Studio

We work where all the arts meet.

Manifesto

Block Arte was founded in Istanbul in 2015 and now works from Istanbul and Firenze. We approach buildings, interiors, objects and stages side by side, as one practice.

We see architecture as the meeting point of all the arts, connected to everything from sculpture and cinema to theatre and music. The section of a mosque and the lighting of a stage are worked on with the same care.

We value the process before the result. Behind every project lie dozens of sketches, revisions and models. A brick, a joint, a shelf module: quality begins in the smallest detail.

We design and we build. Our team does not only draw; it works on site, and we see every detail we draw through to construction. We have worked this way on projects in Türkiye, Italy, Qatar and the United Kingdom.

We Make All ARTs

Our motto, in plain terms: all the arts, as far as we are able.

It is a way of working before it is a slogan. In one studio we design houses and mosques, restaurants and clinics, furniture and children's toys, facades and concert stages. Restoration, upcycling and ecological, sustainable architecture belong to the same range. Our team brings together skilled people from every discipline, and each discipline informs the others.

Process

An idea. A building. Three steps in between.

Drawing
01
Sketch
Every project begins by hand. We listen to the site, the users and the brief, and test the first idea through sketches and models.
Drawing
02
Design
The idea becomes plans, sections and details. We settle materials, light and dimensions for the space in which it will be built.
On site
03
Build
Our own build team takes the drawings to site. The team that owns the detail is the same team on site.

Block Arte's motto is 'we make all ARTs': we make all the arts. […] Because, to me, architecture is where all the arts meet. It connects to everything you can imagine, from sculpture to cinema, theatre and music. […] We are both designers and builders. Bringing our art to life genuinely makes us happy.

Sinan KarakuşFounder, M.ArchEdited quotation from a video interview, translated from Turkish.