

ATÖLYE developed a foundational architectural strategy that considered the 50 m² classroom as an assemblage of multiple functional surfaces, dedicated to teaching, presenting, exhibiting, reading, and collaboration. This way, a rather small footprint became a vast canvas for exploration. For this project, ATÖLYE’s venture, CNVS, launched a new classroom furniture line, where the carefully angled trapezoidal student desk remained at the heart of the design approach.

“How can community-oriented thinking help us develop inclusive strategies for our organizations?”

ATÖLYE presents a new event series titled “Growing with Communities” where we’ll focus on exploring a variety of communities in Turkey with these questions in mind: What is the purpose behind becoming a community? What are the roles of individuals within the community and what role do they have within the dynamics of the individual-community relationship? How do they produce projects together? What rules do they follow and what rituals do they have?

The series will explore three areas each season and will host a variety of community managers with the moderation of Atılım Şahin, ATÖLYE’s Creative Hub Director and a community curator himself.

The topics of the first season, taking place between October 2019 and April 2020, are “design,” “technology,” and “entrepreneurship.”

ATÖLYE and Istanbul Bilgi University have partnered to create and improve the full curriculum for LITE, a graduate program designed to address 21st-century skills. The program adopts the slogans “learning together,” “recreating yourself,” and “following the light” in its quest to imbue young people with the skills necessary to be successful in today’s world.

LITE stands for “Learning, Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship,” and instead of painting a false picture of the world for participants, causing them to embark on life without truly understanding it, the program helps them understand the world, institutions, and themselves, thus enabling them to redefine their careers. Through LITE’s carefully designed curriculum, students are able to learn systematic thinking, developing innovative ideas for impact, basic knowledge on how to transform an entrepreneurial idea into a project, as well as sustainable development.

The aim of the first semester, themed “Global,” is to help students understand the world, current trends, and the future of society. The second semester focuses on “Organizations,” whereby students will learn about the structure of systems, organizations, and institutions, thus gaining an idea of how they can transform them. The third semester focuses on “People,” seeking to help participants get to know themselves, notice their talents, and pave the way for radical change.

LITE employs a recruitment process that is as innovative as its content. To enter the program, prospective students must undergo a process called C.A.M.P., whose initials stand for the Ability to Contribute (C), Academic Capacity (A), Motivation (M), and Potential (P). Prospective students must successfully complete the online application and online case study as well as passing the interview and the admissions committee in order to attend the LITE graduate program.

LITE combines Istanbul Bilgi University’s motto of “learning not for school but for life” with ATÖLYE’s strategy and design as well as its expertise in systematic change, seeking to provide a solid core for students on their path to becoming global citizens who cater to the needs of the 21st century.

On Tuesday, May 7, ATÖLYE hosted the launch event for Connect for Creativity, a project led by the British Council in partnership with ATÖLYE, Bios, and Nova Iskra, along with Abdullah Gül University. Connect for Creativity aims to support creative hubs across Europe to foster creative exploration and collaboration that contribute to a more connected civil society.

The kick-off event was presented by the creative hub ATÖLYE in Istanbul and featured a keynote titled “The Creative Industries Opportunity: Mobilising Culture, Hubs and Networks” by Prof. Andy Pratt from City, University of London. The kick-off was followed by the first in a series of three conferences.

Connect for Creativity is an 18-month-long project led by the British Council, in partnership with three creative hubs—ATÖLYE in Turkey, Bios in Greece, Nova Iskra in Serbia—and Abdullah Gül University in Kayseri. The project is co-funded by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey, through the Intercultural Dialogue program.

The project will provide a number of opportunities for students, academics, artists, creative professionals, policymakers, and the general public across Europe to form international networks and collaborations, exchange knowledge and skills, and participate in creative exploration on the pillars of empathy, engagement, and empowerment. Key activities will include research to provide baseline information on the role of creative hubs and communities in promoting intercultural dialogue, three networking conferences in Belgrade, Athens, and Kayseri, an art and technology residency with an exhibition output, as well as a study visit.

ECHN is a peer-led organization with a mission to enhance the creative, economic, and social impact of creative hubs. Contemporarily, creative hubs are focal points for creative businesses, offering ways to support the growth and development of creative industries. The European Creative Hubs Network is born from the necessity for these hubs to network, pool resources, share best practices, and build on advocacy, policy, and opportunities.

The first Conference and General Assembly of the European Creative Hubs Network (ECHN) was held in Athens on April 11th through 13th. Creative hub leaders from Europe gathered together to exchange ideas, talk about the future steps of the Network, and vote for the Steering Committee.

During the assembly, Atılım Şahin and Makers of Barcelona co-led a workshop titled “Going Further than Being Just a Space: Talent Management in Creative Hubs” in which they discussed how to systematically approach the talent hosted in creative hubs and how to build mutual relationships with them. Atılım Şahin and the Parisian hub Volumes also co-led the workshop titled “How to Run a Collaborative Space by Combining Tangible and Social Design” in which the participants discussed how to design collaborative spaces that are ecologically responsible and economically sustainable in a stimulating environment that needs fewer resources.

ATÖLYE’s Creative Hub Director Atılım Şahin was selected to become a Board Member in the committee to assume responsibility in steering the future of creative hubs. Being an active leader at the ECHN is essential for solidifying ATÖLYE’s approach in building a community-driven model for the creative industries. This involvement will open new doors for ATÖLYE and its community, meanwhile further endorsing creative hubs as innovative models for the creative industries.

ATÖLYE co-founder Engin Ayaz delivered an information session on ATÖLYE at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is an alumnus. Engin talked about how his Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) graduation thesis in 2013 led to the conception of ATÖLYE. He also touched upon the ways in which the key attributes of ITP—such as scarcity, diversity, and permeability—fundamentally contributed to the design of ATÖLYE’s DNA.

Given every three years, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is one of the most prestigious awards focused on architecture, planning practices, historic preservation, and landscape architecture. It seeks to identify and encourage building concepts which are located in countries where Muslims have a significant presence and which successfully address the needs and aspirations of these societies.

We are honored that our ideEGE Container Park project, developed for Ege University, was nominated for such an illustrious award. To read more about Container Park, visit our project page.

Last week saw the start of the Design Gov program, co-organized by ATÖLYE, IDEO, and Palmwood, in Copenhagen. The aim of the project is to equip leaders within the United Arab Emirates government with strategic design and creative problem-solving skills, thus enabling the UAE government to offer more human-centered services. Learn & Design takes place under the scope of the Design Gov project, a national movement by the UAE government that focuses on human-centered design.

The meeting in Copenhagen served as a bootcamp readying participants for the immersive 17-week-long Learn & Design program. In his opening remarks, IDEO’s Chief Creative Officer Paul Bennett encouraged participants to focus on “what design can enable us to become” as opposed to “what design can enable us to do.”

For more information on Design Gov, visit design.gov.ae.

We recently published our first printed work, titled “Reflections,” which brings together ATÖLYE’s approach since its founding in 2013, the idea behind its carefully curated community, the projects realized as well as events and programs hosted to date, along with insights ATÖLYE has gathered throughout the process. Reflections not only details all of ATÖLYE’s activities and projects over the last 5 years; it also incorporates the organization’s values, insights, approach, and thoughts on the future.

The “Strategic Design Studio” and “Creative Hub” sections of the book explain in detail these two separate elements of ATÖLYE and how they come together to create a distinctive structure. The “Strategic Design Studio” section explores the design studio through its workspaces and structure, its outlook on design, and a selection of its projects to date. By contrast, the “Creative Hub” section focuses on the community as the backbone of ATÖLYE’s creative hub, as well as featuring content on the events hosted by ATÖLYE and the Prototyping Lab.

The book also includes a “Trends” section where we share upcoming trends as well as insights pertaining to these shifts. Here, we seek to learn from the future via insights on technology, talent management, the future of the business world, and how our behavior can change as individuals. Reflections also features “Insights,” a selection of articles ATÖLYE began publishing on Medium in June 2017 under the name ATÖLYE Insights. ATÖLYE also chose to end the book with the question “What is next?” which highlights the organization’s strategic priorities for 2018.

We are happy to announce that Bengi Turgan joined the ATÖLYE team as the Studio Director—a newly created role within ATÖLYE’s Strategic Design Studio.

Coming directly from her role as the Studio Director and Head of Creative Innovation and Design at Deloitte Digital Turkey, Bengi will lead business development in regional markets and contribute to the content and client management of ATÖLYE’s large-scale projects. Bengi will also take part within the leadership team to refine and develop ATÖLYE’s teaming, project management, and learning processes.

Within Deloitte, Bengi initiated the Creative Studio within Consulting and led the Design Research, Innovation, Service Design, CX, UX/UI Design capabilities. Before that, Bengi pioneered the emergence of Experience Design and Interaction Design in Turkey, setting up and running successful project offices and design studios where she applied ethnography and service design thinking to many projects. Bengi also facilitated 100+ design and innovation workshops for clients, government bodies, students, academics, and NGOs.

As a visiting lecturer, Bengi runs the Interaction Design and Service Design studios for Design programs at Istanbul Bilgi University since 2013. She is amongst the founders of Service Design Network Turkey, a member of IxDA, and a voluntary organizer and facilitator of the Istanbul Service Jams. Bengi also holds judge and jury roles in global entrepreneurship competitions like IxDA SDC, Intel Entrepreneurship Challenge, Start-up Chile, and Verizon Horizons. With the arrival of Bengi, we are ever more excited about what the future holds. Welcome to the team, Bengi!

Connect for Creativity’s second networking conference will take place in Kayseri, Turkey on 5-6 December 2019 at Abdullah Gül University, Sümer Campus.

The conference will focus on creativity, cross-cultural competencies, and the role of higher education and creative industry partnerships in driving the further development of future education. We will explore why creativity and cross-cultural competency are among the 10 most important skills of the future? What is the role and contribution of higher education in creative economy? How can creative industries take an active role in the design and further development of future education?

The conference will bring together decision-makers, thought leaders and experts from across Europe to explore the future of creativity, skills, workforce, and culture. The two-day event will offer creative and cultural professionals an opportunity to exchange knowledge, ideas, and experience to build dialogue and foster new collaborations through workshops, group discussions as well as keynotes and panels.

