Grounded approaches soil as a carrier of ecological and cultural memory, presenting it as an ecosystem that embodies natural intelligence and serves as a living archive and supportive model. The exhibition emphasises how this often-overlooked element provides crucial insights into past civilisations and ecological systems, and highlights the potential for coexistence with nature.
Blending innovative research and traditional soil-construction, the project creates space for an interdisciplinary approach that fosters meaningful discussions, where life both above and below the soil is equally valued in a world where it is often overlooked despite being the most vital natural resource. Through the multi-sensory exhibition in which visitors will be able to feel, smell and engage with soil, the curators invite visitors to reflect upon the hidden consequences of industrial activity and unsustainable development, including but not limited to the erasure of cultural sites and biodiversity. By integrating tradition with technology, the project renews focus on climate change, livelihoods, and cyclical systems through architectural networks through not only a renewed spacial awareness, but also social, ecological and historical awareness.
The curators bring together works produced across a wide spectrum: from painting, installation, and three-dimensional architectural production to digital research techniques and academic studies. These works, produced individually and/or in groups, invite visitors to reflect on, reinterpret and reimagine the concept of the earth and soil through multiple perspectives. While some of the works are static, others evolve and transform, making the exhibition a living structure in and of itself.
Illustration: Simonida Galovic
With a blend of innovative research and traditional soil-construction techniques, Grounded fosters an interdisciplinary narrative that broadens global understanding and encourages meaningful dialogue. It brings together visions of the future that equally value life above and below the soil, therefore challenging us to consider the profound impacts of human activities – such as construction, mining and industrial development – on the surface and in the deeper layers of the earth. The exhibition invites reflection on the often-hidden consequences of these activities, including the loss of biodiversity and the erasure of cultural histories. Inspired by Türkiye’s rich heritage, particularly archaeological sites such as Göbeklitepe, the project highlights the importance of integrating traditional practices that illustrate ecological understanding with modern sustainable architectural approaches. This vision seeks to honour both environmental and cultural legacies.
‘With Grounded, we invite visitors to view soil not as something
separate, but as an integral part of the same fabric of life that
surrounds us. It’s not merely a surface beneath us or a resource to be
extracted; rather, it’s a dense, intelligent world in its own right –
one we’re already part of. Through material experiments, artistic
documentation and scientific observation, the exhibition encourages
us to rethink our role in this dynamic exchange. It prompts us to
recognise the structures we erode and the possibilities we often
overlook. In doing so, it suggests ways of living and building that
don’t impose themselves but instead listen to and engage with the
environment.’
—Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa