Ekrem İmamoğlu was born in the Cevizli village of Trabzon’s Akçaabat district in 1970. He graduated from Istanbul University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Following his undergraduate studies, he completed a Master of Science degree in Human Resources Management in the same university. During his time as a student, he played football as an amateur. He served as a board member at Trabzonspor Football Club, Trabzonspor Basketball Club, and Beylikdüzüspor Sports Club.

In 1992, while still a graduate student, Mr. İmamoğlu started working for the family business. He then assumed the CEO role in the group’s companies to lead housing and urban planning projects. While leading these projects, he encountered numerous problems stemming from local affairs, which led him to his decision to enter politics.

Mr. İmamoğlu joined the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in 2009, and became a member of the Beylikdüzü District Organization. In the same year, he ran as a candidate for nomination to Beylikdüzü District Mayor, and actively participated in the party’s election campaign. Following the local election, he was elected the District Head of the CHP. After 5 years as a successful District Head who enhanced and improved the District Organization, Mr. İmamoğlu was nominated in 2013 as a candidate for Beylikdüzü District Mayor in the preliminary election within his party. In the March 30 local elections in 2014, he was elected Mayor of Beylikdüzü.

After his election as Mayor of Beylikdüzü, and between the years 2014-2019, he realized a wide range of projects that transformed the district’s appearance. Following the positive changes he made in the district’s living standards, social life, and infrastructural services, Mr. İmamoğlu captured the attention of the people of Beylikdüzü, the media, academia, and the upper echelons of his party.

Subsequently, the CHP nominated Mr. İmamoğlu for Mayor of Istanbul in the local elections of March 31, 2019. After an effective and inspiring campaign period of three months, he garnered 48.82% of the total votes and was elected Mayor of Istanbul. This was the highest percentage of votes that any Mayor of Istanbul had received in over 30 years.

Nevertheless, following the objections made by the ruling party, the Supreme Board of Elections (YSK) annulled Mr. İmamoğlu’s mandate on his 18th day as Mayor, relying on a decision that went against its own legal precedents. YSK ruled for an election re-run for June 23, 2019. After the annulment of the vote, Mr. İmamoğlu launched his new election campaign with the historic speech he delivered in the Beylikdüzü Valley of Life (Yaşam Vadisi) on the evening of May 6, 2019. His speech generated a strong sentiment of hope and determination among the voters who had faced a great disappointment in the aftermath of the annulment. This sentiment was sustained throughout the course of the campaign.

Mr. İmamoğlu’s renewed campaign became a potent symbol of the fight for justice and democracy in Turkey. On June 23, he achieved an even more successful result than March 31, and was elected Mayor with the support of 54.2% of the voters. This election became a milestone for the democratic future of both İstanbul and Turkey.

Ekrem İmamoğlu is married with three children and has been living in İstanbul since 1988.

Born in Erzincan, Turkey in 1976. Mr. Mahir Polat received his Bachelor’s Degree in Archeology and Art History from Istanbul University (İU) in 2002. In 2003, he began his Master’s Studies in the Department of History of Architecture at İstanbul Technical University (İTU). In 2008, Mr. Polat completed his graduate studies at the Institute of Social Sciences, Faculty of Art and Design in Museology Master Degree Program at Yıldız Technical University (YTU), with a thesis titled, “Curatorial Activities of Museums”. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Mahir Polat has lectured on “Cultural Heritage Legislation” as a guest lecturer at the same faculty. He is currently working on his doctoral dissertation at the Institute of Social Sciences of İU in 2009, focusing on “Religious Cultural Heritage”. In 2005, Mr. Polat started his professional career at the General Directorate of Foundations and he has served there as a Foundation Specialist since the year of 2009. From 2014 to 2016, he also served as the conservator of Akaretler Atatürk Museum and as the Director of Turkısh Foundatıon Constructıon And Artworks Museum of Istanbul between 2016 to 2019. During this period, he also took part in museum and exhibition projects and restoration committees. Mr. Polat, who has special studies in the fields of conservation of historical culture, museology, religious, cultural, social history, social memory and history of architecture, is also a member of History Foundation Board of Trustees, Europa Nostra Turkey, Association of Professionals Foundation.

Gülru Necipoğlu was born in Istanbul in 1956. After graduating from Robert College, Istanbul, in 1975, she earned her B.A. at Wesleyan University, Connecticut (1975-79) in European art and architecture. She received her Ph.D. at Harvard University’s Department of History of Art and Architecture (1979-86), where she started teaching as Assistant Professor in 1987, and has been the Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture since 1993. Prof. Dr. Necipoğlu is the editor of the Harvard Aga Khan Program’s journal, published by Brill: Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Islamic World (Brill, vols. 10-37) and Supplements to Muqarnas (vols. 9-14).

