nemestudio presents STRAIT: a geographic fiction & installation

nemestudio presents STRAIT: a geographic fiction & installation
all images courtesy of nemestudio

‘STRAIT’ is a geographically-based fictional story created as part of the ‘STRAIT’ installation by nemestudio at SALT beyoğlu gallery in istanbul, turkey. the tale is illustrated through a series of speculative architectural drawings presented in a silent, stop-motion film. the viewer is taken on a journey beginning in 2025, when the ship ‘oilella’ — the world’s largest oil tanker — becomes stuck while passing through the bosphorous strait.

oil tanker gets stuck in the bosphorus

the incident blocks the passageway indefinitely, rapidly altering the urban landscape in the process. legislatures and developers quickly strategize what to do with the now un-utilized waterway, and decide to transform it into a series of tourist destinations that depict an archaeology of the maritime landscape.

building codes are created using ‘oilella’ as a base guideline, and monuments to oil-spills are built alongside luxury resorts and housing. at the end of the story, the ‘STRAIT’ is introduced. the object, which is the primary subject of the installation, is constructed to commemorate the original shoreline that was dissolved due to the infilling of the passage. the story, while a fabrication, takes cues from real events, facts, and data. though abstracted, ‘STRAIT’ allows for the pushing of imaginative limits through speculative thinking and architectural process.

wanderer above the oil tanker

structure design guidelines

oilella and buildings on the bosphorus

developments on the bosphorus

oil spill monument locations 

‘STRAIT’ monument 

project info:

research and design: neyran turan
team: neyran turan, mete sönmez, william trotty, melis uğurlu, anastasia yee, amelia hazinski, louise weiss, sam biroscak.

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions  feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: nick brink | designboom