This is the first assignment named Design in the Forest of the new “Computation-based Basic Design” curriculum at İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture. We are excited to see the students merging their conceptions of natural structures with the skills they start gaining in geometry classes. In the next assignments, we expect to generate patterns and structures by the abstraction of these initial sketches.

Humay Aliyeva

Sude Akay

Here is an interesting paragraph from a similar art movement in Wikipedia:

“Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. As a trend, “land art” expanded the boundaries of art through the materials used and the siting of the works. The materials used were often the materials of the Earth, including the soil, rocks, vegetation, and water found on-site, and the sites of the works were often distant from population centers. Concerns of the art movement centered around the rejection of the commercialization of art-making and enthusiasm for an emergent ecological movement. The art movement coincided with the popularity of the rejection of urban living and its counterpart, enthusiasm for that which is rural.”

Here is a paragraph from the assignment brief:

“In the Design in the Forest assignment, you are required to put nature in order in a 1mx1m area. Each design decision should be a part of a geometrical layout and destined order. How you put each material in relation to the other will be questioned. You are asked to use found natural elements/materials you pick in the city parks, forests, and beaches. You can use leaves, sticks, branches, soil, lichen, seeds, etc. You should observe and try to understand the formal and tectonic qualities of the materials you choose/pick. Not disturbing nature would be an objective of this assignment, therefore, do not break branches, move large tracts of soil, etc.”