Sevince Bayrak/ SO? Architecture and Ideas: "The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture "

This lecture is part of the SPRING 2025 Architecture Lecture + Event Series. The lecture is open to the public.

 "The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture"

Lecture by Sevince Bayrak
Co-founder of SO? Architecture and Ideas, MEF University

About the lecture

This lecture will explore the work of SO? Architecture and Ideas, a practice primarily focused on architecture that engages with existing structures. Drawing on the recently formulated Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture—written by Sevince Bayrak in 2023 for the Türkiye Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, and inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s and Elizabeth Fisher’s Carrier Bag Theories—the lecture will trace how this theory reciprocates SO?’s projects over the past decade. Featured works will include the repurposed swimming pool project, which prompted the formulation of the Carrier Bag Theory; the modular chicken coop, which challenges the human/non-human relationship; and interdisciplinary research projects on post-earthquake housing. The lecture will also include SO?’s international projects span across South Korea, the UK, and multiple cities in Türkiye, engaging with both local and global architectural and urban issues and will highlight the ways in which these works address transformation, nature-human relationships, and the need to engage with the existing built environment. 

About the speaker

Sevince Bayrak is an architect based in Istanbul. She is the co-founder of SO? Architecture and Ideas. Their realized projects include SUPRA, in Daegu, South Korea; Unexpected Hill at the Royal Academy of Arts, London; Lost Barrier at MAXXI, Rome; as well as a modular chicken coop, the adaptive reuse of a cultural center, and the repurposing of a swimming pool in Türkiye. Their interdisciplinary research project on post-earthquake housing, Hope on Water and Fold & Float, have been shown at the 4^th Istanbul Design Biennial, Z33, Luma Arles, MAXXI, and Danish Design Museum. Both Lost Barrier and Fold & Float were acquired by MAXXI for their permanent collection. Their work has won numerous awards and was nominated for the Mies and Aga Khan Awards. 

Sevince co-curated the exhibition Ghost Stories: The Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture for the Türkiye Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia in 2023, and co-authored a book of the same title. She also published, Bir Meydan Öyküsü: Beyazıt (A Story of a Square: Beyazıt), a book adapted from her PhD dissertation about the evolution of public space in Istanbul. She has been invited to lecture at Seoul National University, Swiss Architecture Museum, TU Delft and MAO Ljubljana among others. Recently, she has been appointed as the co-curator of the Architecture Prize of the State of Styria by HDA Graz. She is currently an Associate Professor at MEF University.