*If you wish to participate in the conference, please register here.

At least one-fourth of the world’s population cannot access clean water. To draw attention to this problem and to design solutions, ATÖLYE and IDEA Universal invite creative industry professionals and students to a designathon set to take place at ATÖLYE on January 11 and 12, 2020. 

Home to the Global Service Jam and Global Goals Jam, ATÖLYE collaborated with IDEA Universal to organize the two-day designathon. IDEA Universal is a nonprofit organization bringing clean water, sustainable food, renewable energy, and alternative education to vulnerable communities. 

During the two-day designathon, participants will produce digital or physical design outputs where the design thinking methodology will be applied to the problems at hand. 25 participants, to be selected among the applications, will work in groups under the themes of resource development, campaigning, volunteering experience, and creative storytelling. The projects developed will be presented to a jury and to IDEA Universal volunteers.

Follow this link to apply by December 22nd to take part in this first-ever designathon by ATÖLYE. The applications need to be filled out in Turkish as the event will take place in Turkish.

We are very happy to announce that Akar Şümşet has been appointed as the new, and first, London Director for ATÖLYE.

Akar’s successful journey is a great example of the philosophy that ATÖLYE embraces. Akar first joined ATÖLYE as a community member—collaborating in ATÖLYE’s Studio projects as a consultant. Later, he went on to co-lead as well as take on the lead for several different projects, finally becoming the new London Director for ATÖLYE.

This appointment is a perfect reflection of the talent model ATÖLYE adopts as a community. Through this model, a unique opportunity was presented to select an already active member of the community to take on this new position. Finding a director in London from scratch would have presented difficulties. Our community provided us with a candidate who was already capable and positioned to take on this role. 

Akar and ATÖLYE’s relationship demonstrates that not only steps can be taken towards creating impact on an operational level (project creation and management) but also on a strategic level (entering new markets) as well. Thanks to ATÖLYE’s approach, Akar will be starting with almost zero initial investment in terms of time, effort, and finances. More importantly, there are no unknowns in terms of Akar fitting into the culture, adapting to ATÖLYE’s work ethic and values and adopting frames of references (such as being human centric, tackling problems on a systems level etc.) 

With the arrival of Akar, we are ever more excited about what the future holds as we expand our network and amplify ATÖLYE’s impact with explorations in new parts of the globe.

Welcome to the team, Akar!

Starting March 2020, we are adding a new area of exploration next to ATÖLYE’s Strategic Design Studio and Creative Hub: ATÖLYE Academy.

We have designed ATÖLYE Academy to provide educational programs, digital resources, and events to individuals and organizations. With the power of leadership, facilitation, and design, we aim for individuals and teams we will interact through the Academy to be pioneers of change and create a positive impact in their communities.

The birth of ATÖLYE Academy as an idea
Over the years, we’ve built an experimental model that creates a symbiosis between a Strategic Design Studio and a vibrant Creative Hub—welcoming individuals, clients, and partners into our Community to build relationships, exchange ideas, and collaborate on impact-oriented projects. 

In every project, we’ve touched many different people as teammates, business partners, and community members. We’ve learned together and transformed ourselves together.

People who have participated in this journey with us often testify that building individual and organizational capabilities in creative leadership, radical collaboration, and systemic design is a significant impact ATÖLYE delivers in its projects.

We realized that this transformation stems from the following three questions which we have been constantly experimenting to find answers for—answers that we have reflected in our daily actions, values, approach, and methods:

How can we lead the change while discovering our potential and adapting to an ever-changing world?

 

How might we facilitate radical collaborations that buıid on our differences to remain agile in a world full of ambiguity?

 

How can we design long-term systemic solutions to the complex problems of our time?

 

In response to these questions, we are launching ATÖLYE Academy to share our learnings in creative leadership, radical collaborations, and systems thinking and explore new areas of learning together.

To be informed about ATÖLYE Academy’s events and programs and to receive inspiring content to help design your learning journey, please subscribe to the ATÖLYE Academy newsletter with the link below.

Sign up for the ATÖLYE Academy newsletter

To our community, friends, partners, clients, and to the people who frequent our space and public events, we need a few minutes of your time to relay an important message in light of the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

First, a more time-pressing update: Our public events that are scheduled to take place during the remainder of the month of March are either canceled or postponed to definite or indefinite dates. This development was preceded by a short-lived “responsible host” protocol we had put in place a week prior. For our April events, we will publish an update in due time.

Second, we have enacted a decision that will allow ATÖLYE teams to collaborate and design on a remote basis from Monday, March 16 onwards after putting our Academy team’s métier at work in regards to collaboration, prototyping with our team regarding remote work, and putting our virtual rituals in place. Our teams will remain just as responsive, and our communication channels open as usual—in fact, right now is a time that we can truly help others benefit from our experiments and our experiences. More on this below.

As an organization that brings people together in a physical space, we think it is our absolute responsibility to abide by the current scientific consensus and do everything in our power to help alleviate our collective pain. We strongly urge everyone else in similar circumstances to do the same. Since the threat we are facing is multi-faceted, is of a complex nature, and prospectively chaotic, we must probe, sense, act, and repeat. This brings us to our last point. 

From day one, we have strived to build a community-first environment for all of our constituents—an environment not necessarily dependent on physical space to create possibilities to collaborate and co-create. As systems thinkers, it is both a calling and a noble challenge to try and design not just for our own but for the good of many. The challenge of figuring out how to thrive as a community in times of ambiguity is one we are willing to take on. We trust our experience, passion, and ability in bringing about such mental shifts in people we cross paths with. 

In the coming weeks, you will hear from our teams about a number of new initiatives and offerings that will put in use our experience as a community of creative problem solvers that rely on a sense of belonging independent of space, our knowhow in facilitating collaborations among individuals and teams, our purpose of guiding organizations through ambiguity, and—within our larger collective, kyu—our responsibility to explore what it means to become a thriving organization in the 21st century.

In the meantime, if you require more information on how to collaborate with ATÖLYE’s teams during the global pandemic or if you are seeking ways to assess if your organization possesses the resilience to carry on your current and future challenges, please contact our Studio Director Bengi Turgan (bengi@atolye.io).

Moreover, if you are looking for ways to help your teams build systems that will allow inclusive and effective means of collaboration and co-creation, or if you are seeking for a partner to develop remote learning systems for your organization please contact Mert Çetinkaya (mert@atolye.io) the interim Director of ATÖLYE’s Academy.

Keeping with the promise of not taking much of your time, we wish everyone to stay sound of body and mind.

The ATÖLYE team

Even if you can’t participate in Hack the Crisis, you can still follow the events, join the trainings, and listen to the experts’ talks. Follow the links below at the specified times to attend the hackathon as an observer:

Friday: 6:00 PM – 8:40 PM https://zoom.us/j/282111827
Saturday: 9:00 AM – 9:30 PM https://zoom.us/j/727194278
Sunday: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM https://zoom.us/j/431560465

Observer participation is limited to 1000 people per day. Don’t forget to download Zoom on your computer or cellphone to attend Hack the Crisis!

How can we face the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis as a community and encourage the development of new solutions together?

What?

Hack the Crisis Turkey, focusing on solidarity and engagement, will be organized by ATÖLYE and imece, facilitated by ara studio and in local partnership with Coronathon Turkey, on 27 – 29 March 2020, to enable discovering new opportunities in digital. While the unexpected pandemic’s phases are being experienced by communities in different times but in a similar flow, steps for not only suspending the situation but also for turning the tables are begun to be taken. Communities, organizations and companies have initiated cover up solutions to support the health, safety and wellbeing of individuals, society and organizations over the crisis atmosphere.

How?

Hack the Crisis pursuits to transform an acute problem where individuals from various disciplines come together and find solutions for gradual problems that the world is facing. Focusing on preceding and facilitating the process with a novel approach that Covid-19 has interrupted, Hack the Crisis Turkey is developing solutions nurturing from an interdisciplinary area including sociology, design, technology, psychology, human resources, business management, communications at a digital agora.

Within Hack the Crisis Turkey, inspired from the good examples in Estonia, believing in the role of new methods and improvements creating new opportunities that majority can reach and benefit from, we invite you to develop new products, services, approaches and applications in the areas indicated below:

Health and Emergency:

How might we facilitate the emergency and medical intervention for medical staff, patients, patient relatives and all medical suppliers in terms of technology, material, logistics and information sharing?

Social and Psychological Situation:

How might we build solutions to facilitate reaching the knowledge and materials, empowering the wellness and morale of individuals and communities for supporting them and building solidarity in the social distancing phase?

Education and Learning:

How might we develop the interactive and facilitating learning and interaction atmosphere, enabling access to knowledge for groups with different needs?

Economy and Future of Work:

How might we transform professional life in practices of postponing, remote working, collective digital working due to coronavirus crisis? How might we alleviate the effects of the economic crisis for individuals and companies?

*The event will be held in Turkish. 

For some time now, our world is one that has been changing at an unusually fast rate, becoming increasingly unstable, and witnessing unpredictable changes. What will the solutions, approaches, and systems we create in this new world as individuals, teams, and organizations look like? How can we navigate a world where our maps don’t work anymore?

In this world of ambiguities, we designed a new area of learning to find ways to navigate together: “Navigating Ambiguity with ATÖLYE Akademi.”

Navigating Ambiguity is a series of 4-week programs designed to inspire you to be able to provide accurate information flows, develop agile applications, redesign rituals, and gain the organizational courage to make the right experiment at the right time.

This series will take place in Turkish and tickets will be on sale soon. If you would like to find out more, please visit the Turkish version of this article. 

As part of the Connect for Creativity project, a study visit took place between March 10-13 in London and Cardiff, the United Kingdom.

Policymakers, academics and culture professionals from Serbia, Turkey, and Greece had the chance to meet and further collaboration with many institutions and managers from the public sector, local government, civil society and private sectors in the UK.

On the last day of the visit, the participants attended the exhibition titled TransLocal Cooperation held in Furtherfield Gallery London as part of the Connect for Creativity project.

Follow this link to watch the video about the study visit.

