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Superpool is an international architecture practice based in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 2006 by its two partners Selva Gürdoğan and Gregers Tang Thomsen who met at Rem Koolhaas’ studio Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in 2003, where they worked until establishing Superpool.

The work of Superpool has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen, Museum for Angewandte Kunst Köln (MAKK) and Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt, as well at various biennales such as the 2009 Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, the 2012 Istanbul Design Biennale and the 2013 3rd Lisabon Architecture Triennale. Projects and texts of Superpool have been published in various magazines such as Domus, A+U, Mark Magazine, A10, Wallpaper and Wired.

During 2012 Superpool was invited to participate in the Audi Urban Future Award (2012), to research mobility in Istanbul in 2030. The result was exhibited at the Spinning Factory, Istanbul, in October 2012. Most recently the office has been invited to contribute to MoMA ’s “Uneven Growth, Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities” exhibition curated by Pedro Gadanho. The exhibition is opening November 22nd 2014. Superpool was commissioned to design several exhibitions: the UAE National Pavilion for the Venice Biennale (2011) and Becoming Istanbul (2011 SALT, Istanbul ); Open City: Istanbul (2009 DePO, Istanbul); and Open Library (2007 Platform Garanti, Istanbul). Most recent Superpool has completed the TailorCrete project, a European Commission FP7 funded research project for incorporating robotics into concrete construction technology and as of November 2013 the duo is directing Studio-X Istanbul, one of six urban laboratories established by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP).

Superpool took part in the creation of the book Mapping Istanbul, a snapshot of Istanbul in 2009 positioning the city within the global context of worldwide global cities, as well as its relation with the the region, the country and Istanbul within itself.

Superpool has given numerous lectures and talks, among these at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar - Germany, IUAV Università di Venezia - Italy, Columbia University - New York and most recent at the TEDx Reset in Istanbul.

In and around

Awards
Surface Magazine Endorsements Award (Architecture) 2015 SURFACE

Publications

5 Visions - 50/50 Istanbul
ISBN 978-975-8970-05-6. Published by Arkitera for the Urban Age conference.

Ideas Guide for Playgrounds for 0-3 year olds
ISBN 978-87-93765-60-3. Published by Superpool for Urban95

0-3 Yaş Oyun Parkı Fikir Rehberi
ISBN 978-87-93765-03-0. Published by Superpool for Urban95

Audi Urban Future Award 2012
ISBN 978-3-9814885-9-3. Published by Trademark Publishing

Learning from Cairo
ISBN 978-0-578-13010-1. Published by Cluster

Mapping Istanbul
ISBN 978-9944-731-16-4. Published by SALT formerly know as Garanti Gallery

Planning for Protest
Planning for Protest is a publication, exhibition and associated project of the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale.

Uneven Growth
ISBN 978-0-87070-914-2. Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York


Exhibitions 
 
17.12.2017 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (Shenzhen), "Cities, Grow in Difference", Contribution
11.12.2015 Istanbul. Passion, Joy, Fury, Contribution. MAXXI, Rome - Italy
21.11.2014 Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities, Contribution. MoMA, NY - USA
01.11.2014 Istanbul Design Biennale 2014, Exhibition design in collaboration w/ Project Projects. Turkey
11.10.2013 100 Urban Trends from the BMW Guggenheim Lab, Contribution. New York - USA
11.10.2012 Audi Urban Future Award 2012, Contribution. Istanbul - Turkey
29.07.2012 Aesthetic/Anasthetic, Contribution. Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York - USA
11.05.2012 Architekturteilchen – Modulares Bauen im digitalen Zeitalter, Contribution. Cologne - Germany
30.03.2012 Material World, Contribution. DAC, Copenhagen - Denmark
24.11.2011 Sofia Architecture Week - Architecture Unlimited, Contribution. Sofia - Bulgaria
13.09.2011 Becoming Istanbul, Exhibition design in collaboration w/ Project Projects. Turkey
01.06.2011 Second Time Around, Exhibition design. Venice - Italy
02.09.2010 An Exhibition on Architecture, Contribution. ALAN, Istanbul - Turkey
12.03.2010 Open City Istanbul, Exhibition design + Contribution. DEPO, Istanbul - Turkey
14.03.2009 lille3000 - EUROPE XXL, Contribution. Lille - France
20.03.2007 Open Library, Exhibition design. PLATFORM, Istanbul - Turkey

