Turkish design team wins Ytong architectural ideas award

A team of young Turkish architects—Aylin Akay, Işıl Ceren Tur and Başak Ünver—was awarded one of three equal prizes in the 2026 Ytong Architectural Ideas Competition. Their project, titled “Horror Vacui,” proposes a short‑term resting space in dense urban areas where people can step away from the constant stream of digital notifications and physical crowding. The competition’s theme was inspired by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s novel “Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü.”

The winning team, composed of graduates from Izmir University of Economics’ Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, will join the competition’s jury on an architectural study trip to Cairo, Egypt, scheduled for October. Akay explained, “People are now faced with notifications, images, and constantly changing content almost every moment of the day. We proposed a space where individuals can briefly step away from this intensity, pause, think and hear their inner voice again.”