About the Study Visit

The study visit invited policy and decision makers from Greece, Serbia, Turkey and the UK to participate in meetings, site visits and openings in Cardiff and London between 10 and 13 March 2020. These activities included presentations by a variety of public and private organisations, site visits to creative hubs as well as Connect for Creativity’s exhibition opening at Furtherfield.

The study visit aimed to build new connections and share the best of the UK’s creative industries. This shared first-hand experience will increase knowledge and understanding and create opportunities to connect with and explore potential partnerships between Greece, Serbia, Turkey and the UK.

Over the last ten years the creative industries have become a global phenomenon. Creative hubs are increasing in number and rapidly becoming an important player in supporting creative communities globally. However, their potential is still not fully acknowledged or valued. Their forward-looking, open and creative core are their strength, but can also be a weakness, as many people find them hard to define and grasp.

Forming a creative network of open, forward-looking and versatile international professionals, who are driven by social impact and the value they create for their communities, creative hubs and their communities are key to improving intercultural dialogue and developing long-term multilateral cultural initiatives.

Therefore, creative hub actors and political stakeholders need to be made aware of the opportunities and benefits that come from building and supporting a successful creative economy.

About the Project

Connect for Creativity is an 18-month project led by the British Council, in collaboration with ATÖLYE and Abdullah Gül University in Turkey, BIOS in Greece and Nova Iskra in Serbia.

The Project is part of the Intercultural Dialogue Programme led by Yunus Emre Institute and co-funded by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey.

Based on the concepts of empathy, engagement and empowerment, Connect for Creativity aims to strengthen intercultural dialogue through supporting creative hubs and their communities to come together, exchange ideas and experience, and encourage new creative collaborations.

Service Design Day

Service design and user experience in the COVID-19 era

With the co-organization of ATÖLYE, Service Design Network (SDN) Turkey, and CXPA Istanbul, “Service Design Day” will take place on June 1.

Through highly interactive sessions, the event will bring together the service design community and provide a virtual space where they can connect with each other and share insights.

Inspired by the exemplary projects that will be shared during the event, service and user experience design professionals and enthusiasts will develop new design-oriented ideas on the conditions brought by the novel coronavirus.

This event will be held in Turkish. Visit the event page in Turkish to find out more.

ATÖLYE Academy has designed a brand new “learning community” in its effort to “Navigating Ambiguity” collectively.

In the complex and uncertain world of our times, we invite those who strive to lead change in their communities and those who constantly question their existing beliefs in search of lifelong transformation to ATÖLYE Academy’s “Learning Community.”

By joining this community, you will be able to participate in five unique programs designed by leading names from the ATÖLYE team and Community—for free! With access to our diligently curated inspirational content from ATÖLYE’s own practice and larger network, you will be part of a community that will spearhead the most forward thinking in leadership, design, and collaboration.

For this first experiment, all programs and supporting content will be delivered in Turkish. Please follow this link for more information.

ATÖLYE’s Turkcell CX Lab project receives notable mention at the Core77 Design Awards among ~1000 entries in the Design Education category along with 3 others!

In 2018, ATÖLYE and Turkcell started what will later turn out to be a long-lasting and impactful partnership to equip Turkcell’s customer experience teams with design and collaboration skills. This joint exploration was titled Turkcell CX Lab and graduated 6 cohorts to date.

The project was awarded a notable mention by Core77 last month in the Design Education Initiative category. We congratulate our team members and now Core77 honorees, Aslı Sevinç Daver, Carla Lemgruber, Deniz Dönmez, Erdem Koç, Kerem Alper, Mert Çetinkaya, Nazlı Cangönül, Onat Vural on this recognition.

Visit the Core77 Awards website and to check out the other winners in the category.

Selim Aykut joins ATÖLYE—We are pleased to announce that Selim Aykut has taken on the new role of Director, Middle East to lead ATÖLYE’s explorations in the region.

After completing his high-school education in Robert College Istanbul, Selim attended the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, obtaining his Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics, double-majoring in Marketing and Management. He started out his professional career as a strategic brand consultant with Prophet in New York, advising numerous blue-chip clients in the fields of brand strategy, marketing strategy, brand design and customer experience.

After returning back home in 2011, Selim continued his consulting career, advising a large portfolio of clients across different industries, including services, airlines, banking, retail, packaged goods, insurance and telecommunications. Selim also held managerial positions in Sales, Marketing, Strategy and Digital Transformation at leading conglomerates in Turkey.

Selim has facilitated numerous interactive workshops on vision setting, branding, innovation and digital transformation during his career in Turkey and abroad. He has also delivered keynote speeches in events hosted by Harvard Business Review Türkiye, Webrazzi, Marketing Türkiye, GYIAD and Endeavor, blending his interest in new technologies, his understanding of customers, and his expertise in business design to try and shed light on the rapid pace of change in the world, and what that could mean for businesses and humans alike.

As the Business Design Director of Fjord’s Istanbul and Dubai studios, Selim spent the last 5 years focused on leveraging his 15 years of professional experience in strategy, design, branding, and customer experience, helping craft “user-centric solutions” and design “human-centric experiences” to address the widely-varying strategic needs of Fjord’s national and international clients.

On a more personal note, Selim has been a friend of ATÖLYE from the very beginning and has crossed paths and worked with many ATÖLYE team members in the past. Self admittedly, Selim has been watching and appreciating closely the novelty ATÖLYE is trying to bring to the world of design and consultancy.

With the arrival of Selim, we are ever more excited about what the future holds as we expand our network and amplify ATÖLYE’s impact with explorations in new parts of the globe.

Welcome to the team, Selim!

Connect for Creativity’s third and final networking conference titled “Creative Explorations: From Social Entities to Ubiquitous Systems” on “How digital is changing the way we relate to each other” will be held online on 24 and 25 September. The conference will bring together decision-makers, opinion leaders and experts from across Europe to explore the impact of digital technologies on how we connect with and relate to each other.

With the national and international actors from the digital technology communities and policy makers, “Creative Explorations” conference aims to enable exchange of information, opinion and experience and foster new collaborations amongst participants from Greece, Serbia, Turkey, the UK and beyond through workshops, group sessions, keynotes and panel discussions.

Registrations are now open

The two-day conference is open to the public and free of charge. Registrations for the conference can be submitted through Connect for Creativity website (connectforcreativity.eu) until Sunday, 20 September.

Could design and technology impact the way we relate to each other?

One of the main aspects of human nature is the need for contact and the way we communicate has been evolving since our very existence. Today, we live in a culture that fosters hyperconnectivity, the pace of technology creation is faster than the pace of our understanding and the development of critical thinking. As computational creativity continues to emerge, cultural and creative sectors lean on technology to find new ways to make culture more cohesive, relatable and accessible. Social distancing accelerated the use of technology and due to this, many new creators came into view. However, the way they communicate and relate to the world has also shifted. Technology and omnipresent systems is an issue that raises many questions. Are we trying to escape reality? Develop a new social model? Do we create technology or is technology creating us?

The conference will focus on the convergence between the creative industries and digital technologies and will explore its impact on how we connect with and relate to each other.

Connect for Creativity is led by the British Council, in collaboration with ATÖLYE and Abdullah Gül University in Turkey, BIOS in Greece and Nova Iskra in Serbia. The project is part of the Intercultural Dialogue Programme that is led by the Yunus Emre Institute and is co-funded by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey.

For more information and registration: connectforcreativity.eu

We are proud to have been an official community partner of #TheGreatWave with House of Beautiful Business, a first-of-its-kind hybrid festival that took place on October 16-19 in more than 30 local hubs around the world, to make business more beautiful.

Extraordinary times require extraordinary experiences: The Great Wave is the first-of-its-kind virtual and in-person business festival that connected thousands of people all around the world to explore how we can work and live more beautifully, drawing from the arts and humanities as much as from science and tech, and not the least nature.

ATÖLYE’s co-founder Engin Ayaz and Dubai Creative Hub Lead Leen Sadder are going to organize a workshop at C2 Online – Montreal 2020 on October 28. The workshop will be titled “Community-powered innovation: Tackling real-world challenges together.”

Description

Most of the pressing challenges in the world are too manifold for a single branch of design to solve. Confronting high levels of complexity requires creating and managing multiple partnerships, thinking at an ecosystem level and bringing together those from a variety of backgrounds and points of view. Community-powered design and innovation do just that—reframe the notion of “community engagement and mobilization” for organizations by giving them a diverse outlook in tackling challenges and helping them transform into platform-businesses.

In this workshop, we will explore how this trans-disciplinary approach embraces complexity and harnesses a community-powered innovation process to generate positive, lasting results.

What to expect to take away from the workshop:

• Think about how to move your organizational structure away from a siloed establishment towards a community-powered platform—one that is more diverse, permeable, and regenerative.
• Explore how community-powered innovation can create a space for tackling the wicked problems of the world.
• Grasp how the practice of radical collaboration and inclusive facilitation transforms groups of individuals into motivated and empowered teams.

C2 Online – Montréal 2020 is a new way to convene and connect. A digital event centering around RESILIENCE, with world-class speakers, solution-driven workshops, and exclusive experiences.
Please follow this link to find out more about C2 Online – Montreal 2020.

ATÖLYE’s Creative Hub Director Atılım Şahin and ATÖLYE Academy’s Lead Mert Çetinkaya will attend the Future of Work Summit organized online by FOW.Connect on November 10-11.

Atılım will speak at the “Community Creation” section of the summit’s “Meaning & Culture & Leadership in the Future” category. Meanwhile, Mert will hold a session titled “ATÖLYE Academy: Pioneering change with creative leadership, radical collaborations, and systemic design” under the Education category.

What is the Future of Work Summit?

FOW.Summit is coming with an inspirational content that will make us go back to our true nature with its theme “Unlearn: Back to basics.” Through an elaborate curation, it brings together experts, professionals, futurists, and speakers from different disciplines around the world by rewinding and fast-forwarding. Going back and forth through the habits of the nature and our human nature. Interpreting the flow of today by going through prior examples, you will leave the event with actions to take.

Please follow this link to find out more and register for the summit, which will be held in Turkish.

ATÖLYE is launching a brand new project titled “COVID-in-Residence: Exploring Creative Co-creation” between July-September 2020. The project is happening with the support of Istanbul Development Agency in coordination with the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology.