Lectures, Talks and Conferences 
08.11.2018 Capacity - Transist 2018, Istanbul - Turkey
15.05.2017 Governance & Social Participation. World Cities Expo Istanbul '17, Istanbul - Turkey
01.11.2017 Superpool, "Groundwork in Istanbul" School of Visual Arts | SVA |, New York - USA
01.10.2016 Jeff Talks: Selva Gürdoğan. Manifold, Istanbul - Turkey
11.04.2016 Revealing Istanbul - The city between two Continents. Studio-X Rio, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
17.03.2016 Istanbul Endless. KTH Arkitekturskolan, Stockholm - Sweden
24.11.2015 Architecture In Turkey And Belgium: Changing Practices. Grand-Hornu, Hornu - Belgium
13.11.2015 City Futures: An International Conference. PennDesign, Pennsylvania - USA
06.11.2015 What's at Stake?—Designing Global Cities. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago - USA
17.09.2015 Long term value creation. ATÖLYE Labs, Istanbul - Turkey
04.06.2015 Mobility. Think Life | International Design Forum, Paris - France
19.02.2015 Urban Laboratory Istanbul. TurkishWIN Talks. Bilgi University, Istanbul - Turkey
06.02.2015 The Practice of Imagination. AA Visiting School Mittelmeerland, Izmir - Turkey
19.01.2015 New Mobility. BAU 2015 - Forum "Building the Future", Munich - Germany
24.10.2014 Networked Challenges. German-Turkish Science Dialogue, Istanbul - Turkey
14.06.2014 Uneven Growth Workshop Results, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna - Austria
19.04.2014 What Now? Initiate!, TEDxReset 2014, Istanbul Turkey
29.08.2014 "Sustainable Mobility" - Students Go Green summit, Koç University, Istanbul - Turkey
30.05.2014 "Towards quality urban tourism" - Architoursim 2014, Mashad - Iran
17.12.2013 Urban Growth in Istanbul, TU Wien Future.lab, Vienna - Austria
26.10.2013 Uneven Growth Launch Workshop, MoMA, New York - USA
16.10.2013 Balikçilar (Fishermen): Recent Work by Superpool, Lecture at GSAPP, Columbia University - USA 
19.07.2013 Superpool, introduction Pippo Ciorra, Demanio Marittimo 2013, Marzocca di Senigallia - Italy
30.04.2013  Futures - Lecture at Horizonte, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar - Germany
14.01.2013 INITIATE - Lecture at VitrA Project-Werkstatt, Cologne - Germany
28.11.2012 Lecture at Chair of Landscape Architecture and Public Space, TU Munich , Munich - Germany 
12.10.2012 Ideas City: Istanbul - New Museum, Hasköy Spinning Factory, Istanbul - Turkey
31.09.2012 "Mappings and Strategies", Mapping the Commons Conference, Istanbul TU, Istanbul - Turkey 
30.09.2012 "Practice", Kadir Has University, Istanbul - Turkey 
20.07.2012 "National Perspectives", Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem - Israel 
04.05.2012 "Mapping Cities", Open Data Open City Symposium by AmberPlatform, Istanbul - Turkey 
13.04.2012 "Mapping Istanbul" AA Visiting School Mittelmeerland 3, AUB - Lebanon 
29.03.2012 "Buyukdere II", ArkiPARC 2012 Conference, Istanbul - Turkey
09.03.2012 "Discovering Istanbul", Bilgi University, Istanbul - Turkey 
29.02.2012 Istanbul City Portrait conference, Università Iuav di Venezia, Venice - Italy

