UrbanTank is meant to support community-based entrepreneurial enablement in urban environments by intervening through research projects. Within the wide spectrum of urban initiatives, UrbanTank interrogates for experimenting PARTICIPATORY DESIGN tools and methods. By ultimately bringing human-centered solutions for urban life, its goal is to explore how people relate to cities and public spaces relate to people today.
UrbanTank is a not-for-profit organisation addressing varying topics on different scales and contexts of urban environment. Based on the nature of each project and availability of participants, the platform forms teams of academics, design students, architects and planners.
TUBA DOÄžU
CO-FOUNDER & COORDINATOR
MELÄ°S VARKAL
CO-FOUNDER & COORDINATOR
TUBA DOÄžU is an architect and academic at Izmir University of Economics. She holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture from Middle East Technical University; with one-year educational experience at The University of Bologna. Following her undergraduate studies, she completed the degree of Master of Design Science at The University of Sydney where she specialized on sustainable housing strategies in low-income settlements. Between her studies, she has worked at various NGOs and involved in action-research projects in Australia, Brazil and India respectively, and lectured at universities in Izmir. She was a Fulbright PhD visiting research fellow at Columbia GSAPP in New York (2017-2018), selected cultural manager under Tandem Turkey Program (2018-2019/2015-2016); and a fellow at Design Trust Hong Kong (2018-2019). In 2020, she completed her doctorate studies at IzTech. Her research interests include social interventions as a form of alternative spatial practices, centering on questions of human and material agency.
MELÄ°S VARKAL graduated from Middle East Technical University, with a Bachelor degree in Architecture. Following her undergraduate studies, she completed the postgraduate diploma program in Barcelona with a focus on housing design. Her master degree is on Urban Management and Development at Erasmus University. Upon her return to Turkey, she worked at various scale projects at Norm Architecture Office.
In 2014, she co-founded OFISvesaire, a collaborative and interdisciplinary office. The studio focuses on architecture and research at local and global scales.
Besides the practice, she is a part-time Lecturer at Izmir University of Economics attending 4th year Architecture Studio.