16 Mar 2020
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