Brave New World
- Istanbul, May and June 2015 - At least since the protests in Gezi Park it has been heard: Prime Minister Erdoğan is building a new modern Turkey. Gezi Park, a small green park on Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul, was to give way to a shopping mall. Even the old wooden houses with ornate facades are replaced by huge new apartment buildings as well as the green of the city. Artificial well-maintained green spaces are created between highways. Small fenced flowered areas adorn the city, as if to reassure the people of Istanbul and give them an imaginary world. But they are not made for using them. Recreational areas are becoming scarce in Istanbul. So the only places left for the Istanbulese to relaxe are next to highways or busy roads. But where should the inhabitants of Istanbul recover from the noise of the construction sites, the highways and the honking of the overflowing road traffic?