Short Bios

Ezgi Baştuğ
is a masters candidate in Architectural Design Computing Program at Istanbul Technical University since 2012 and works as an architect at BUDA Mimarlık. Her research and interests focus on design education, cognitive studies of the design process, digital media and patterns. She received her B.Arch degree from İstanbul Technical University Department of Architecture in 2012. Working at BUDA Mimarlık, she took part in competition projects awarded with first prize (TAK Corner Border) and Mention (Lapseki Government Building Design). During graduate studies, she attended and tutored various workshops about digital fabrication, nature-inspired patterns and material computation.

Nimish Biloria
is an Architect and an Assistant Professor at Hyperbody, Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft, The Netherlands. After being involved with investigating the inter-relation of Media and Architecture throughout his formative educational years at CEPT, Ahmadabad, India, he furthered his interests in the inter-disciplinary realm at the Architectural Association, London, UK, where he specialized in the field of Emergent Technologies and Design. He further attained a Doctorate at the TU Delft, Netherlands, with a focus on developing real time adaptive environments. He continues experimenting with the idea of formulating intelligence aided relational networks for the generation of performative morphologies.

Dr. Biloria apart from his teaching initiatives at Hyperbody is also the Research Manager of Hyperbody and is involved with developing computationally enhanced performative & sustainable architectural and urban design solutions. He has conducted various seminars for the same and is a proponent of systemic design and bio-inspired performative design solutions. He, as a part of such research and design investigations specifically seeks a synergistic merger of the fields of computation, material systems, sensing technologies, environmental dynamics and social demographics. Dr. Biloria has lectured at prestigious institutes globally.  He has also presented and published his research and design deductions in numerous international design conferences and magazines and has been a proponent for exchanging design-informatics oriented knowledge globally.

Ekmel Ertan
works as artist, curator and educator. Ertan is the founder and artistic director of İstanbul based amberPlatform ( by BIS, Beden-İşlemsel Sanatlar Derneği / Body-Process Arts Association), which is a research and production platform on art and new technologies. Ertan is the curator of the international “amber Art and Technology Festival” since 2007.  Ertan is also working as the site coordinator and director for several international projects based in Turkey and Europe in the field of art and technology / new media and society.
Ertan has exhibited his photography work in New York and Turkey. He has exhibited his new media installations and cooperative performance works in Turkey and international festivals and venues.
Ertan received his BSc degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul and his MA degree on Interactive Media Design from Yıldız Technical University. He worked as a design and test engineer on telecommunication systems in Turkey, Germany and Belgium. He started a multimedia design company in 1997in Istanbul. Since 1999 he has been teaching new media / visual communication design at severasl universities in İstanbul.
Mutlu Güngör
After receiving his B.Arch degree from İstanbul Technical University Department of Architecture in 2011, he started working as an architect at DBArchitects. He is a master candidate in Architectural Design Computing Program at Istanbul Technical University since 2012. During his graduate studies, he attended several international workshops and tutored national workshops about digital fabrication and nature-inspired patterns. At the same time, he worked in various architectural offices as well as producing his own work as a freelancer architect. Computational design, interactive design and digital fabrication are among his chief interests and he tries to carry on these interests on several platforms and environments.
Nilüfer Kozikoğlu
Paola Tognazzi
studied industrial design at the IED in Milan and Cunningham, Ballet, Flying Low by David Zambrano and Body Mind Centering at the School of arts SNDO in Amsterdam. In 2001 she graduated majoring in Dance Theatre Direction within interactive audio-visual installations. She worked as assistant of Sasha Waltz in Nobody, with Min Tanaka in Japan, with Nir of Volff – Total Brutal in Berlin and as executive producer of interactive operas at Studio Azzurro, Milan. In 2008 she founded Wearable_Dynamics. Her work explores the sensuality of interactive systems and create artistic experiences that involve physically and emotionally the audience, encouraging them the development of sensory awareness. Currently she is working at the University of technology and innovation of Eindhoven investigating how to apply physical dynamics interactions to 3D printed garments.
Tuğçe Tuna
mover, body reader, choreographer, interdisciplinary performance and contemporary dance artist and one of the pioneer academician based in Istanbul. Tuna produces her own work with “RemDans” since 2001.
Tuna prefers different representational forms required by the enactment of her projects, such as the outdoor space use, research disciplines, and prefers to stay open to all types of ‘body, idea, space’ perspectives while ‘considering the body as the space in which one lives and practices her own politics.’ “Searching the relationship of body between brain and gravity.”
She has been working in many capacities and many contexts both in Turkey and internationally since 1993 including numerous international festivals, organizations. Also teaching Europe, in Istanbul, she has been teaching at MSFAU Performing Arts Department since 1996 as an Associate Professor, and as guest faculty member of SEAD‐Salzburg since 2002.
In 2012, Tuna was in Germany as DAAD scholars. Tuğce Tuna is, founder and director of ‘Istanbul Performing Arts Association’. Born in Belgium, lives in Istanbul.
Şafak Uysal
After graduating from METU Dept. of City and Regional Planning, Uysal completed his master studies, throughout which he focused on body-space relationship, in Bilkent University’s Dept. of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. His doctorate studies in the same department centralized the relationship between architecture and image-production technologies. Besides his academic work, he’s been actively involved in the fields of contemporary dance and theater as a dancer, choreographer and cultural manager. He is currently teaching courses on basic design, architectural design and the relationship between architecture and cinema while continuing his theoretical studies on the role of architecture in the historical framing of knowledge and experience.
Robert Wechsler
is a choreographer, dancer and developer of interactive methods of performing with technology. His
interest in sensors and electronic devices dates back to the 1970’s when he used body-worn electronic devices attached to the
dancer’s body. He is the director of Palindrome, a pioneer in interactive and computer-assisted performance. He holds a BFA in dance and an MFA in choreography from State University of New York at Purchase and New York University respectively. He studied ten years with Merce Cunningham and John Cage in New York and is recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and, together with Palindrome, won first prize at the Berlin Transmediale for “best interactive art”. From 2004-6, he directed England’s first masters degree program in digital performance at Hull University. He is the author of articles about dance and technology in Leonardo Magazine, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Ballet International, Dance Magazine, Dance Research Journal, Nouvelle de Danse, Der Tanz der Dinge and co-author of the upcoming book, “Camera-Based Motion-Tracking and Performing Arts for Persons with Motor Disabilities and Autism”. He lives in Weimar, Germany.

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