Today we’d like to introduce you to Burak Celik.
Hi Burak, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am an architectural designer with a specialty in computational design. Coming from the other side of the world, Turkey, where I was born and raised, I enjoyed observing how some environments shaped my mood, stimulating my emotional state positively, while others produced strong negatives and clashing with my artistic sensibilities. It was when my desire to create high-quality living and social spaces was confirmed and I decided to be an architect. After receiving my architecture license and gaining professional experience in offices including Melike Altinisik Architects, I moved to New York to advance my career at Studio Libeskind. I was fascinated by the city’s wonderful variety and blend of architecture and it pushed me to keep learning more with a Master’s Degree at SCI-Arc, one of, if not the most speculative architecture schools in the world. I’m grateful for always following my passion and now that I am the Gehry Prize winner, given by world-known Frank Gehry and Bertha Gehry.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I always (try to) look at things in a positive way which I believe is the duty of every architect to resolve issues. I believe a designer/architect has the obligation of staying positive while going through the challenges and that’s how I manage the challenges. Life is full of challenges and it is rewarding to whomever is ready to take and appreciate it. Diving deep into the design world always brings you daily challenges, along with the path itself which requires a lot of patience. Just like how the pandemic has taught us a lot to improve our way of living including work from home, work from a different place and even work from the other side of the world- wherever you’re productive and efficient, every challenge has its opportunities. All those years of involvement with design and architecture helped me build a strong work ethic that has to do with all the deadlines, time management, desire to learn new things everyday, working in teams, leading them, producing high-quality work, delivering them in the right way and many more.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Design Coordinator at HDR Architecture Inc. working on many significant projects from different States. Previously I have gained work experience from international offices such as Studio Libeskind in New York, Oyler Wu Collaborative in Los Angeles and Melike Altinisik Architects in Istanbul.
My observations and curiosity have always been a significant part of my work. The passion for contributing to the built environment in any good way possible is exciting to me. During my studies, I improved my understanding of computational design and algorithms-aided design, which in turn seem to be shaping the future of architecture. My work has features of speculative computational design, with a close relationship to digital fabrication, AR/VR and holograms. The architectural spaces we are living in are surrounded by data and technology that allows us to utilize those data in our decision-making as a tool. My experience with computational tools taught me that the intelligence of algorithms and parameters provides many opportunities and convenience to designers in the design phases with many constraints. These new methods are exciting to me and opened up entirely new horizons in my design process. New materials, technologies and techniques allow architects to re-imagine our shared future.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I have lived my last years as a foreigner in multicultural cities like New York, Istanbul and Los Angeles following my passion. The biggest risk was to commit to following my curiosity and the profession I love under any circumstances because it comes with a lot of challenges, differences in lifestyle, moving between cities, new cultures, friends and a lot of personal growth opportunities. Personally, the best way is to jumpstart any challenge and take the risk regardless of the challenges along the way if I believe in it. As long as I was committed to my decisions and trusted myself in my career, it has always been rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Email: celikburak28@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burak.celikk/
