The Pamukkale University leg of the “KAMPÜS” program, organized at different universities across Türkiye, attracted attention with its multilayered content including workshops, jury evaluations, and panel presentations. The organization was realized through the collaboration of AURA İstanbul and SAMET, one of the leading brands in the furniture accessories sector.

Within the scope of the event, prominent architects and academics met with students. Architect İrem Uslu led the workshop titled “Living Spaces That Remind,” held on May 13-14. During the workshop, in which students participated in an intensive short-term production process, discussions were held on collective memory, urban memory, and space specifically in the context of Denizli, and related productions were carried out. The projects produced at the end of the workshop were exhibited on May 15 at the entrance foyer of the Pamukkale University Congress and Culture Center. The exhibited projects were evaluated by a jury consisting of MEF University Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture Dean Prof. Dr. Şebnem Yücel, Architect Cem Çelik, and Architect Hakan Demirel. During the jury sessions, students had the opportunity to present their projects and receive professional feedback.

One of the notable parts of the program was the panel titled “Space/Memory and Design.” The panel began with opening speeches by Pamukkale University Faculty of Architecture and Design Dean Prof. Dr. Mustafa Tamer Ayvaz, SAMET Deputy General Manager of Marketing Pınar Uçkan, and AURA İstanbul founding member Master Architect Yılmaz Değer. Moderated by Faculty of Architecture and Design Department of Architecture faculty member Prof. Dr. Burak Altınışık, the panel featured architect Heval Zeliha Yüksel, architect Hakan Demirel, and architect Hasan Çalışlar as speakers. During the panel, it was emphasized that space is not only a physical environment but also a multilayered field of experience carrying individual and collective memory. The speakers addressed the relationship architecture establishes with the past, the transformation of urban memory, and the connection between design processes and cultural memory from different perspectives.

Following the panel, certificates of appreciation and gifts were presented to the panelists, jury members, and workshop coordinator. Afterwards, the award ceremony for the student projects deemed successful through the jury evaluations was held. The grand prize was awarded to Elif Naz Hatipoğlu and İrem Kayar for their project titled “The Weight of Destruction.” Four equivalent honorable mention awards were presented to Ali Doğan Gürsoy and Ali Berkay Çankaya for the project “The Touching Void”; İrem Tunç and Esra Bayraktar for the project “Between Times”; Cansu Kurt and Elif Tuana Yıldız for the project “The Kinetic Memory of Flow”; and Batuhan Yanık and Şehmus Ay for the project “Hollow.”

Participants evaluated the event not only as a platform for academic knowledge sharing but also as a creative meeting environment bringing together different perspectives. The three-day event offered an important experience for the students of the Department of Architecture within the Pamukkale University Faculty of Architecture and Design in terms of both professional networking and participation in contemporary architectural discussions.