Her articles include comparative studies on the arts and architecture of Islamicate empires (Ottoman, Timurid-Turkmen, Safavid Iran, and Mughal India); cross-cultural artistic exchanges with Byzantium and Renaissance Europe; and architectural practice in premodern Islamic lands (15th-17th centuries) with a focus on plans and drawings, the aesthetics of abstract ornament, and geometric design. Her critical interests encompass methodological and historiographical issues in modern constructions of the field of Islamic art and Orientalism. Her books include: Architecture, Ceremonial and Power: The Topkapı Palace (MIT, 1991; Turkish translation 2007, reprint 2014); The Topkapı Scroll–Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture (Getty, 1995); The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire (Reaktion, 2005 and reprint 2011; Turkish translation, Bilgi, 2013, reprint 2017).

Her Topkapı Scroll was the winner of the Albert Hourani and Spiro Kostoff book awards. The Age of Sinan was awarded the “Fuat Köprülü Book Prize” by the Turkish Studies Association. Academies and societies to which she has been elected as a permanent member are: The British Academy, The American Philosophical Society, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Centro Internazionale di Studi di Archittettura Andrea Palladio in Vicenza, Italy.

Yılmaz was born in 1971 in Istanbul. After completing his upper secondary education in 1989, he started studying in Department of Architecture at Istanbul Technical Universisty. During his education he participated in excavations in archaeological sites. After his gradition he worked at various desgin offices between 1993-1997 and in construction sites between 1997-1999.

Besides, he has been the board chairman of Arkitera Architecture Center since foundation, October 2000, untill the end of 2015, he has been the consultant of Arkitera and the coordinator of Kivi Strategic Planning.

Since 2005 Yılmaz has been within a wide range of competitions as a principal and consultant jury member.

Rahmi Aksungur, who graduated from Mimar Sinan University (İstanbul Fine Arts Academy), Sculpture Department in 1979 with a merit bonus, has taken many sculpture-monument and sculpture awards, participated in many national and international personal and group shows since the first year of the Academy. In 1983 he completed his sufficiency in arts program on sculpture art and in 2000 he appointed to a professorship. Between the years 2002 – 2006 Prof. Aksungur worked as the Dean of Fine Arts Faculty in MSGSU and between 2006 – 2010 as the Rector of >Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. The artist, whose sculptures and monuments are displayed in many public and private spaces and been in several museum and private collections, had ten solo shows since 1988. Rahmi Aksungur lives and works in İstanbul.

Emre Arolat is the design partner of EAA-Emre Arolat Architecture, founded with Gonca Paşolar. Engaged in a wide range of projects, from urban master plans and airports, to residential and cultural buildings, and workplaces, EAA became an internationally recognised practice with offices in New York, London and Istanbul. Emre Arolat teaches and lectures widely. He recently taught Advanced Studio at the Yale School of Architecture as Norman R. Foster Visiting Professor and a Master Studio at The Berlage Institute in Delft. He has lectured at several academic and professional institutions such as Cooper Union, the Pratt Institute, AIA Rensselaer, Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, at La Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, Cept University in Ahmedabad and RIBA in London. Arolat was the co-curator of the first Istanbul Design Biennale in 2012. He was awarded a professorship by the International Academy of Architecture, Sofia. EAA received international attention early on with the Minicity Theme Park (2004), which was selected by the Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture. Many international awards have followed, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2010 for the Ipekyol Textile Factory in Edirne. Arolat served on the Aga Khan Award for Architecture Master Jury in 2016 and has been appointed recently to the Steering Committee for the 14th Award Cycle. EAA’s work has been published into several books by prominent international publishers including Rizzoli New York and Oro Editions. They also have been shown in exhibitions at renowned institutions including the Design Museum, The Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London, and were presented at the International Architecture Biennale in Venice in 2012 and 2016. Emre Arolat has been elected as an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects on February 2019, for his significant contribution to architecture and the society.

Levent Çalıkoğlu worked as the curator responsible for the museum’s collection between 2004-2007, and as Chief Curator of Istanbul Modern between 2007-2014. He has published numerous articles and books on modern and contemporary art in Turkey.

Since 1998, he has curated a great number of exhibitions in various art institutions as well as independent spaces both in Turkey and abroad. He was one of the consultants actively involved in the transformation of Akbank Sanat in the early 2000s. He was a regular contributor to Milliyet Sanat between 1997-2011. He was the editor of the series of books Çağdaş Sanat Konuşmaları (Contemporary Art Talks) published by Yapı Kredi Publications.