Please follow this link for detailed information and registration.

COVID-in-Residence puts creative industries and freelancers most affected economically by the COVID-19 crisis in its centre. The project will utilize ATÖLYE’s experience in community curation, which it has gained through its transdisciplinary community, to provide creative professionals with counselling, mentorship and collaboration opportunities. By creating alternative collaboration and business development models that do not necessitate physical space and contact, it aims to help creative communities engage in digital interdisciplinary collaborations and have better access to resources.

Open Call

COVID-in-Residence focuses on three of the areas most affected by the pandemic: Education, Future of Work, and Health and Wellbeing. The open call aims to bring together independent creatives in teams to work on the three themes with training, mentorship and infrastructural support. The projects to be developed will be designed to create more sustainable future practices — beyond the crisis period and the normalization process — with the aim of a structural and permanent impact.

Six teams will be chosen after the open call. They will receive Nesta’s creative entrepreneurship training, mentorship and infrastructural support. Once the process is finalized, MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) of the developed projects and applications are measured and the teams are given feedback to improve their products and services. Lastly, the teams will exhibit their prototypes to the public during a demo day.

Admission Process

Only creative industries and freelancers of social sciences, technology, business development and engineering disciplines will be admitted to the project. Candidates can register individually or in teams of six. Participants are then requested to either form a team or join one of the existing teams.

Schedule:

Registration: July, 6-19
Admission: July, 24
Training: August, 7-8-9
Demo Day: September, 23

Notes:

Each team is assigned a supervisor to receive support and instructions during the process.
Each team is mentored on developing business models; advertising, finance, law, fund raising, research, psychology and sociology.
In order for the teams to increase their MVPs, each one of them is provided with design, software and prototyping support post-training.

Please follow this link for detailed information and registration.

Organized by ATÖLYE for Yapı Kredi, Turkey’s fifth largest nationwide commercial bank, “Code.YapıKredi Ideathon: Future of Finance” will enable university students to come up with innovative ideas regarding the future of banking. The students will not only be meeting transdisciplinary entrepreneurs and creatives throughout the event, but also gain valuable support from mentors and coaches as well as take part in several training sessions. The ideathon aims to help young people address the five issues crucial to the future of banking:

• Open Banking
• Chatbot Services
• Wealth Management and Financial Health
• Un-bank – Introduction of Financial Services to Minors
• Cross-sectoral Integration of Finance

If you are a university student between the ages of 18-25, visit finansingelecegi.com to apply until November 22! The ideathon will take place between November 27-29. Note: This event will be held in Turkish.

An open call for young activists: We the Youth Hackathon will take place online on 11-13 December. Bring your voice to help strengthen youth organizations and influence decision-making on issues affecting young people!

We the Youth Hackathon aims to strengthen youth organizations to be more inclusive, effective, and collaborative in addressing the issues facing today’s young people. It is organized by ATÖLYE and UNFPA in partnership with Y-PEER and PETRI-Sofia.

The event will bring together young activists aged 15-29 to address the following questions:

• How can youth organizations become more inclusive, effective, and collaborative in mobilizing young people and addressing youth issues with a focus on disadvantaged youth?
• How can young activists influence decision-making on issues affecting young people?
• What can young activists/youth organizations do to influence sustainable development agenda?

Participants will form teams to tackle the questions above. The teams can identify their own issue areas or engage with the following topics: health, education, immigration, unemployment, stigma & discrimination, and youth participation & leadership.

Visit wetheyouth.co to find out more and apply today! The application deadline is 8 December, 11:59 PM (GMT+3).

For the past few years, ATÖLYE has encountered opportunities to tackle systemic, nation-wide challenges in the UAE, out of which long-term partnerships has emerged. One of the most recent challenges ATÖLYE took on has brought with it the type of complexity that required community-powered action—the ethos of ATÖLYE’s approach to design.

SHERPA, the digital design studio with deep interest in user experience, has joined forces with us in our next endeavor in the UAE for a government transformation project. The project’s overarching aim is to design a nation-wide system with seamless digital layers in order to better the lives of all citizens.

The SHERPA team has always been in close proximity with the ATÖLYE Community and we are happy to have partnered with them against such a challenge with hopes to embark on more creative collaborations together in the future.

2020 challenged us in many expected and unexpected ways. The problems it posed to humanity were (and still are) multi-faceted and of a complex nature. Still, it was important that we kept marching forward at a certain pace—taking the time to pause and reflect, but also to keep a beat going.

After such an unusual year, we took the first weeks of January as an opportunity for reflection and put together a few of the moments that enriched ATÖLYE’s journey in the past year and a half. Follow this link to join us in tracing our impact and read about what we’ve been up to in these tumultuous times.

We’re excited to announce that we have officially started construction on our second location ever, on the ground floor of the famous Emirates Towers in Dubai. We hope that this space—featuring workspaces, focus hubs, an events area, and an outdoor area—will provide a comfortable and flexible environment for our team, future community members, and partners alike.

Stay tuned for more information on the official launch date of our space as well as updates about membership packages. In the meantime, you can follow our new Instagram page at @atolye.dxb and check out our website: www.atolye.io/dubai.

As designers, innovators, and technologists, we often forget the power of our own creativity. The Creative Power Map is an ambitious undertaking to visualize the creative superpowers of our region so that we can use our collective power to better shape the world around us.

We invite you to also join this opportunity to explore, connect and network with creatives from across the regions of the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey.

Get on the map today: creativepowermap.com

How might we leverage technology to create a positive impact towards sustainable living and economic development in Africa?

Arçelik Global and ATÖLYE, the creators of the first Hack the Normal in May 2020, have partnered up again to build on their previous success and shared know-how—this time to organize a new hackathon that focuses on Africa!

Hosted by Defy Appliances, an Arçelik company based in South Africa, supported by Beko Global, and organized by ATÖLYE, Hack the Normal will bring together innovators from diverse disciplines to solve financial challenges and enhance sustainable and healthy living in the continent.

Visit hackthenormal.com to find out more and apply until February 28!

Kin: By The Community, For The Community

Between January 26-28, ATÖLYE took part in a 3-day kyu-wide gathering with over 2500 employees from over 10 companies (across 5 time zones!) who are a part of the kyu collective. kyu’s purpose is to be a source of creativity which propels the economy and society forward. We are also a part of this collective, along with BEworks, C2, Godfrey Dadich, IDEO, Kepler, public digital, RedPeak, sidlee, and SYPartners.

kin was designed to bring together our global community of thinkers, makers and doers, to connect, learn and share. It was a chance to celebrate our diversity across the globe. Throughout the festival, the ATÖLYE team hosted various sessions ranging from issues focusing on the importance of collaboration across communities, the power of liberating structures, the future of circular economies, and much more.

To find out more about the kyu collective, which we are a part of, please check out the following link: kyu.com

In the past year, most of us have been forced to adapt to a reality of unexpected shifts and isolated interactions. Against all odds, we at ATÖLYE continued to build our own—admittedly ambitious—reality of deep connection and meaningful change, right here in the UAE. 

Almost two years in the making, we are delighted to share the launch of our little dream come true: our ATÖLYE Dubai space in Emirates Towers. 

You are invited to step into the ATÖLYE Multiverse, a 3-day hub-warming event featuring self-guided tours, interactive experiences and creative showcases to (safely) celebrate a new paradigm of creativity and innovation. 

Our doors will be open to visitors on March 28th, March 30th and April 1st with Open Hub hours every day from 10 AM – 3 PM, and special Evening Highlights from 6 PM – 9 PM. 

To ensure compliance with COVID-19 safety & capacity guidelines, registration is required and limited for each session. Please make sure to only register for sessions that you are definitely able to attend to allow others to join. Register here: atolye.io/dubai/rsvp

If you cannot attend in person or are currently not in Dubai, sign up for the Virtual Ticket to get access to any livestream or recordings. 

CONNECT

Meet the founders of ATÖLYE and get to know the team, as well as our local, regional and global community of creative leaders and makers.

LEARN 

Explore how your own learning journey fits into the ATÖLYE ecosystem, and find out how you can collaborate or become a member of ATÖLYE Dubai.  

BUILD

Co-create and imagine the future of design and innovation, and explore our roles as creatives and innovators in the region.

**An important note about COVID-19 Precautions**

We take the health and safety of our community very seriously and we will be enforcing all COVID-19 safety measures accordingly. 

• Masks are required at all times.
• Hand sanitizer will be available around the space. 
• Regular sanitization of stations and materials between sessions
• Scheduled deep cleaning every night
• Evening highlights will be hosted outdoors. 
• Light bites and beverages will be handled, packaged, and served in line with best practices.

On March 18-19th 2021, imece summit will take place virtually, powered by imece, hosted by Zorlu Holding, with ATÖLYE, B Lab Europe, BMW Foundation, S360, SIX as the knowledge and network partners. Join us in imagining the collective impact we can make for better futures. Register at summit.imece.com

The event will revolve around the following questions:

• How can we accelerate the proactive work of individuals and organizations towards transformation?
• How can we promote knowledge transfer and cross-sectoral cooperation for this purpose?

With these guiding questions in mind, the summit will feature various types of events to create collective and impact-oriented knowledge around communities, finance, business, leadership, and organizations.

During the summit, ATÖLYE is owning the content and curation for the “Communities for impact” theme. The theme will explore the following topics about communities: Collaborative & purpose led communities, long term vision exploration for community of learners, community engagement & mobilization, community-powered design, international pionering communities, and more. You can find the sessions that will be hosted by ATÖLYE below (all times are in GMT+3).

Visit summit.imece.com to find out more about the event and register.

1st Day – March 18

Evolving the Practice of Design for Social Innovation: Building Community Ownership

When: 17:05 – 17:45

Speaker: Jocelyn Wyatt – Co-Founder and CEO at IDEO.org

Moderator: Fatoş Karahasan – Academician at İstanbul Bilgi University, Journalist, Writer

This session is the keynote speech for the “community track” and will be delivered by Jocelyn Wyatt, CEO of IDEO.org. We will explore the evolution of design in the context of social innovation and will focus on community-driven practices.

