Borusan Art Center, Taksim, Istanbul

Based on the street plan of Beyoglu, this large neon light installation develops its ramifications from the large side façade all the way up to the terrace walls of Art Center/Istanbul.

The concept of this artwork uses the city map as a sign of history, development and identity. Beyond architecture, the topography defines the specific identity of a city. This identity is given and belongs to everyone. Indeed, a street plan is a diagram that tells the story of both the various evolution stages of the city and the people who live in it. Now, the Art Center building is physically supporting this development symbol that literally climbs towards the future.

 at dawn

project drawing study

 view from the stairs going up to the terrace

 view from the terrace looking at Topkapi

 terrace wall

Seuils, Chapelle de Boendael, Bruxelles

This chapel built in the 15^th century has been transformed many times during the past few decades. The building has been unused for a long time and the inside has lost the signs of its former beauty.

The light installation design is based on both the former function of the chapel (thresholds) and the historical architectural signs (stain-glass colors).

Threshold symbol: inside the chapel the artist has set a series of rectangular frames that creates a broken line in the center of the building. The frames operate like several symbolic thresholds linked together.

Color: a long time ago, stain-glass was providing a multi colored light diffracting inside the chapel. Nowadays, the stain glasses have been replaced by neutral opaque glass. Each frame is a different color matching with the original colors used for stain glass. The color series represent also another threshold, the diffraction of light that is.

Désacralisée depuis longtemps, la chapelle de Boendael est devenue après des remaniements divers au cours des années, un lieu socioculturel tombé en désuétude. Le projet a été par conséquent conçu pour redonner une dynamique visuelle et spatiale à l’ensemble du bâtiment.

En partant de la fonction originelle du site, lieu de franchissement vers un autre espace, une série de six cadres de lumière néon emboités les uns dans les autres, a été placée selon un axe médian au centre de la chapelle .

L’ensemble constitue une ligne brisée, allant de l’entrée vers l’autel, dont les éléments qui la compose sont autant de seuils symboliques à franchir du regard. Le vide délimité par le périmètre des cadres posés en déséquilibre  créent une illusion d’effet mirroir par rapport à la symétrie du lieu.

Les cadres de néon sont successivement de couleur blanche, rouge, verte, jaune, bleue et violette. Ils représentent le franchissement d’un autre seuil, celui de la diffraction de la lumière.

With the support of the Cultural Services of the Municipality of Ixelles.

DEPO Istanbul, "Tutun Deposu"

The design of this neon light installation is a straightforward yet efficient series of pure white light lines that are connecting Tutun Deposu with the outside environment. The lines are set in various angles and heights between the art center, the back and the side buildings. This light device operates like a series of pathways that are working both ways between the inside and the outside. The energy comes form the outside and it enriches the internal production as much as the inside activities can escape to be perceived outside of the exhibition space. The light lines composition could remind of a naïve stitching but the strength of the neon light give a genuine feeling of active binds bridging the architectural elements.

The light installation is also making a clear sociological statement. The neighborhood is actually experiencing serious development. By creating these lines in a gentrifying context, the artwork reminds us that life in a city cannot survive without human exchanges and is not based on security concept that raises barriers and checkpoints.

Le concept de cette installation de lumière est une simple série de lignes de lumière blanche qui relient le bâtiment, Tutun Deposu, avec les alentours. Ces axes géométriques sont disposés selon des angles et des hauteurs différentes entre le centre culturel, le bâtiment arrière et les immeubles latéraux. Le dispositif lumineux fonctionne comme un système de passerelles opérant dans les deux sens entre l’intérieur et l’extérieur. Symboliquement l’énergie vient de l’extérieur pour enrichir l’intérieur autant que le l’intérieur peut s’évader vers l’extérieur pour être ressentie de loin.

La composition lumineuse pourrait faire penser à de maladroits points de suture mais la force de la lumière évoque un authentique sentiment d’échanges entre les éléments architecturaux. Comme par ailleurs ce quartier est entrain de vivre de profonds changements dus à la spéculation immobilière ces lignes de lumière nous rappelle que la vie dans la cité n’existe pas sans humanité et ne peut pas être structurée sur des concepts sécuritaires de clivages sociaux qui érigent des barrières de protection et de contrôle. Ce projet est donc la confirmation que la circulation et les échanges sont essentiels pour la survie des hommes et de leurs différentes cultures.

In collaboration with DEPO, curated by Emre Baykal.

http://www.depoistanbul.net/en/index.asp

Light Shoring - Tophane, Istanbul

Green lines – light shoring is site-specific alteration project realized in an abandoned building next to the Bosphorus in Tophane, district of Beyoglu. There, in the middle of the street, lies the carcass of a former family house. A long time ago what was a private space, is now exposed to everybody.

A series of neon light lines has been placed inside the building volume. The neon lines connect together the adjacent buildings. The lines set in various directions and angles are designed to function like a shoring system that supports in an energetic and lightweight mode, the fragile building structures.

The empty space is now a hub where the energy is passing through. It rehabilitates the life integrity of the street line.

The former inner privacy that became visible is now being transformed into a genuine public space.

The project has reclaimed this anonymous yet depressing fragment of the urban landscape and it has turned it into an active element.

The sadness and the abandon of the past have switched to a bright moment of present time.

In collaboration with Cultures france and the French Institute in Istanbul.

Site Connection, M.A.A.C Brussels

Neon tubes light link the various rooms of the space. They make their way through the walls, the doors and the windows.
These luminous bounds work like a blood system that irrigates the various locations. Then, the new re-linked space functions like a body.

In collaboration with , M.A.A.C Brussels

Video by Bruno Goosse
http://www.eco-ca.fr/index.php?/stocks-entretie/bruno-goosse/