Among exhibitions he has curated for Istanbul Modern are: “Anthony Cragg: Human Nature” (2018), “HARBOR” (2017), “Inci Eviner Retrospective: Who’s Inside You?” (2016); “Painter and Painting: A Mehmet Güleryüz Retrospective” (2015); “Erol Akyavaş – Retrospective” (2013); “Modernity: Perspectives from France and Turkey” (2013, with Çelenk Bafra); “Fifty Years of Urban Walls: A Burhan Doğançay Retrospective” (2012); “Dream and Reality: Modern and Contemporary Women Artists from Turkey” (2011, with Zeynep İnankur, Fatmagül Berktay, and Burcu Pelvanoğlu); “Kutluğ Ataman: The Enemy Inside Me” (2010); “From Traditional to Contemporary: Cultural Memory in Turkish Modern Art” (2010); “Sarkis: Site Exhibition” (2009); “New Works, New Horizons” (2009); “Cihat Burak Retrospective” (2008); “Istanbul Modern – Rotterdam” (2012, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam); “The New Continent: Istanbul” (2009, Seoul Museum of Art); and “Istanbul Modern-Berlin” (2009, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin). Çalıkoğlu has also curated exhibitions for Akbank Sanat, which include “Hybrid Narratives” (2007); “Strangers with Angelic Faces” (2006); and “On the Frontiers of Experience” (2005), as well as the exhibitions “Dangerous Things” (2002) and “Death=Death” (2001) for Karşı Sanat Çalışmaları.

He gave lectures at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at Eskişehir Anadolu University, Faculty of Fine Arts between 1996-2000, and at Yeditepe University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Arts Management Department between 1996-2004. Between 2001-2013, he served as a Lecturer and Program Coordinator for the Art Management Program at Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Art and Design.

Neslihan Pala studied at Mimar Sinan University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture between 1986-1991. In 1993, she was appointed as a Research Assistant to the same institution and department. Between 1998-2005, she completed Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Institute of Social Sciences, Master’s and Proficiency in Art programs. She received the title of professor in 2013, and is the Head of the Sculpture Department in the same institution. She works and continues her sculpture works in Istanbul. She had four solo exhibitions and participated in many national and international art events and applied symposiums including Japan, Bulgaria, Germany and Austria and received awards in Open Space Sculpture Competitions. She received 2010, 70th State Painting and Sculpture Competition and 2004, 65th State Painting and Sculpture Competition Success Awards. She has open space sculptures in various districts of Istanbul.

Han Tümertekin is a practicing architect based in Istanbul and Strasbourg. He is the founder of Mimarlar + Han Tümertekin in 1987 and Atelier Han Tümertekin in 2015. Tümertekin’s work includes projects primarily in Turkey, as well as in Netherlands, Japan, United Kingdom, France, China, Mongolia and Kenya. Tümertekin was trained as an architect at the Istanbul Technical University and completed his M.Arch at the University of Istanbul. In addition to his built work, he has a strong presence in the academic world and has been teaching architecture since 1992 at various universities such as; Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture, Paris. He is also among the founders of the graduate programme in architecture at Bilgi University, Istanbul.

Han Tümertekin’s work has been widely published in international architectural journals and a monograph of his work was published by Harvard University Press in 2006. His work has been exhibited in respectable galleries around the world.

Recipient of several architectural prizes, Tümertekin was presented a 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the B2 House. He served on the Aga Khan Awards as a master jury member for 2004-2007 cycles and a steering committee member from 2007 till 2015.

Güler Güçlü is a sculptor, lives in Istanbul. She has graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University bachelors of arts with honors degree. She was awarded with first place for “Sakıp Sabancı Art Awards”. The artist has participated in numerous national and international, solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, symposiums, and workshops. She is currently pursuing an M.A degree in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Sculpture Department. Güçlü produce her works in her studio in Istanbul.

Ömer Pekin, was born 1991 in İstanbul. Following his architectural education in Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, he completed his graduate degree at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture). He started his professional life at Atelier Manferdini and wHY Offices in Los Angeles. In 2016, he started working in Istanbul with Şevki Pekin. Pekin, who started his teaching career in 2015, is currently active in the remote education program at SCI-Arc while at the same time participating in exhibitions with his artworks in collaboration with local and international art institutions. He approaches art as a constant source of inspiration for his architectural practice and keeps exploring the borders between the two disciplines. As of 2020, Pekin has taken over Şevki Pekin Architecture and he participates in several juries in Turkey and abroad.

