Handan Akyürek is an architect and visual artist based in Eskişehir. Following her graduation from Yıldız Technical University, Department of Architecture, she completed her master's studies at Middle East Technical University (METU). In her thesis, titled "Following User Traces in Urban Context: Stigmergic Approach and a Machine Learning Implementation," she focused on documenting the physical traces of users and interpreting these spatial patterns through machine learning algorithms.
Akyürek’s artistic practice takes shape in the hybrid realm between the structural precision of architecture and the tactile, imperfect nature of craft. In her productions, she investigates alternative ways of "spatial record-keeping" by colliding digital drawing and mapping techniques with organic processes such as embroidery, papermaking, and analog photography.
The artist questions the projections of personal and collective memory onto space. While transforming architectural representation from a mere document into a tool of emotional narrative in her Memories and Threshold series, she focuses on the scale and hierarchy relationship between nature and the human body in her artist book project, Co-existence.
Akyürek, whose works have been featured in selections such as Lokal 02 (Eldem Art Space, 2025) and the 4.5. Antalya Architecture Biennial (2025), continues her material-based and process-oriented productions. In parallel to her artistic endeavors, she leads her professional architectural and design practice under Studio Fandam, which she established in 2024.
EDUCATION
2023 M.Sc , Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara
2015 B.Arch, Yıldız Technical University (YTU), Istanbul
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 Lokal 02, Eldem Art Space, Eskişehir (Group Exhibition, Curated by Melike Bayık)
2025 4.5. Antalya Architecture Biennial, Antalya Battery Factory (Group Exhibition, Curated by Celal Abdi Güzer)
PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
2026 Biraradalıklar, Artist Book (Upcoming)
2025 Hıdır Eligüzel, "Interview: Voices Multiplying in the Center of Geography", Varlık Magazine, December 2025 Issue.
2025 Kadraj: Hatıralar, Manifold Press (Digital Feature)