Beirut Bombastic! at the Istanbul Design Biennial
Curated by Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley, the third Istanbul Design Biennial has the ambitious title “ARE WE HUMAN? : The Design of the Species: 2 seconds, 2 days, 2 years, 200 years, 200,000 years”. Cerebral though its theme may be, its experiential access point is through buildings themselves.
Hence, “Beirut Bombastic!”, Old Java Coffee’s pop-up café in the Galata Greek Primary School, the main venue of the biennial. The Turkish brand commissioned Rana Salam Studio to create a site-specific installation for visitors to the space. The Beirut-based designer drew on her her hometown for inspiration, the patterns and prints offer a dazzling rendition of not only the Lebanese capital but the visual culture of the entire Middle East region.
Visitors can stop by “Beirut Bombastic!” for a coffee for the duration of the Istanbul Design Biennial, which runs until 20 November, 2016.
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