2nd Day – March 19

Communities for Impact – Introduction to Community Design: A Guide to Growing Collaborative and Purpose-led Communities

When: 11:15 – 11:45

Facilitator: Atılım Şahin – Creative Hub Director at ATÖLYE

This is the plenary session to serve as an intro for all ATÖLYE sessions to follow. The session will make an introduction into community design and explore how communities come together around a purpose. “Communities are ultimately a reflection of the people who come together to form them. Understanding the roles of a community’s “gardeners” and identifying the profiles of its members—are key to understanding the nature and purpose of a community’s existence.” This session will be in Turkish.

Community-powered Design for Impact: Tackling Real-world Challenges Together

When: 12:00 – 12:45

Facilitator: Engin Ayaz – Co-Founder of ATÖLYE

This session explores how community-powered innovation helps organizations transform. The most pressing challenges of our world are too complex for a single branch of design to tackle. Confronting high levels of complexity requires creating and managing multiple partnerships, thinking at an ecosystem level, and bringing together those from a variety of backgrounds and points of view. Community-powered design and innovation reframe the notion of “community engagement and mobilization” for organizations by giving them a diverse outlook in tackling challenges and helping them transform into platform-businesses. This session will be in Turkish.

Igniting a Culture of Longer-than-usual-term Impact: What kind of ancestors do we want to become?

When: 13:00 – 13:45

Facilitators: Filiz Telek – Circle Facilitator & Author and Mert Çetinkaya – Director of ATÖLYE Academy

Let’s leave aside the terms “impact and “sustainability” for a second. Before we try and come up with new and shiny solutions to the age-old problems, let’s take a step back and consider how we, as a community, can stare with presence into the eyes of our story NOW in which both our past and our future live. Let us remember humanity’s place and relationships in the cycle of life and the Earth community and ask ourselves: Can we humans live by finally placing life in the center, by taking responsibility for the consequences of our actions and as if the lives of who come after us mattered? Tasked with the questions above, Filiz and Mert invite you to an interactive session where they will share the learnings they have gathered in their individual journeys. This session will be in Turkish.

Impact-focused Communities Around the Globe

When: 15:35 – 16:20

Facilitator: Kerem Alper – Co-Founder of ATÖLYE

Speakers:

• Todd Porter – Chief Ecosystem Officer at Egde Of
• Richard Bartlett – Director at Enspiral
• Luisa Covaria – OpenIDEO Senior Director

This session is a panel to explore the practices of impact-focused organizations that are driven by their communities.During the session, impact-focused and community-driven organizations from around the world will share their thinking and demonstrate leading cases.

Visit summit.imece.com to find out more about the summit and register.

ATÖLYE and Harvard Business Review Türkiye hosted “What is design worth?”, an event that explored the strategic value of design for economic and social transformation. The event featured leading design practitioners from around the world and top executives from design-led organizations.

Historically, design is considered as an aesthetic and form-giving act. When we approach design as a creative problem-solving method, it transcends this definition.

Design-led processes lend companies the tools to unlock business opportunities and create new value propositions. Organizations that take design-led actions are proven to increase revenues and shareholder returns—regardless of their industry.

In our day and age, devising a business strategy means facing a cascade of complex decisions. At that point, design comes to the rescue, as it can both help converge to define problems in a sharp and pragmatic way while helping diverge to develop creative and unexpected outcomes.

However, this question remains for leaders and organizations: What problems are worth tackling? In pursuit of the answer, this is where the ability to think across scales and disciplines leads to bolder and more impactful outcomes. At this moment, design has transformed beyond its historical definition and has become one of the most pivotal tools that any business, government, or initiative can utilize.

You can follow this link to watch a recording of the event.

ATÖLYE Academy’s Learning Community is back for a second term, this time with a new theme: “Creating Possible Futures”

This edition of the Learning Community will explore the competencies and new ways of thinking required to exist in the economy of the future, with unique programs and innovative content created by expert community leaders and learning designers. The Learning Community members will embark on a digital, experiential, social, and multi-centered learning journey. Together with peers from various backgrounds and career paths, they will explore the ways they can exist in the new economy and dream of new futures.

Follow this link to learn more about the Learning Community (website in Turkish). Applications are on a rolling basis and will end on May 16. The programs and content of the Learning Community will be in Turkish.

We are thrilled to announce that ATÖLYE’s Co-Founder, Engin Ayaz, has been invited to join IDEO.org‘s Board for a three-year term from March 2021 onwards. IDEO.org is a nonprofit design studio that designs products and services alongside organizations that are committed to creating a more just and inclusive world.⁣
⁣
To find out more about IDEO.org and the work they do, please visit their website at ideo.org.

The spatial strategy and architectural design project ATÖLYE has done for the Private Sezin School has won the “Best Interior Architectural Design” award by the World Architecture Community (WAC), which brings together architects from all over the world. The project was awarded in two separate categories, one determined by the jury’s evaluation and one by the votes of the community members.

Providing information about the project, ATÖLYE Co-Founder Engin Ayaz stated that with the spatial program the project team implemented for students to produce, learn, and work together, they enabled the school to transform into a laboratory with the 21st century’s competencies. He added:

“As ATÖLYE, we went beyond architectural procedures to make the design approach user-oriented throughout the whole process. We are very happy that this project, which is a hybrid spatial program that provides the opportunity to come together, produce, learn, and work, was awarded by one of the largest networks in architecture.”

Follow this link to visit the award page and this link to find out more about the project.

When wandering in the woods, we are sometimes reminded by signs to “take only memories and leave no trace behind.” Heeding this simple philosophy allows us to protect our environment and the ecosystem that we are all a part of.

The alienation of people to other people (which leads to racism, ableism, homophobia, as well as destructive thoughts and behaviors), and the planet (which leads to the destruction of natural wonders, animals, and ecosystems that sustain life), has lead to us leaving traces in the world (physical and psychological) and marks in places where they should not be. We only need to look towards the plastic “Seventh Continent” in the Atlantic to literally see the representation of how destructive the economic and social systems that we have in place can be.

Humanity’s marks are everywhere, and they are not pretty; they are destroying the very world we live in. So, where do we stand in all this?

We wanted to become a B Corp, because we know that we can—and have to—do better. 

As stated on the B Corporation website, certified B Corporations (B Corps) have to meet “the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.”

In order to become a B Corp, ATÖLYE had to go through a rigorous assessment process where our impact on our workers, customers, community, and environment was analyzed thoroughly. In addition, our governance methods were also scrutinized.   It is as a result of this assessment process that we are now proudly able to call ourselves a B Corp. However, this is only the very beginning of our commitment towards using our “business as a force for good.”

The B Corp Declaration of Interdependence “envisions a global economy that uses business as a force for good; an economy that comprises of new types of corporations that are purpose-driven and creates benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.”

We believe, just as the “Declaration” further states, that as leaders of this emerging economy;

• We must be the change we seek in the world.
• That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.
• That, through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all.
• To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another and thus responsible for each other and future generations.

Since ATÖLYE is a community-powered creative services organization that provides services to both clients and creative professionals globally, we also strive to be “purpose-driven” in our work. Furthermore, as a part of the kyu collective (kyu.com) that aims to be a source of creativity propelling the economy and society forward, we also hope to create as much positive impact as possible in all our undertakings. 

Of course, this is not easy. Being a purpose-driven and human-centered organization that focuses on societal and environmental issues means that you have to turn the mirror to yourself, question the way you make decisions, and then make a commitment to do better.

So, here we are; making a commitment to face ourselves, accept our mistakes, and strive towards changing the way we work in a way that benefits the people and the planet. We believe this is no longer just a responsibility, but a necessity.

We all leave our mark on the world, why not make it a beautiful one?

Find out more about B Corps here.

For the first time in Turkey, under the name of “Perspektif İstanbul”, Today at Apple* and ATÖLYE are organizing a series of sessions taking place between October 22 and December 5 with the attendance of local artists and creatives. The program, which will coincide with the opening of the new Apple Store in Bağdat Caddesi, invites everyone to discover their passions in music, visual arts, performances, and much more.

Throughout the six-week program there will be a wide variety of experiences for people of all ages to attend ranging from listening and recording to the sounds of the city and turning them into music, city walks and performances, learning how to publish podcasts, experiencing augmented reality, drawing, and much more.

In addition to the in-store events, you can also attend online events in which you can create a brand new world from miniatures, get acquainted with the subtleties of the art of photography, and discover how to make music with renowned musicians.

Through these new creative discoveries, we hope to pave the way for fresh and different perspectives towards the city we live in, the spaces we occupy, and most importantly, towards one other. By changing our perspectives, we are able to change our realities.

We are inviting all of you to these sessions that will be combining technology with creativity, presenting new perspectives towards the city we live in, and celebrating urban culture!

For more information and to register for the events, check out the following link: perspektif.istanbul

#perspektifistanbul #todayatapple

*Today at Apple, presented by Apple, is a global program consisting of free sessions in which one can explore their creativity in different fields both online and in-store.

ATÖLYE’s architectural and spatial design project for the @Dubai Future Foundation Accelerators Space has been chosen as an Honorable Mention in the prestigious 2021 Architecture MasterPrize!

Congratulations to the project team, which included Nesile Yalçın as the lead designer, Begüm Ural, Deniz Dönmez, Engin Ayaz, Gizem Akın, İrem Coşkun, and Yusuf Akın Gülsayın.

The DFF Accelerators space hosts startups in cooperation with the government and private sector entities. Out of a collaboration between ATÖLYE’s service design and architectural design teams, which included over 80 hours of field research, a scenario-based layout system that enables different modes of interactions emerged. With the right interventions, and by utilizing the strengths of the existing design, ATÖLYE created an exploration and production space that is never underutilized.

The new design of the space “has reinvented the way we work,” said @Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation.

The Architecture MasterPrize celebrates and recognizes creative and innovative projects that push boundaries and set new standards in architectural design. ATÖLYE’s work was recognized among hundreds of project entries in the Workspaces category.

Visit this link to find out more about this project.

On October 31, as part of Concrete Love, a festival organized by the House of Beautiful Business, ATÖLYE’s Co-founder Kerem Alper sat down with SYPartners’ CEO Jessica Orkin for a conversation about power, love and leadership.

Kerem talked about “leadership as a state of opening up space in which people can make decisions and communities can flourish.”

