Başak Tuna (b. 1992, Bursa, Turkey) is an interdisciplinary designer and artist based in Rome. With a background in industrial design and an MA in Contextual Design from Design Academy Eindhoven, her work spans spatial design, combining a hands-on, experimental approach with a focus on materiality. She explores the potential of everyday materials, often sourced from found objects or construction sites, to create objects and environments that shift context and perception. Through dismantling and reassembling these materials, she reimagines their form and function, with a keen eye on affordability and availability. Her practice delves into themes of transformation and human-environment relationships, questioning the role of design in shaping our surroundings.
2 months process of working and collaborating in Corviale neighbourhood with the participation of the habitants.
This is not a folly, Designer in Residence for Biennale Urbana at Tangente Festival, St. Polten AU
AIR Transhumanza as funduk/q, ValSenales IT
EXIT, publication for Canakkale Biennale as Collective ATI
2023
AIR BB15 as funduk/q, Linz AU
AIR InSilo,
Day Light Computer , Hollabrunn AU
AIR Guestroom Maribor as Funduk/q, Maribor SI
2022
47 Minutes of Bureaucracy,
¿Y ahora qué? -Group Exhibition, ABM Confecciones, Madrid, ES
AIR IASPIS as Funduk, Umea SE
Roma Non Esiste, project coordination by
DOM (Leonardo Delogu, Valerio Sirna)
, 1 of 25 Performers, Rome IT
2021
No Sleep, Group Exhibition, Eindhoven NL, Curated by Artist/Designer Run Studio- The Foot, Eindhoven NL
While We Are Waiting, Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show- Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven NL
Downtown Daydreaming Upward Public Walk,
with Matteo Locci, curated by Maximilian Lehner,
KunstlerHaus Stuttgart DE
“Faceva la plus pulchra tempestas von der welt”, Upward Public Walk, 5020 Gallerie, Salzburg AU, with Matteo Locci curated by Maximilian Lehner
Merdivenler/ Ladders, Utopia and Island-Group Exhibition
curated by Meliha Coşkun, Bozcaada TR
2020
Hide and seek for the control room, video performance, Freiraum Festival, Goethe Institute with Matteo Locci and Natalia Agathi
Fences, “CHEAP Festival”- Street Art Festival,
Collectively Curated
, Bologna IT
2019
Roma Non Esiste, project coordination by DOM (Leonardo Delogu, Valerio Sirna), 1 of 25 Performers, Rome IT
Roma Non Esiste, is a project focused on inhabiting public space, studying, and forming a relationship with a territory by a collective of artists and researchers. It manifests as a mobile encampment, a temporary setup of tents and lightweight living modules—a relational infrastructure for inhabiting places that sometimes exist and sometimes do not.
2017 32, 38, 42 Mamut Art Project, Collective Exhibition, Istanbul TR
Artin’s School, Design Collective, Designer, Istanbul TR
Named after the metalsmith Artin Usta, Artin's School was a design collective that operates within Istanbul's rich network of craftsmen. The collective aimed to highlight and preserve the cultural heritage embedded in the city's artisanal traditions.
As designers, we sought to emphasize the value of making culture over mass production, celebrating the unique skills and stories of local artisans. In response to the increasing touristification of Istanbul's city center, which has forced many skilled artisans to relocate from the neighborhoods where they honed and practiced their crafts, Artin's School strives to support these craftsmen and honor their contributions to the city's cultural fabric.
Education
︎︎︎
2021-2019
MA-Contextual Design, Design Academy Eindhoven, Eindhoven NL
2016-2012
BA-Industrial Design, Faculty of Architecture, Cum Laude, İstanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul TR
Selected Work Experience ︎︎︎
2019
Exhibition Production and Management, A School of Schools curated by Jan Boelen, LUMA Arles, Arles FR
2018
Exhibition Production and Management, A School of Schools - 4. Design Biennial curated by Jan Boelen, Istanbul TR
2017
Exhibition Coordinator Assistant, Are We Human? - 3. Design Biennial Istanbul curated by
Beatriz Colomina & Mark Wigley, Istanbul TR
Exhibition Coordinator Assistant, A Good Neighbor -15. Istanbul Biennial curated by
Elmgreen & Dragset, Istanbul TR
