Istanbul Museum of Modern Art partners with MoMA and MoMA PS1

YAP Istanbul Modern: Emerging architects will create exterior installations with Young Architects Program

ISTANBUL, NEW YORK, June 4, 2012—Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 announce a new partnership that will expand the international Young Architects Program (YAP) to Turkey. YAP Istanbul Modern will provide opportunities for emerging architects in Turkey to create temporary exterior installations to serve as biennial architectural landscapes for summer programming at the Istanbul Modern. YAP Istanbul Modern joins the YAP International programs atMoMA PS1 in New York, the National Museum of XXI Century Arts (MAXXI) in Rome, and at the cultural organization CONSTRUCTO in Santiago.

“The Young Architects Program was created to offer young designers an early opportunity to realize their visions in built form,” says Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA. “The expansion of YAP to Rome, Santiago, and now Istanbul, gives well-deserved international recognition to a pool of talented locally-based designers within these programs, fostering innovative ideas and helping launch careers. The vibrancy of the architecture and design worlds in Turkey demands attention both locally and internationally. While the finalists in this biennial program will highlight the creativity of young Turkish designers, the network of other Young Architects Program International members will provide international exposure through exhibitions around the world as well as on a dedicated website. This is a new model of international exhibition that recognizes local talent bases.”

Oya Eczacıbaşı,Chair of the Board of İstanbul Modern, expressed her delight in signing the agreement with MoMA / MoMA PS1, world pioneers of contemporary museology. “As a museum committed to sharing Turkey’s artistic creativity with wide audiences and promoting its cultural identity in the international art world, we are thrilled to be collaborating with a team of experts from MoMA / MoMA PS1 on YAP İstanbul Modern: Young Architects Program, which shall have a pioneering role in the field of contemporary architecture in Turkey.”

İstanbul Modern organizes a variety of projects and events in arts and culture with an interdisciplinary approach for diverse audiences. YAP İstanbul Modern: Young Architects Program, is significant in terms of being the first comprehensive and persistent project in the field of architecture. Noting that YAP İstanbul Modern: Young Architects Program would involve collaboration with MAXXI in Rome and CONSTRUCTO in Santiago, prominent actors in the field of architecture, as well as with MoMA / MoMA PS1, Oya Eczacıbaşı added, “Exhibiting innovative approaches in architecture and supporting creative architectural projects from Turkey have been among our primary goals for many years. We believe that the YAP İstanbul Modern: Young Architects Program is the right program to achieve these objectives.”

Stressing the significance of the project in light of Turkey’s architectural landscape and vibrant contemporary production, Oya Eczacıbaşı said, “YAP İstanbul Modern: Young Architects Program will include architectural installations designed for the museum’s courtyard, an architectural exhibition showcasing the designs of international finalists, and a wide range of summer activities. Through this program we hope to support emerging talents and create an international platform in İstanbul for discussing this field.”

YAP offers selected young designers and architects the opportunity to create designs that promote diverse uses such as rest, play, and relaxation as well as hosting a series of live events such as shows, music, dance, exhibitions, and performances. In addition architects are encouraged to address environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling, to create highly innovative projects that provide shade, seating, and water.

The inaugural YAP Istanbul Modern installation—chosen from five finalists by a team of representatives from both Museums as well as representatives from the other YAP International programs—will open in June 2013, coinciding with the openings of YAP at MoMA PS1 and YAP MAXXI. In addition to their respective winning designs, each YAP International location will feature an exhibition showcasing the proposed designs from all of the finalists within the YAP International program during the summer of 2013.

YAP International

The Young Architects Program is a collaboration that fosters innovative design research and promotes emerging talent. Originally jointly organized by The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 in 2000, MoMA PS1 has hosted both an architectural installation created by a designated emerging architect team and a summer music series in its outdoor galleries. In June 2012, Wendy, the winning design by the architectural firm HWKN (HollwichKushner) will provide the setting for the Warm Up music series at MoMA PS1. In 2011, YAP expanded to include two partnerships between MoMA/MoMA PS1 and National Museum of XXI Century Arts (MAXXI) in Rome and MoMA/MoMA PS1 and cultural organization CONSTRUCTO in Santiago. YAP MAXXI continues the YAP mission of offering young designers an opportunity to create a space for live summer events in the piazza of the MAXXI. The June 2012 project is Unire/United and will be designed by architectural firm Urban Movement Design. Continuing the legacy in South America, YAP Chile proves an active platform to create new opportunities for talented Latin American emerging architects to think, explore, and improve the quality of collective-use spaces for live summer events, thinking on sustainability as a way to respond to a contemporary problem that requires intelligent and creative use of resources. The Garden of Forking Paths, designed by Beal + Lyons Architects, will open in Santiago in December 2012.For more information on YAP International and past designs, visit the dedicated YAP exhibition website.