Listen to Kerem and Jessica talk about what it might look and feel like if business embraced emergent ideas about love, power, and how we work together. 

You’ll find the recording of the conversation at this link, along with engaging conversations with Ivy Ross, Tina Roth Eisenberg, and Keith Yamashita.

As we completed another circle around our sun to mark the end of 2021, we took the first days of January once again to reflect on the past year and to trace the marks our work left in the world.

For us, 2021 was another humble step towards realizing our vision of a world where complex challenges are tackled through fluid and impactful collaboration of diverse individuals and communities. To this end, in 2021, we focused deeper on designing and implementing community systems in all of our undertakings as well as inviting people to our communities who share this passion.

Follow the link to join us in tracing our impact and read about our resolution for the new year and beyond: impact.atolye.io

ATÖLYE’s Co-Founder Engin Ayaz joins the March Jury of the FRAME Awards!

World’s leading award competition in interior design, the FRAME Awards features revolving jury panels in an effort to make the awards more inclusive and democratic. With 14 other design professionals, Engin will contribute to the evaluation process with insights informed by his background in architecture, systems thinking, and interaction design.

Follow the link to find out about the rest of the jury.

On March 30, as part of the Expo Dubai 2020 program, we took part in the World Government Summit and discussed the role of design for governments.

World Government Summit took place for the 8th time and gathered thought leaders, experts, and decision makers from around the world to talk about the future of governments. ATÖLYE’s Co-Founder Engin Ayaz gave a speech during the summit, in which he shared a new model for strategic planning through design to help governments and organizations thrive in an age of complexity, uncertainty, and opportunity.

You can follow this link to watch the recording of the summit’s live stream.

We are thrilled to welcome Rie Nørregaard from SYPartners to ATÖLYE’s Board of Directors!

As Partner in Creative Direction and Partnerships at SYPartners, Rie has worked with ATÖLYE on some of our most impactful and community-powered initiatives in the Middle East. Along the way, she has played a great role in helping ATÖLYE become a hub for the kyu Collective in the region and host teams from the kyu family, such as IDEO, SYPartners, Gehl, and SidLee.

We believe that a close partnership with SYPartners under Rie’s leadership will help both organizations flourish and thrive in novel ways. Rie’s excellent command of strategy and craft, as well as her leadership, will continue to elevate ATÖLYE’s work in the region and beyond.

Welcome on board (pun intended), Rie!

About Rie

Rie is passionate about design as an act of service—from designing more inclusive organizations to reimagining how an ordinary product, such as a cane, can become extraordinary for the person who uses it.

At SYPartners, Rie serves as a Partner of Creative Direction and Partnerships, helping clients envision and build a future that’s made for all of us—and the best in us. Previously, Rie was CEO and co-founder at Omhu. She’s worked as a Creative Director at leading design firms, such as Smart Design, Organic, Quirky, and Frog Design, and has designed solutions for brands including: American Express, Chanel, Cisco, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Nike, OXO, TED, Vogue, Samsung, GE, and Mattel.

Outside her role as Partner in San Francisco, Rie is an advisor to several tech and consumer product startups, and is a frequent speaker in the international design and design education communities. Rie trained as a communication designer in Copenhagen, Denmark and lives in San Francisco with her family.

On April 1, ATÖLYE Senior Communications Associate Melissa Clissold and Design Researcher Emel Pilavcı took part in the European Creative Hubs Network (ECHN) Family Brunch to share the process of becoming a B Corp with other hub community members.

The ECHN is a peer-led network with a mission to enhance the creative, economic, and social impact of hubs. ECHN members can enjoy working across the vast network of hubs across Europe. To become a member and check out member locations, take a look here.

On March 29, ATÖLYE took part in a panel hosted by S360, alongside Laboratoires Expanscience Turkey, Mikado Sustainable Development Consulting, Reflect Studio, and Semtrio Sustainability to discuss what it means to be a B Corp, and how, as businesses, we can work towards being “forces for good.”

Emel Pilavci, Design Researcher at ATÖLYE, shared what it means to be a part of the B Corp community, and what we are actively doing for the people and the planet. Click the following link to watch the panel discussion.

ATÖLYE and Gehl, an urban research and design consulting firm based in Copenhagen, have partnered up to reimagine the urban landscape of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. We have been working on various public space projects from a spatial, business, experience, and brand standpoint in order to transform existing spaces into attractive and diversified urban areas.

Gehl is a global leader in people-centered urban design. In 2022, Gehl joined ATÖLYE and other world-leading creative agencies in the kyu Collective, paving the way for our current collaborations and many more to come in the future. Visit gehlpeople.com to find out more about the latest kyu member.

On our journey to becoming a B Corp in 2021, we had asked ourselves the following question: “We all leave our mark on the world, why not make it a beautiful one?” We believe, in order to do this, we must all “come back down to Earth.” On Earth Day 2022, we feel it is important to reiterate time and again that the global climate crisis is no longer a distant threat—it’s here now, and we all play a role in creating climate impact through our personal lives and our business priorities. 

We’ve been focusing on two main goals; carving our path to “Net Zero” and elevating awareness for the role that we can play in urgently addressing the climate crisis. Now, we’re taking a further step on our environmental journey by partnering with Lune, whose mission is to make every product and service climate positive by default. With their support, we have offset the first portion of our carbon footprint: 94.34 tonnes of CO2—all of our flights and electricity for 2021.

Lune specializes in connecting businesses like ATÖLYE with high-quality carbon offsetting projects that are curated based on the projects’ goals and capacity for driving measurable climate impact. In preparation for Earth Day, we have selected projects that will be supporting Global Renewable Projects: Gujarat Solar and Shandong Wind. In the future, we hope to pick projects that align with the Oxford Principles.

We know that we’ve hit a milestone today, but we also know that our footsteps must become more intentional as we move forward; there is no time left, and becoming Net Zero—and reducing carbon emissions—are what we all need to commit to.

In the future, we’ll be further offsetting our company footprint and engaging with our partners to help them develop more sustainable products in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Let’s come back, down to Earth.

We are happy to announce an important milestone regarding a shift in our leadership.

Bengi Turgan Çiftçi has stepped into the role of Co-CEO. Engin Ayaz, as Bengi’s counterpart, will be sharing leadership responsibilities—as well as the title of Co-CEO—going forward.

What makes us excited about this shift is that it marks a milestone for ATÖLYE on the path to transforming ATÖLYE from a “founder-led” organization into a “founder-inspired” organization over the past few years. This, by far, is the most concrete step we have taken and it fills us with great excitement to imagine what the future holds for ATÖLYE with Bengi in the leadership seat.

Bengi is well-equipped with in-depth expertise of almost two decades in multiple industries coupled with experience as an academic and entrepreneur. Over the past two and a half years, as the Senior Director of our Strategic Design Studio—and while navigating the rough waters throughout the pandemic—Bengi has contributed immensely to ATÖLYE’s design practice. A great testament to her leadership has manifested in our relationship with the Turkish EV company Togg where Bengi has been directing and shaping one of the most significant design contracts ever commissioned in Turkey. Alongside her design leadership, Bengi has contributed to countless projects and programs as a vision setter, director, engagement leader, doer, and advisor. She has masterfully steered our strategic conversations going into 2022, led the recruitment of some of our most senior roles, and perhaps more importantly, played a crucial role in shaping the well-being initiatives at ATÖLYE. 

In all respects, Bengi has been setting a role model for fostering a collaborative and upbeat team culture at ATÖLYE. Most importantly, Bengi’s uncompromising desire for craft excellence coupled with her empathetic leadership has been a driving force behind ATÖLYE’s most recent work. Incidentally, at this point in time, this particular quality seems like the natural next step for ATÖLYE too as a maturing organization.

As part of this transition, ATÖLYE’s Co-founder Kerem Alper will be assuming the role of Chairperson and continue contributing to ATÖLYE’s strategy and serve the organization at the board level. 

Please join us in congratulating Bengi on her new journey ahead!

Today marks a new milestone in ATÖLYE’s history…

It is with great joy that we would like to introduce you to a new spin-off venture Neol—a decentralized, tokenized cohort-based learning and on-demand talent platform, powered by a curated global creative community. Neol’s mission is to change the landscape of tomorrow through creating infinite possibilities for sustainable growth, cultivating community connections, and bringing together learners from across the globe. Neol aims to enfranchise talents and the power of collaboration—all whilst creating a positive impact in the world.

Over the years, ATÖLYE has shown its ability to enfranchise individuals and create great impact with them. Now, Neol wants to take that ability to a global scale whilst sharing the same creed and ethos that makes up our community. Neol is the culmination of the experiments we’ve run at ATÖLYE and the experiences and learnings we have collected along the way.

Neol’s roots are deeply entwined with ATÖLYE’s. Since it’s foundation in 2013, ATÖLYE has believed in the power of collaboration in an age of individualism, creative problem solving in an age of solely analytical thinking and long-term value creation in an age of short-termism. The idea of Neol was born out of a need to share and experience these beliefs with a larger global community—through learning, and creating, together.

Now, Neol is launching their very first learning cohort on Community Design running through 20 June – 7 July. This is a 3-week immersive and facilitated program where, together with a curated cohort of creatives, innovation leaders, consultants and community leaders, you will;

• Explore the fundamentals of community theory.

• Learn practical frameworks.

• Work on group prototypes to grow intentional communities.

• Connect with domain experts and like-minded community gardeners.

For detailed information on cohort members, speaker list, and detailed program, visit Neol.co.

We are thrilled to be sharing that ATÖLYE has won two awards at the iF Design Award 2022!

Our spatial strategy and interior design project for the Dubai Future Foundation (DFA) Accelerators Space was awarded in the Interior Architecture discipline. The Sezin Post, the product-service system we designed with the Sezin School, received the award in the Service Design discipline.

Congratulations to all ATÖLYE team members who took part in bringing these projects to life, as well as our partners-in-impact, the Sezin School and DFA. We are proud to have our projects awarded by a select jury among the 11,000+ entries submitted for one of the most prestigious design prizes in the world.

Follow the links below to check out our winning projects.

DFA Accelerator Space profile

Sezin Post profile

We believe there is only one future.

