Tuna Han Koç

Zeynep Altınbaşlı

Tuna Han Koç (1986) and Zeynep Altınbaşlı (1991) are architects and co-founders of Rasa Stüdyo, established in Istanbul in 2016. Koç graduated from Karadeniz Technical University and teaches architectural design studios at Özyeğin University and Maltepe University. Altınbaşlı graduated from Yaşar University and completed her master’s degree at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, where she is pursuing her PhD.

Their practice develops spatial solutions across different scales and programmes, with a focus on people and context, supported by research into contemporary materials, construction technologies, and detailing. Rasa Stüdyo has received numerous competition awards, including first prizes for the İzmir Sustainability Centre and the Kuşadası Municipal Building, and joint first prize for the Bodrum Değirmenburnu Historic Windmills and Surroundings.

Valerıa Federıghı

Adjunct Professor · Architect · Department of Architecture and Design (DAD)

Valeria Federighi (1986) is an architect and adjunct professor at the Politecnico di Torino. Together with Walter Patella, she is the co-founder of the design-build studio Wworks. She is a member of the China Room research group, of the Invisible Cities research group, and co-founder and former editor of the journal Ardeth (Architectural Design Theory). She is the author of The Informal Stance: Representations of Architectural Design and Informal Settlements (2018, ORO) and co-editor of Eyes of the City: Architecture and Urban Space after Artificial Intelligence (2021, Hatje Cantz) and South-East Europe:4Cities (2026).

Edoardo Bruno

Researcher · Architect · Department of Architecture and Design (DAD)

Edoardo Bruno is an architect and researcher at the Department of Architecture and Design (DAD) of Politecnico di Torino. He is a member of China Room, an interdisciplinary research lab investigating contemporary Chinese architecture and urbanization processes, and of 2Mix Architetti. Working across architectural design, curatorial practice, and field research, he has worked as principal architect and design advisor on international projects between Italy and China and has contributed to curatorial teams for the Shenzhen and Venice Biennales. His recent monographs include Raggiungere il mare (DeriveApprodi, 2024), Progetto e Strategia (DeriveApprodi, 2024), and Prosperous Lishui (ORO Editions, 2023).

Alp Arda

PhD Candidate · Architect · Politecnico di Torino (DAD) · Tsinghua University

Architect and PhD candidate in Architecture, History, and Project at Politecnico di Torino, pursuing a dual degree with Tsinghua University. PhD Representative in the DASP programme and Junior Fellow at the China Room. Teaching Fellow for Architectural Design Theory A. Research focuses on the spatial decision infrastructure of Istanbul through urban transformation projects.

An International Collaborative Studio

Each participant selected through AURA İstanbul will join a group working at Politecnico di Torino, contributing as a locally based collaborator with access to the study area. Site observations, documentation, and contextual research undertaken in Istanbul will become part of the groups’ shared design process.

Collaboration across Istanbul and Torino will require participants to communicate ideas clearly, engage with different perspectives, and take responsibility for a collective project. Through this exchange, they will encounter approaches and references shaped by different educational and urban contexts and develop skills in working together across locations.

Desk reviews will take place separately within each studio, allowing the Istanbul and Torino teaching teams to support their students’ work locally. Joint online seminars will be held at intervals throughout the semester, bringing the two studios together for shared learning and discussion.

What Will Participants Explore?

The studio will combine group work, individual contributions, site research, lectures, readings, desk reviews, and discussions with guest instructors. Participants will be encouraged to connect theoretical positions with the practical choices they make together.

Throughout the program, participants will consider:

• How can architectural design respond to uncertain and changing urban conditions?
• How can local observations and site research inform a shared design process across locations?
• How do different actors and interests influence the direction of a project?
• How can a group develop a shared strategy while making room for different perspectives?
• What happens to a proposal when new constraints or opportunities emerge?
• How can drawings, texts, and visual material communicate both design decisions and the process behind them?

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the program, participants are expected to be able to:

• contribute to a collaborative architectural design process within an international student group;
• translate local observations and urban research into architectural design strategies;
• develop and refine proposals in response to changing conditions;
• discuss and negotiate design decisions within a group;
• identify and explain the reasoning behind architectural choices;
• engage critically with different positions in architectural design theory;
• communicate design processes and proposals through drawings, texts, and visual material;
• contribute to a collective publication and exhibition.

Joint Publication and Exhibition

At the end of January, the two studios will bring their work together in a joint publication and exhibition, presenting the groups’ research, design processes, and architectural proposals for Kartal. Drawings, texts, and visual documentation will trace how initial observations and game-based strategies have evolved into spatial proposals throughout the semester.

The publication and exhibition will also offer an opportunity to reflect on the collaborative process between Istanbul and Torino: how local knowledge has informed the projects, how different perspectives have shaped design decisions, and how ideas have developed through negotiation and exchange. Together, they will create a shared record of the studio’s work and open its findings to a wider audience.