Ghost Stories: The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture questions the accepted perceptions of and approaches to buildings to reveal more hopeful proposals for the future. Elizabeth Fisher’s Carrier Bag Theory of Evolution argues that, rather than hunting tools, the first cultural device used by humans was probably a carrier bag, which allowed them to transport the vegetables they gathered. Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1986 essay, “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction,” expanded this idea, moving away from the notion of the weapon-wielding hero. Based on this, the exhibition suggests listening to and understanding the stories of abandoned buildings, rather than focusing on more heroic, successful examples. The adaption of carrier bag theories, from evolution to architecture, brings a radical change to the images we have inherited, whether through the paintings on the walls of prehistoric caves, in stories, or in the modern cityscape. When these images start to change, this requires a shift in our way of doing things. Thus the shift from focusing on the image of a weapon to that of a carrier bag eventually transforms the whole scene from a heroic story of destruction to a collaborative, unfamiliar life story.

The research for the exhibition included an open call, launched in December 2022, aimed at compiling recent documentation of unused buildings across Türkiye. Considering these buildings as “the laboratory of the future,” the exhibition introduces novel tools and methods to transform rather than demolish existing structures, based on collective dreams and discussions.

Esen Karol tarafından bağışlanmıştır.