4th Amorphous Natural Stone Project Design Competition First Prize: "CYCLE" Ömer Akkaş

In the 4th Amorphous Natural Stone Project Design Competition held in 2023, IUE Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design 2018 graduate and part-time lecturer Ömer Akkaş won the first prize with his design named "Cycle".

Cycle is a poetic object that creates a relationship between marble and time, offering the user an unexpected experience. From the formation process of marble in nature to the final products, it has a long story. this path starts in nature with the reaction of minerals with temperature, and it meets from miners to the hands of artisans. This path continues until meet with users. it is obvious that time is core to existence of value. as for the object, it was designed by using 4 different local marbles and white marble dust that gives the function of time just like sand clock by rotating the object. Two magnifying glasses make it possible to observe the marble dust and small pebbles as they fall from the top to the bottom. The surfaces of the marbles also have different finishes such as polished, sanded and engraved straight lines (Côtes de Genève) just like the traditional decoration of watchmaking, representing the history of marble from raw to finished. In conclusion, Cycle embodies all this story of marble in one object in the context of time.