Firuzan Melike Sumertas graduated from METU, Department of Architecture and received her M.A degree from the same university, Program of Architectural History. She has pursued her doctoral studies at Bogaziçi University, Department of History. Her research area is the Urban and Architectural History of Istanbul during Ottoman period. Accordingly, her M.A research focused on Female Patrons of Architecture in Early Modern Istanbul, whereas her doctoral Project inquires the nineteenth century scholarship on ‘Old Istanbul’, particularly in Greek. Within this framework, she has presented papers and published articles in local and international milieus. During her Ph.D research, she was awarded with the Fulbright Cultural Exchange Scholarship and spent an academic year at Princeton University, Department of History. She also participated Erasmus Student Exchange Program and studied one semester at University of Crete, Department of History and Archaeology. Additionally, she was awarded with scholarships from significant research institutions such as ARIT – Istanbul, AKMED – Antalya, EFA – Athens, SNF – Athens, Bodossaki Foundation – Athens, – NEC – Bucharest. Her research languages are Ottoman Turkish and Greek. Sümertaş has participated several research and exhibition projects besides her academic life. She also worked at Anadolu University Department of Architecture and Boğaziçi University Department of History, with full time contract, and at MEF University, Department of Architecture with part time contract. She is currently a visiting scholar at Kadir Has University Department of Architecture.

Selahattin Tüysüz graduated from Le Lycee de Saint-Benoit. In 2002 he started his undergraduate education at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul. In 2004, he took an internship in Paris at Dominique PERRAULT Architecture. In 2005 he studied at Ecole Speciale d’Architecture, at Peter COOK studio. In 2006, he worked at the EAA in Istanbul, as a project director. He participated in the master class on Plastic-Opacity in Bauhaus directed by Hanif KARA. During his academic in 2008, he received his master’s degree in London on Architecture & Urbanism from Architectural Association DRL Master Program. In the same year he joined Zaha HADID Architects and continued to work on architectural projects in his office “Selahattin Tüysüz Architecture”. which merged with Impromptu Architects to become ADAPT architects in 2013. He He won several national and international urban planning and architectural awards. He has been teaching in Yıldız Tech. Uni and Panama Isthmus Architectural and Design.

After graduation from Istanbul Technical University, department of Architecture in 2014, she started working at Arkitera Architecure Center as a project manager for “Consultancy of Competition Management”. By year of 2020 she has been working at Istanbul Planning Agency, Department of Competitions.

After graduation from Beykent University, department of Architecture, K.Elif has completed her urban design master’s degree at K.U.Leuven, Belgium with the thesis “Re-thinking the infrastructure invasion on public spaces: case Brussels Botanic and surroundings” in 2016. After graduation she has worked in various architecture and landscape architecture offices. By 2020 she has been the rapporteur of several urban design competitions.

After studying Restoration at Kütahya Dumlupınar University, he completed the Department of Architecture at Girne American University. Afterwards, he completed his master’s degree in Sociology at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and during this time he also carried out studies in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Hamburg Hafen City University with the Erasmus program. He is currently actively working in the field of Cultural Heritage in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

In 2015, she graduated from Dokuz Eylül University (DEU) Civil Engineering Department with a honor degree. She participated in the European Union ERASMUS Student Programme with a scholarship and studied at Ostrava Technical University for an undergraduate education period in 2013. She continued her postgraduate education in Master Programme of Environmental Control & Building Technologies in Department of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). In 2018, she graduated from the ITU with the thesis subject of ‘’3D Nonlinear Modeling and Testing of Historic Stone Masonry Arch Bridges: The Case of Justinian’s Bridge’’. During her master education, she worked as graduate research assistant in a TUBITAK project on ‘Multi-Stage Evaluation of Structural Behavior of Historic Stone Arch Bridges and Structural Determination of Appropriate Intervention Strategies in Turkey’. In 2018, she participated in the 2nd Reuse of Modernist Buildings (RMB) Student Workshop at Coimbra University in Portugal and received a certificate on the transformation to sustainable community spaces of functional buildings. She worked as a structural engineer in a restoration/engineering office, which focuses on the static restoration and strengthening projects of timber, historic masonry, and reinforced concrete structures, between 2017-2020. She has continued to work as civil engineer in the Directorate of Cultural Heritage Projects in Department of Cultural Assets Conservation, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) since January, 2020.

S.Benan Kaya, who started her undergraduate education in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSÜ) “Urban and Regional Planning Department” in 2013-2014, took part in national and international projects and workshops on a city scale. With the Erasmus Exchange Program, Fachhochschule Erfurt (FH Erfurt) was educated for one year and graduated from MSGSU in 2019 as a Urban Planner. Since 2020, she has been working in the Public Design Office / Competitions team within the Istanbul Planning Agency.

She was born in Istanbul. In 2016, she graduated from the Art History Department of Marmara University. She completed her postgraduate education with the master thesis entitled as ‘’Greek Community Repairs in Istanbul in the 19th Century in Consideration of Ottoman Documentation’’ in the Department of Architecture at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University in 2020. She has been working as an art historian in the Directorate of Cultural Heritage Projects in Department of Cultural Assets Conservation, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) since January, 2020.