A future where resources flow efficiently within regenerative systems and where individuals can thrive within equitable communities. Today, our world is facing many complex challenges that cannot be solved with a simplistic approach. It is for this reason that we have started placing sustainability at the core of our principles & approach; we believe that it is the only way to thrive collectively.

Gülin Ölçer, the Head of Strategy & Sustainability Portfolio at ATÖLYE, in a recent article by Tufts on “Designing a Circular Economy” states that designing for such sustainability depends on a “different kind of thinking about one’s responsibility for the future of a planet that is clearly in crisis. It’s time that people realize they can take action.” 

We have started taking action, and we want to take action and collaborate with others on making this world not just one to survive in—but one to live, and thrive in—together. 

This is an invitation to look for new solutions to create a sustainable future; find out more about what we can do together via this link.

#sustainability #circulareconomy #regenerative systems #community #equity #climate #future #planet #people #bcorp #netzero

The “Brandon Hall Awards for Excellence” are rewarded to institutions that have successfully implemented programs, strategies, methods, processes, systems, and tools with measurable results. The institutions participating in the competition are some of the world’s leading companies.

The corporate training program “Change Pioneers” developed by ATÖLYE for Abdi İbrahim, won a gold medal at the international Brandon Hall Human Capital Management Excellence Awards. The program was awarded in the “Future of Work” category of the competition in the “Best Skill Development Programs” sub-category, which rewards programs that are designed to provide employees with advanced skills in various fields.

During the 17-week online course, participants learned and applied human-centered design approaches to develop creative solutions to the company’s strategic problems, as well as receiving training to pioneer new ways of thinking and working. During the program, three new business model ideas were developed by the participants with the support of ATÖLYE’s coaches and facilitators; these ideas have taken their place in Abdi İbrahim’s strategic roadmap and will be implemented in the near future.

The Frame Awards are the first and only global interior and product design awards with a truly holistic approach.

The Awards identify and honour the world’s best interior and product projects, but also the people behind them. The work is judged by all industry stakeholders: interior designers, architects, retail brands, hospitality providers, cultural institutions, and educators.

Güray will contribute to the decision process with his over two decades of experience from interior design to masterplans and experience in top tier projects in a variety of categories such as hospitality, workspaces, retail, residential and exhibition design.

The jury team that will take on the second month of FRAME Awards 2023 has global expertise in spatial design. Get to know all 15 jury members via this link.

When it comes to the climate crisis, it has become increasingly apparent that our responsibility as a society is to maximize both renewable resources and human capital to combat the glaring challenges. Though they can appear redundant, intimidating, and complicated, by upholding the vision of an environment that is protected and considered, it is possible to use those resources and capital to design through fair, sustainable, and circular means. 

This year, as part of the Make it Circular Challenge, What Design Can Do (WDCD), an international organisation seeking to accelerate a transition to a sustainable, fair and just society through the power of design, is asking, “How can design make a circular future more accessible and attractive to all?” Circularity is the framework by which we can think about the after, while in the present, and alter the way we live and collectively take care of our planet. 

WDCD’s global Make it Circular Challenge calls on creatives to channel the sometimes inevitable frustration of living in spaces of overconsumption, overproduction, and excessive waste, into climate innovations driven by design. Participants will submit proposals for the chance to win €10.000 in funding and a development program that will help realize the project. 

We are excited to announce that ATÖLYE Co-CEO Engin Ayaz, and Head of Sustainability Gülin Ölçer will play a role in the Make It Circular Challenge. As they assess candidates and projects, Engin as a jury member and Gülin as part of the selection committee, they’ll bring forth their shared passion with ATÖLYE for impact-focused and community-driven innovation to this salient dialogue. Making circular decisions related to what we eat, what we buy, what we wear, how we package, and what we build, can propel all of us to revitalize and reuse while positioning nature as something to preserve rather than abuse. 

Being a part of the Make it Circular Challenge means being a part of a collective shift towards a forward-thinking circular society. ATÖLYE believes vehemently in the power of collaboration in an age of individualism, creative problem-solving in an age of solely analytical thinking and long-term value creation in an age of short-termism. 

It’s time we reframe the way we live. Together, we can reclaim the responsibility of designing for a liveable future, by avoiding waste in the present, and embracing the power of circularity. 

Learn more about What Design Can Do and the Make it Circular Challenge here. Apply by the 31st of January! 

Just last week, Türkiye and Syria experienced one of the worst earthquakes of the last century. The damage is absolutely devastating and will take months (even years) to completely rebuild and revitalize these affected communities. Right now, people in the area are in desperate need of shelter, food, psychological support, and more.

We wanted to share a list of organizations and resources collated into a single link— that way you may be able to easily share across your communities and social channels. Please feel free to share the link also: http://linktr.ee/earthquake_support…

In the meantime, here at ATÖLYE, we are activating our community and working towards identifying tangible ways to be of service in the mid-long term. Please contact us if you have any further ideas that you feel may support these initiatives.

VBenzeri interviewed Begüm Ural and Güray Oskay from ATÖLYE Architecture team about their architectural projects, design approach and work at ATÖLYE.

You can reach the interview from this link.

Our 2022 “Tracing our Impact” site has won the Website Design Achievement Award by GMK.

Development: Basework
UI/UX: Fol Studio

About Tete-a-Tera

Created in collaboration with Mono Earth and Kalebodur, Tête-à-Terra is our way of celebrating life, culture, art, dialogue, and hope. By combining unique soils of Cappadocia with waste fragments from ceramic production, to form earth bricks, it is a space for random encounters and moments of pause. 

Within the project’s essence, it becomes evident Tête-à-Terra is also a clarion call for the present and the future. In a world increasingly driven by progress and technological advancements, the pavilion invites us to pause and reconnect with the natural world, serving as a sanctuary where individuals can find solace, groundedness, and support. 

Tête-à-Terra’s primary objective is to cultivate an environment that encourages meaningful human interactions while underscoring the need to shift our perspectives, recalibrate our priorities around sustainability, and realize the potential of regenerative design through the lens of global and local communities.

Click here to learn more about Tête-à-Terra!

Tête-à-Terra is a collaborative, community-powered effort that originated from shared ambitions and a series of conversations amongst three partners: ATÖLYE Architecture, Mono Earth—an earth architecture studio in Cappadocia—and Kalebodur, Turkey’s leader in the ceramic industry. The project explores how the existing connection between architecture and natural surroundings reflects our shared past and conveys the urgent need to reevaluate priorities around sustainability and fairness from a global and local lens.

The pavilion, made of two walls, utilizes handcrafted, environment-friendly earth bricks made from a mix of various soils and ceramic waste fragments from industrial production to create a transit point, inviting individuals to pause and reflect, and to engage with the space and others within it in conversation and ideation. Tête-à-Terra is an exploration of themes of collective memory, celebrating diversity and abundance, and emphasizes the concept of creation from soil, symbolizing human and earth’s potential and the importance of sustainability.

This year, it was featured in Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, amidst several projects highlighting the importance and relevance of sustainability practices and the power and potential of regenerative design.

Explore Tête-à-Terra

This past May, the ATÖLYE Unfold Series made its debut in the vibrant city of Dubai. We engaged in a captivating exchange with Riyad Joucka, Lead Architect and Founder of MEAN* about emergent technologies and innovative design solutions to advance the future of our built environment.

With our Director of Architecture, Güray Oskay, they decode how innovative design technologies, tech in space/construction, robotics, 3D printing, research, and built work act as interconnected streams within the design process.

Unfold, hosted by ATÖLYE Architecture, aims to showcase the transformative potential of design and architecture to provide a platform for meaningful dialogue and collaboration.

Neol, the AI-enabled talent platform originally born out of ATÖLYE, is creating new connections across the Middle East, with a special focus on the UAE and neighboring regions. This growth marks a significant milestone in Neol’s mission to forge meaningful connections and open doors to exceptional opportunities for its community members. 

Neol’s unique model represents the future of flexible talent engagement, leveraging AI to create a dynamic community with the ability to choose projects that align not just with your skills, but your values and interests. They invite you to become part of the network and contribute to a movement that values what you bring to the table as much as you value the growth it brings you.

Click here to find out more about Neol!

10 years ago, ATÖLYE began as a community-powered network in Istanbul. With its expansion to Dubai in 2019, ATÖLYE began cultivating community-powered design for creative emergence to address wicked global challenges, including quality education, sustainability mobility, social innovation, and regenerative living. Now in Europe, ATÖLYE is bringing community-powered transformation to more global audiences.

Check out this space where we’ll share our journey and learned insights along the way.

Last month, we got together with certified B Corps in Türkiye as well as aspiring B Corps in a 3-day B Corp bootcamp organized by imece, in partnership with Zorlu Holding, S360, and B Lab Europe. We were proud to be a part of this event as community partners to share our journey of becoming certified.

Our Co-CEO Bengi Turgan Çiftçi, Community Designer Atalay Akpınar, and Communications Lead Melissa Lara Clissold delivered a swift workshop on the “Community” section of the B Impact assessment which is made up of 5 sections in total: Governance, Workers, Environment, Customers and Community.

During the bootcamp weekend, we also officially kicked off the “B Local Türkiye” community, of which Melissa Lara Clissold will be a Co-Chair on the Steering Committee alongside Idil Lopez and Aleyna Koca for a year.

The purpose of this community will be to spread the B Corp movement across Türkiye and the region and develop the impact ecosystem further.

Since becoming a B Corp, we have invested in our Climate work, JEDI/DEI work, and strived to focus on impact-driven projects. This year, during our re-certification, we hope that our work will have paid off, and are excited to see the fruits of our labour come to light.

We are excited to announce our most recent addition to the ATÖLYE Board of Directors: Helle Søholt, Founding Partner and CEO of Gehl.

As the co-founder of Gehl, Helle has guided the company to international acclaim in the field of urban design and urban development. Under her strategic and visionary leadership, Gehl has earned numerous awards and recognition for their impactful work in creating livable, sustainable cities worldwide. Her extensive expertise and strategic insight into urban analysis, visioning, and design have shaped cities like Copenhagen, Vancouver, New York, and São Paulo.We believe Helle’s passion for building healthy urban environments, combined with her exceptional strategic acumen, will bring invaluable insights to our organization as we continue expanding our community-powered impact in the Middle East and Europe.