www 
 
16.08.2017 Belki siz benim gibi değilsiniz, Art Unlimited
02.06.2016 A meditative architectural documentary, Art Unlimited | Architecture unlimited
27.05.2015 Maßgeschneiderte Freiform: Forschungsprojekt »TailorCrete«, DETAIL
11.03.2015 Filling Istanbul's Park Void with Mosques' Green Spaces, Curbed
01.02.2015 Bahçe Var Ama Domates Yetiştirmek Yasak!, IstanbulArtNews
21.11.2014 When Billions Will Live in Megacities, article by Margaret Rhodes, WIRED
10.11.2014 Manifest für Istanbul, article by Laura Weißmüller, Süddeutschen Zeitung
17.10.2014 Excellence & Creation TLmagazine
28.08.2014 Boring Buildings Be Gone, EU Commision, Research & Innovation
19.04.2014 What Now? Initiate!, TEDxReset 2014
02.02.2014 Interview with Prof. Dr. Abdi Güzer, Kalebodur's Architect Interview series
31.01.2014 Byggeri med beton på vej ind i ny æra, article by Martin Kunzendorf, DR.DK VIden
01.01.2014 Paarläufer, Lufthansa Womans World, The taste of Istanbul.
23.11.2013 Five Hypothesis for Cities in 2050, WIRED VOL. 10 2013, Japan
24.10.2013 Istanbul with Superpool, post, MoMA
14.06.2013 Betonen blomstrer, article by Cecilie Cronwald, Weekendavisen
04.06.2013 "Istanbul gehört den Baufirmen", article by Laura Weißmüller, Süddeutschen Zeitung
14.03.2013 Urban Series | Superpool, reportage by Chris Read, Brownbook Magazine 
08.03.2013  Ganz anders - Istanbuls starke Frauen, reportage by Gunnar Köhne, WDR
03.12.2012 Istanbul rives ned og bygges op, interview by Henriette Harris, INFORMATION
31.07.2012 Istanbul darf nicht sterben, interview by Tobias Becker, KulturSPIEGEL
10.02.2012 Integrating space, design and dialogue, interview by Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy
21.01.2012 Super Cool, feature on Superpool in Dubai based magazine Brownbook
05.01.2012 Sergilemek için Mimarlık, Mimarlık için Araştırma, Mimarizm
01.12.2011 Short History of Turkish Architecture, Cultural Exchange Turkey - Netherlands
03.10.2011 Istanbul: New Wealth, New Architecture, The Berkshire Review
16.09.2011 Crystal Talk with Superpool, BauNetz
13.09.2011 90: What Inspires Design in Istanbul, SALT
10.07.2011 UAE -United Arab Emirates - pavilion at Venice Biennale 2011, Designboom
10.06.2011 54. Biennale Arte, BauNetz Woche #225
11.04.2011 SALT Beyoğlu & SALT Galata, Wikipedia
16.03.2011 Istanbul's Bicycle map, Today's Zaman
11.12.2009 Arkitera Spatial Study: Proactive Actions, Ömer Kanipak / Urban Age
01.12.2009 Konya Residence / Superpool, ArchDaily
23.11.2009 Open Library / Superpool, ArchDaily
13.11.2009 Book puts İstanbul under the microscop, Today's Zaman
13.11.2009 New design visions for Istanbul neighborhoods, Hürriyet Daily News
05.11.2009 ARCH+, Istanbul wird Grün, Article on SUPERPOOL
05.11.2009 Istanbul, City of Intersections, Urban Age Newspaper
23.10.2009 SUPERPOOL, Arkitera
15.10.2009 UpStarts: SUPERPOOL, Archinect
05.29.2009 'Green Roof' Idea Tilts Skyward in Istanbul, Jennifer Hattam / treehugger
13.03.2009 Grenzgänger-Graensegaenger-Sınır Gezgınlerı, Haber Sanat
19.09.2008 # 96 Becoming Istanbul, BauNetzWoche
22.11.2007 Istanbul Dolmuş and Minibus Map, istanbulmetro
21.08.2007 OMA’lı Olmak ya da Olmamak, Arkitera
11.04.2007 Why the Open Library? Vasif Kortun
20.03.2007  Open Libary, Platform Garanti
23.02.2006 The Koolhaas Kids Come of Age, BusinessWeek