Application
Admission is open to all bachelor’s degree holders, aiming academic or professional career and interested in furthering their education through a program of individual study in architecture and urban design.
Required application materials are:
1- Statement of Interest (A personal statement explaining goals and objectives for the program,description of the intended field of study, research or design project based on Istanbul and its relation with the main theme of the studio)
2- Current resume (CV) and creative portfolio
3- English Language Proficiency Test Result
Participants will be able to join the program without paying any contribution fee.
Given the individualized nature of the Academy’s program, there are a limited number of spots available each semester, so we suggest early applications.
The language of the program is Turkish and English. Seminars, conferences and events are mostly held in Turkish. The applicants are expected to have sufficient knowledge in English to be able to read, discuss, research and present their studies. All applicants whose native language is not Turkish or English must submit YDS (min 65), TOEFL IBT (min 70) or IELTS (min 6.0) score for admissions.
The program is offered free of charge to all participants. However, participants traveling from outside Istanbul are responsible for their own accommodation and transportation.
2025 / Fall Semester
Interview Date: 25 September, 2025
Program Start Date: 29 September, 2025
Program End Date: 25 January, 2026
During the Semester, seminars, conferences and events will be held in person at the AURA Istanbul’s center in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. Participants are expected to adapt to the dynamic structure of the events within the program and participate in the program fulltime on weekdays and Saturdays.
The core of the Academy’s program is the Research-Based Design Studio. Projects exploring the theme of “Boundaries” will be developed under the supervision of Hüseyin Yanar, an architect, writer, and academic based in Finland. The studio will also benefit from the insights of performance artist Seppo Salminen, architect Samuli Woolston, co-founder of ALA Architects, and sculptor and contemporary installation artist Kaarina Kaikkonen as visiting instructors.
Applicants are expected to present a research-based design project proposal in their letter of intent, addressing its relevance to the semester’s theme.
Detailed information about the program can be found on the Program, Program Modules and Design Studio pages.
Application Deadline: 19 September 2025,(23.59 GMT+3).
RESEARCH-BASED DESIGN STUDIO
“Art & Archıtecture: B O U N D A R I E S”
Every journey, internal or external, carries boundaries, and each boundary tells a story. Imagine the cities of the past, present, and future. Picture the people who inhabit them—artists, architects, professionals, and everyday citizens—their inner worlds, and the spaces they occupy at every scale. Perhaps it is these boundaries, emotional, mental, physical, and environmental, that shape the narratives of life and place.
This term, AURA Istanbul’s studio explores the theme of “Boundaries.” Participants are invited to reflect on personal, spatial, and urban experiences and to interpret them across multiple scales. Located in Beşiktaş, the studio sits in the heart of Istanbul, a city where physical, cultural, and historical layers converge, offering a unique context to examine what lies within and beyond boundaries.
Two key precedents inform the workshop. The first is last year’s “Conversations on Architecture and Art without Boundaries Symposium”, organized by AURA Istanbul and Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, featuring Finnish and Turkish voices including Juhani Pallasmaa, Kaarina Kaikkonen, Samuli Woolston, Seppo Salminen, and Hüseyin Yanar. The second is the two-semester project “Boundaries 1 and Boundaries 2” at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts (2010–2011), co-directed by artist Seppo Salminen and architect Hüseyin Yanar, which included a visit to Istanbul.
Both initiatives brought together artists, architects, and students to explore the intersections of art and architecture, producing works and narratives later exhibited in Istanbul, Helsinki, and Kaikku Gallery. This studio builds on that legacy, creating a new stage for dialogue and experimentation.
Hüseyin Yanar leads the Research-Based Design Studio this term, with visiting artists and architects including Seppo Salminen, Samuli Woolston (ALA Architects), and Kaarina Kaikkonen, who will contribute through seminars and studio sessions.
The workshop is conceived as an experimental, collaborative space. Rather than following a rigid curriculum, the program will evolve step by step, allowing participants to explore boundaries at multiple scales. Here, methods are flexible, experimentation is encouraged, and learning happens collectively. The studio invites art and architecture into conversation, highlighting both connections and distinctions, and offering participants the freedom to craft their own interpretations of what lies within and beyond boundaries.
STUDIO INSTRUCTOR
Huseyın Yanar
Hüseyin Yanar is an architect, academic, and writer who bridges the gap between art and architecture. He writes articles and gives lectures on the nature of architecture and art, bringing together selected artists and architects in his books and offering his interpretations. With his interdisciplinary approach, he has developed a perspective shaped by diverse experiences and cultures, and has participated in significant events at both national and international levels where art and architecture intersect.
Yanar has written two theses on Rhythm in Architecture—one a PhD and the other an MPhil—completed between Istanbul and Oxford. He graduated from the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts with an Outstanding Achievement Award. He taught at the same institution for many years and became an Assistant Professor. He later continued his academic career at the Oxford School of Architecture, the Academy of Fine Arts in Finland, and at Aalto and Tampere Universities, where he also directed design studios. In 2013–14, he was invited to Busan Dong-Eui University in South Korea as an Associate Professor. Over the years, he has designed constructed buildings, created artworks, participated in competitions, received awards, and served on juries.
Yanar contributed an article to the Finnish Architecture Biennale’s publication Finnish Architecture 2010/2011, alongside Juhani Pallasmaa, Luis Fernández-Galiano, and Netta Böök. His work Baba Ayasofya was featured in the exhibition Istanbul: Currents and Bridges at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2012. His articles on contemporary churches were exhibited at the Finnish Architecture Museum in 2014, together with photographer Jussi Tiainen’s exhibition Two Paths to Silence. His sketches were included in the 2015 Tallinn Architecture Biennale. Yanar’s book Portraits, with a foreword by Juhani Pallasmaa, was published in Finland and received one of the “Most Beautiful Finnish Books” awards.
The ateliers he founded with friends over the years—West Architecture, Punavuori Design, and Orpheus North—produced both architectural projects and artworks, gradually becoming parts of a continuous chain. He currently lives in Helsinki, working in a space that doubles as his studio, overlooking the mysterious tower of the Helsinki White Cathedral, which rises like an altar amidst the rooftops of Kallio along Hämeentie Road. He continues to explore and interpret the concept of “sketch,” an integral part of his life, by drawing at different scales.