\u201cOrnament, function, unlikely colour palettes, impulsive design choices, and juxtapositions of elements from contrasting eras and cultures all come together to create a kind of folk architecture. It\u2019s fresh, and such a contrast to the contemporary design aesthetic we are bombarded with through social media\u201d, says Ekin Ozbicer, of her project @hurriyetemlakblues, an Instagram account where she uploads screenshots from a growing archive of pictures from real estate sales ads.
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\nOzbicer is a photographer, and regularly took pictures of people in their homes: \u201cI was always interested in the relationship between people and their environment, and the unlikely aesthetic choices they make\u201d. With the pandemic, house visits came to a halt, and the novelty of exploring homes moved online. \u201cI had been browsing real estate sites for fun and fantasy, looking at amazing houses that we could never afford, and places that were plain outrageous in their disregard for all cultural conventions\u201d, Ozbicer says. While scrolling, she came across a place on Istanbul\u2019s Bosphorus coast, in an affluent area populated with villas, palaces, and embassies, which has a painting of Turgut \u00d6zal, \u201ca Turkish president from the 1980s, and a still politically controversial figure\u201d. She took a screenshot to share with family and friends, which became the starting point of a sort-of archive of \u201coddities and peculiarities\u201d. \u201cThere are a few main drivers for the archive. It\u2019s based on my personal tastes and interests, and my main motivation for continuing with the project is the possibility of encountering \u2014 any given day \u2014 the vast potential of people to create aesthetics that have absolutely no place in the continuum of the history of art and design.\u201d
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\nAmber, tortoiseshell and marble -effect plastic, whirring fans, pattern on pattern, gold on gold, lace, velvet, tassels, wood polished up to a high gloss, chairs set up ready to receive. The look is maximalist, diametrically opposed to the sparse \u201cmattress on the floor + one plant\u201d Instagram aesthetic, and all the better for it. Many of the pictures on @hurriyetemlakblues are of communal areas, or rooms that guests are likely to see (the bathroom). They are made up like a scene from a film, dressed to impress, to entertain, and with hosting and generosity in mind. Living rooms have a formality to them that mimics reception rooms in palaces and grand villas, firm chairs and shallow sofas set up in a round for conversation, rather than cushions slouching back towards a TV.
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\nThe rooms on display are heavily-populated with furniture, objects, pictures on walls, pictures as walls, clashing colours or fully-committed-to themes, surfaces overlaid with surfaces. Those that lean towards sparse functionality don\u2019t shy away from a throne chair or blousy bouquet, like Marie Antoinette in a high-rise apartment. To say it\u2019s kitsch would be an understatement, it would also be reductive.
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\nTropical island wallpaper, a dome-effect mural of a growling leopard, or a stiletto chair, aren’t practical choices, but they are choices led by a desire to bring theatre into everyday life, to excite guests, to create a transportive setting. Such elaborate interiors are popular across the socio-economic spectrum (although there is also, obviously, a spectrum of tastes, as there is anywhere else), informed by celebrity homes photographed in magazines, houses on TV, the popular home stores of the time, or what\u2019s available at markets. \u201cIt is easy to write these off as \u2018kitsch\u2019 or \u2018camp\u2019, but they are mostly choices made according to what had been readily available at a particular time, given their circumstances. The colours, lights and ornaments add life and joy to these rooms, and they are cultural artefacts; documenting the availability and abundance of Chinese products, witnessing cultural influences from a popular tv series, or a reflection of a social or political ideology.\u201d
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\nDriving along A-roads on the outskirts of town, you\u2019ll see pile-ups of plastic statues and garden ornaments, bootlegged Louis XIV furniture; markets selling fake flowers, elaborate plastic kitchenware and lace. At my aunt\u2019s apartment in Istanbul, the living room is set up like the set from an 80s drama, all white leather, carved wood, clear plastic and marble-effect. Coffee shows up on a tray, with rose Turkish Delight dusted in sugar and almond biscuits on a paper doily on a gold-trimmed plate, Turkish coffee in a tiny decorated cup, on a saucer. (Like an espresso, but with the opposite intention \u2014 it\u2019s not designed to be quick \u2014\u00a0and with coffee grounds sat at the bottom of the cup, waiting for you to take a sip too far, and to be tipped out for your fortune read.) I\u2019m part of the family, but every guest is met with the same offering of coffee (or chai), a generous theatre of hospitality. It\u2019s a performance, but one rooted in the want to have guests feel celebrated and comfortable, welcomed into the home.
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\nThe smaller details, the air conditioning units, electric fans, layers of lace, plastic containers and protective coverings really feel like home. When the living room is \u201coff duty\u201d, or in the rest of the house \u2014\u00a0the kitchen, the bedrooms \u2014\u00a0the setting is often more sparse, focused on cleanliness and ventilation, and preserving high-impact furniture. The \u2018Scarface-chic\u2019 aesthetic that my aunt adores is dated, it\u2019s also fun and light and envelops you in that one particular setting. The mishmash of references, eras and cultures meet in the kind of \u201cfolk architecture\u201d Ozbicer describes, where interiors are informed by tastes, finances, experiences, histories, and traditions, not designed to fit with the ascribed aesthetic of the day. The homes on @hurriyetemlakblues have an emotional pull; of the soap opera, high drama variety, but also one rooted in the vulnerability of expressing your desires through your surroundings, and welcoming people into your home. \u201cThe images become truly unique and fascinating when they give these insights about the social and cultural circumstances that create them\u201d Ozbicer says. \u201cThey are artefacts that deserve further reflection than an ironic smile.\u201d<\/div><\/div>
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