The 4th Istanbul Design Biennial, realised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts with the support of VitrA, came to a close on 4 November 2018. Titled A School of Schools and curated by Jan Boelen, the exhibition spread throughout six venues around İstiklal Street, Beyoğlu.

A School of Schools took place in Akbank Sanat, Yapı Kredi Culture Centre, Pera Museum, Arter, SALT Galata, and Studio-X Istanbul, hosting 200.000 visitors in 38 days. As 120 projects by more than 100 designers from 21 countries were displayed free of charge in the venues, the public programme within the biennial featured 148 events.

The scenography of the biennial was a result of the collaboration between architect Aslı Çiçek and product designer Lukas Wegwerth. Wegwerth’s open-source system titled III+1 was used as the exhibition furniture.

The biennial featured three different publications; Design as Learning: A School of Schools Reader, A School of Schools Agenda, and SO LONG, SO BIG, SO MANY!, while Koç Museum and The Marmara Pera became “satellite venues”, hosting a project each.

The “Sesli Rehber” (Audio Guide) application of İKSV was downloaded by 3.500 people throughout the biennial. The application enabled visitors to obtain detailed information about the exhibition and the projects through their own phones.