Welcome again Helle!

About Helle:

Helle Søholt is a trailblazer in urban design and development. She earned her architectural training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and the University of Washington in Seattle, then completed a Master of Management Development at Copenhagen Business School.Helle co-founded Gehl with Professor Jan Gehl in 2000, and her leadership has been instrumental in creating an impressive body of work that prioritizes urban quality, livability, and mobility. She is a sought-after speaker at international conferences and serves on numerous competition juries across Europe. Her dedication to human-scale design, compact urban form, and inclusive mobility makes her an influential advocate for healthier urban living.Beyond her role at Gehl, Helle is known for her collaborative approach, nurturing the next generation of urban thought leaders while serving as an advisor to innovative cities worldwide.

Highlights from the B for Good Leaders Summit 2024

This May, ATÖLYE and NOW Partners co-hosted the Regenerative Economy track at the B for Good Leaders Summit in Amsterdam. Our sessions, moderated by ATÖLYE’s co-CEO Engin Ayaz and NOW Partners’ Founding CEO Walter Link, consisted of three Regenerative Solutions Dialogues and two Innovation Labs which took part over two days.

Throughout, we were privileged to host a lineup of esteemed speakers; together, we deep dived into sustainable business practices, individual journeys, and collaborative solutions development. 

Here are just a few insights that stood out for us:

• Simplicity in Innovation: Paqui Lizana from IKEA remarked, “At IKEA, we do things simple, and to do things simple is very complex.” This underscores the intricate process of embedding sustainability into everyday operations.
• Celebrating Repairs: Hanni Larma of United Repair Center, an apparel repair center that is reshaping the fashion industry, highlighted the importance of visible and celebrated repairs, fostering a culture of sustainability and strong customer bonds.
• Holistic Restoration: Willem Ferwerda, founder of Commonland, emphasized holistic landscape restoration, which must tackle the complex nature of ecological, social, economic and political landscapes as essential to addressing the interconnected losses in degraded ecosystems.
• Cultivating the Social Soil: In a plenary session, MIT senior lecturer Otto Scharmer illuminated the importance of social fields—the quality of relationships shaping our actions. “Put a stick in front of a dog, and he goes for the stick. Put a stick in front of a lion, and he turns to you,” Scharmer explained, urging a focus on core issues over distractions, thereby nurturing the “social soil” that influences our endeavors.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us, including the following speakers:

• Chris Adamo, Global Sustainability Impact & B Corp, Danone
• Dick Velings, Managing Director, Eneco B2B
• Marc Goedkoop, CEO, Pure Carbon Blue
• Yumnaa Firfirey, Founder and Managing Director, Towards Uhuru
• Andreas Sommer, Board Advisor and Founder, essential
• Harald Tepper, Sr. Director Sustainable Development, Philips
• Katarzyna Hanula-Bobbitt, Head of Policy, Positive Money Europe
• Michael Pirson, Professor, Gabelli School of Business
• Hanni Larma, Head of Partnerships, United Repair Centre
• Paqui Lizana, Global Head of Technology Strategy, IKEA
• Willem Ferwerda, Founder, Commonland

A special thanks is also in place to our wonderful ATÖLYE Europe Team who assisted in making this possible: Leen Sadder, Mert Cetinkaya, Gülnaz Ör, Deniz Dönmez, as well as our friends at NOW Partners: Merijn Dols and Renske van Grinsven.

We truly hope that the insights and partnerships forged at this summit will propel ATÖLYE’s mission forward. With our collective wisdom, we can innovate more effectively, address global challenges, and build a more sustainable and resilient world.

We are excited to announce that our long-term friend and collaborator Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius will serve as a strategic advisor to ATÖLYE!

With 20 years of experience across various domains, Christer has served in diverse positions on 5 continents and held prominent academic and board roles, including serving as the principal of KAOSPILOT until 2023.

“Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius, will bring his wealth of experience in leadership, strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship to ATÖLYE as well as contribute to our strategic expansion in Europe by helping shape our education portfolio globally.” – Engin Ayaz

“I am very happy to have been asked to support the aspirations of ATÖLYE and their innovative work on community-powered transformation as they continue to create value for their clients, partners, and society.”

– Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius

We look forward to a successful journey ahead with Christer on board.

ATÖLYE is embarking on an exciting new adventure in Saudi Arabia, extending our innovative touch beyond Türkiye, UAE, and the Netherlands. We’re now ready to unveil our newest chapter in the Kingdom, a country full of transformative potential and groundbreaking ideas.

With a proven track record of successful and award-winning projects worldwide, we are now ready to transform people, places and experiences here. Our past collaborations include prominent names from the region: EXPO 2020, Dubai Future Foundation, DIFC, and Etihad Rail, and we’ve now initiated partnerships with key players in Saudi Arabia such as NEOM and Ilmi.

Are you a visionary designer, strategic thinker, or innovative researcher in Saudi Arabia? Then please consider joining our community to collaborate on potential projects together.

Are you an impact leader hoping to transform your organization and amplify your impact? Then please contact our Co-CEO Bengi Turgan to find out more about our offerings and see how we can partner together to create lasting change.

ATÖLYE has been celebrated by Architizer—a renowned New York-based media site and the largest architecture database—as one of the Top 25 Architecture and Design Firms in Türkiye. This prestigious recognition emphasizes ATÖLYE’s unwavering commitment to crafting innovative and purposeful spaces that resonate on both local and international stages.

Throughout the years, our dear architects and designers at ATÖLYE Architecture have continuously demonstrated a dedication to pushing creative boundaries, engaging deeply with communities, and delivering projects that embody the highest standards of excellence. This honor from Architizer not only highlights ATÖLYE’s accomplishments but also places it among a distinguished group of architecture and design firms making substantial contributions to Türkiye’s evolving design landscape.

Looking for an architectural solution to bring your vision to life? Learn more about ATÖLYE Architecture.

The full article can be found here on Architizer.

This year, the UAE invites us all to reflect on a powerful idea: that community is not only where we belong—but how we move forward.

Under the tagline “Hand in Hand,” President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has declared 2025 as the Year of Community—a nationwide initiative running from January through December.

At ATÖLYE, we’ve long believed that communities are the catalysts of transformation. Whether designing learning journeys, reimagining civic spaces, or convening cross-sector collaborations, we’ve seen first-hand how community unlocks possibility, resilience, and shared purpose.

So when the Year of Community was announced, it didn’t feel like a new direction—it felt like a deep affirmation of the work we already hold close.

What is the Year of Community?

Rooted in the UAE’s values of resilience, ambition, and openness, the Year of Community is dedicated to fostering a united and empowered society. It aims to inspire behaviours that strengthen family and social ties, encourage shared responsibility, and unlock potential for sustainable growth. 

ATÖLYE wholeheartedly embraces this vision. We believe that the power of communities to transform people, places and experiences—a change process we call community-powered transformation—is key to creating lasting change, and we are committed to empowering communities to come together and build a better future. 

How We Are Showing Up

In alignment with the Year of Community, we’re building on our long-standing commitment to community-powered transformation with a renewed sense of urgency and intention.

We recently launched Community-Powered Dialogues—a series of curated conversations bringing together impact-driven leaders, community builders, and innovators. The dialogue featured voices such as Dr. Alamira Reem Al Hashimi (M_39), Dr. Sumayah Al-Solaiman (Ministry of Culture KSA), Paula Quintas (BMW Foundation), Kerem Alper (Neol), Fatma Al Khayat (ARKAT), Andreas Sommer (essentials now), and Thomas Swaak (ASML)—alongside other leaders in design, policy, and systems change. The series explores how communities can not only strengthen social fabric but also generate meaningful value for organizations, cities, and ecosystems. Watch the recap and join our Linkedin Group to be a part of the conversation!

We have also soft-launched communitypowered.io, a digital platform designed to connect changemakers, share practices, and catalyze collective action. By making the work of the community more visible and accessible, we aim to empower a broader movement of practice across the region. This moment builds on over a decade of experience nurturing communities that create meaningful change. Here are a few highlights that reflect our ongoing commitment:

A Track Record of Building Community

Our work across the UAE and beyond reflects our belief that change begins with relationships. A few highlights:

• DesignGov
  
  Empowering UAE government employees with human-centered design and creative leadership skills to lead collaboratively.
• M39
  
  Empowering Abu Dhabi’s creative community by transforming a historic port into a dynamic hub for cultural innovation, entrepreneurship, and collective impact.
• MBRCLD Leadership Development
  
  Designing immersive programs to build trust, foster collaboration, and strengthen capabilities around design thinking and systems thinking in the UAE’s public sector.
• Ne’ma Food Mapping
  
  Supporting food waste reduction agenda in the UAE by mapping the UAE’s National Food System stakeholders, developing various interventions, facilitating implementation, and accelerating decision making within NeʼMa Initiative.

…and many more projects focused on enabling collective impact.

How ATÖLYE Can Support Your Community Initiatives

As the Year of Community unfolds, we’re excited to partner with organizations looking to embed community at the heart of their impact. Whether you’re shaping policy, designing experiences, or leading teams—community can be your greatest asset. Here’s how we can support you:

• Community Strategy & Design: Cultivating engaged, solution-oriented communities of purpose and practice, via ATOLYE’s own Community Playbook framework.
• Leadership Development & Facilitation: Empowering leaders for lasting, community-driven impact via cohort-based learning programs.
• Experience Design & Community Activation: Shaping compelling end-to-end experiences that foster collaboration and belonging
• Architecture & Placemaking: Designing spaces that nurture connection, creativity, and shared ownership—bringing community values to life through intentional environments.

Learn more here.

Stay Tuned for Upcoming Events

Throughout 2025, ATÖLYE will be hosting flagship events and community activations across the UAE—designed to spark new collaborations, explore emerging practices, and celebrate community in action.

We invite you to join us—whether by attending an upcoming gathering, exploring our work, or reaching out to co-create something new.

👉 Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the loop.

The Year of Community is a call to unite, collaborate, and contribute to the UAE’s collective future. At ATÖLYE, we’re excited to support this vision—and to walk “Hand in Hand” toward what’s next.