“Frank Gehry – Illuminations” Conference

Since its establishment, IstanbulSMD has been contributing to the architecture field in various ways. This year, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, during Architecture Week, IstanbulSMD will once again organize a conference to commemorate the world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, whom we lost last year. 

The event will take place at the Sedad Hakkı Eldem Auditorium at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and will be open to all participants interested in the subject.

The event’s goal is to bring architects and architecture students together with distinguished professionals who are internationally recognized in their fields, offering new perspectives and opening up new horizons. The event will explore Frank Gehry’s many different attributes, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of his work and sharing his valuable legacy. It also aims to bring together members of the Federation of Associations of Architects in Private Practice, as well as academics in the field of architecture, representatives of firms operating in the sector, business professionals, and Istanbul residents with an interest in architecture. In doing so, the event wishes to create space for meaningful engagement and foster new opportunities for communication and collaboration.

The conference, titled “Frank Gehry – Illuminations,” will feature Edwin Chan, Lyndel King, and Thomas Mayer.

Edwin Chan (Former Partner at Gehry Partners), the keynote speaker, completed his undergraduate studies at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design and earned his Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. From 1986 to 2012, he worked as a Design Partner at Gehry Partners in Los Angeles, playing a significant role in developing the design vision for some of the firm’s most renowned projects in Hong Kong, Basel, and Denmark. Chan’s interest and expertise in designing art and culture institutions reached its peak with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Today, as the founder of EC3, he leads interdisciplinary teams of more than 100 architects and consultants, across projects of varying scales and functions, managing the design, coordination, and implementation processes of developments totaling more than 3 million square feet (approximately 280,000 m²) across four continents.

Lyndel King (Former Director of the Weisman Art Museum) served as the Director and Chief Curator of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum in the United States for 40 years. She worked closely with Frank Gehry during the design and construction of the museum’s current building, collaborating with him on the transformation of the museum. She has also served on the boards of numerous foundations and museums both in the United States and internationally, as well as a consultant.

Thomas Mayer (Architectural Photographer) has worked as a freelance photographer in Germany since 1969. Between 1989 and 1999, he documented the entire development of the Neue Zollhof project in Düsseldorf, from the competition stage through to its completion. The publication of these photographs around the world established him as a recognized figure in the field of architectural photography. The same series of photographs also led to long-standing collaborations with numerous notable architects, including Frank Gehry. Listed among the 13 Best Architectural Photographers in the World, with an archive of more than 100,000 photographs, Mayer describes his work as “a form of photography that approaches design and life within design like a journalist, in the manner of an interview.”

As extension of the conference, Edwin Chan will meet with students at Aura Istanbul on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.

The event program can be accessed via this link.