Sanctoreum

Zuhal Kol is an architect and urban designer whose work is focused on the intersection of politics, infrastructure and new urban environments. She is the co-founder of Openact Architecture, a design studio examining indeterminacy and plurality through varying scale public space competitions and ongoing projects, with registered offices in Madrid and Istanbul. She received her Masters of Architecture + Urban Design from Cornell AAP in 2013 and her B.Arch from Istanbul Technical University with High Honors. During her studies in Cornell AAP were she was a member of the research group “The Petropolis of Tomorrow’” and practiced as a teaching assistant, her research work was exhibited in the Lisbon Triennale, “The world in our eyes” in 2016. Zuhal has given lectures, review critics and workshops including Cornell University, Istanbul Technical University, Europan Forum, and various design festivals. She has participated in various national, international and invited architectural competitions, and won numerous awards including the most recent of Bandirma Park International Competition (TR) and Europan 13 Zagreb “Swap on the river” (HR) which currently are both under the process of implementation. Her work as a designer is complemented by a body of writing and research which concentrates on indeterminate and contingent design relationships between public realm, infrastructure, and ecology; and has been published and exhibited in international books, journals & venues.

Carlos Zarco is a practicing Architect/Planner with built and executed public space design competition projects and urban master plan works that received international recognition through various awards. He is the co-founder of Openact Architecture, a design studio examining indeterminacy and plurality through varying scale public space competitions and ongoing projects, with registered offices in Madrid and Istanbul. He holds temporary positions as invited lecturer and design studio critic with published academic work on contingent/resilient infrastructures. He received his B.Arch and M.Arch from Universidad Europea de Madrid in 2013. During his professional practice, he has participated a diverse number of international, national and invited competitions, which led to various awards and commissions. The very recent consists Bandirma Park International Competition (TR) and Europan 13 Zagreb “Swap on the river” (HR) which currently are both under the process of implementation. His work has been exhibited in numerous International venues and his writings and projects have been published in several books and journals including: XXI Magazine, Mimarizim, Arquitectura Viva, Yapi, Scenario Journal and Praznine. His work focus on envisioning the design of open-ended systems as the basis for adaptable, flexible and organic infrastructures, across a multitude of scales that support and promote contemporary urban life.