Deniz Koldaş and Nazlı Mutlu’s ‘Blocked’ is designed as a wooden cube which promises more than what it shows in the first glance. Its toy-like structure is built by the interactions of modules with each other, the floor and the user.

The Circle and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) announced ‘Future Heirlooms’, a project to explore the future of sustainable Turkish design, in the summer of 2022. Fast forward a year and the group of seven emerging Turkish designers created a series of works that not only looked forward to the future of sustainable design, but also explored their own heritage and the story of Turkey’s rich design legacy.

Manufactured in American cherry, maple and red oak by well-established hardwood furniture designer-manufacturers, Yonga Mobilya in Denizli, the seven pieces – by Aslı Eylem Kolbaş, Ayça Yılmaz, Deniz Koldaş & Nazlı Mutlu, Deniz Yenidoğan, Gürcan Bulut, Öykü Üner and Studio Yellowdot (Bodin Hon & Dilara Kan) – turned out to be a celebration of material and memory.

“We need to end our current throwaway culture. We need to use materials that have a low environmental impact. These considerations should affect all our day-to-day decision-making,” said Roderick Wiles, AHEC Regional Director.

“Designers, especially, have a huge influence on how products are planned and with what materials. This project was the perfect platform for us to work with emerging, yet accomplished, Turkish designers,” he added.

Priority: material

For the designers, the project offered a unique opportunity to explore alternative manufacturing methods, and the beauty and versatility of American hardwoods. The seven designers and teams were chosen through an open-call process and a selection committee, made up of celebrated designers and architects: Tom Dixon, Melkan Gürsel, Defne Koz, Seyhan Özdemir and Mehmet Ali Uysal.

Speaking about her involvement in the selection process, Seyhan Özdemir, Co-Founder of award-winning design studio Autoban, said: “In a market and culture where both fast production and fast consumption are prevalent, it is great to be part of a project that prioritises materials and workmanship, and especially the idea of creating heirlooms.”

Melkan Gürsel, Founding Partner of celebrated Tabanlioglu Architects, felt that supporting emerging designers via such programmes was precious and motivating. “In particular, the physical realisation of the selected projects and the items and their creators meeting the relevant audience will pave the way for these young people.”

The Circle is a research and production platform for architecture, design, art and culture. It focuses on the interactions between architecture and design, as well as the disciplines that intersect with them. It develops projects by coming together with different stakeholders; organises exhibitions, panels, seminars, workshops, and hosts culture and art projects.

High standards

Projects like these would be nothing without world-class manufacturing. Yonga Mobilya in Denizli was selected as the production partner for Future Heirlooms. This team not only produced complex works to an extremely high standard, but also spent many hours working with the designers to shape their initial concepts into real works.

“As a factory using American hardwood in our production for more than 20 years, it was exciting for us to participate in this project and to guide designers about the use of three different hardwood species in the production of their designs,” said Özlem Yılmaz, Deputy General Manager of Yonga Mobilya.

“We would like to thank AHEC for inviting us to be a producer in Future Heirlooms, which draws attention to the value of material, design and craftsmanship,” he added.

Another incredibly important facet to working with American cherry, maple and red oak for Future Heirlooms, was that the lumber for the project arrived in Türkiye carbon negative. This meant that there was more CO2-equivalent sequestered inside the delivered lumber than was emitted during all the processes of extraction from the forest, sawmilling, kiln-drying and even shipping.

“Such is the size of the US hardwood forest resource, with these three species accounting for roughly 30% of the total, that all the lumber used to make the seven designs would have been replaced in the US hardwood forest through natural regeneration in just 2.3 seconds,” Roderick observed.

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