Ancient Cyprus inspires TC’s design contest win
INSPIRATION from the Cyprus of thousands of years ago helped Turkish Cypriot interior design student Tacan İbrahimoğlu clinch victory in a prestigious international competition.
The 23-year-old University of Central Lancashire final-year student won a three-month internship focusing on project management with top London design studio 1.61 after her Cyprusinspired project came first in the “Get me 2 the Top” competition organised by the Society of British and International Design.
Miss İbrahimoğlu’s work involved building an “Eco Ceramics Hub” at a demolished taxi rank in Preston, where ceramic and handmade products were made, exhibited and sold. The venue was designed with disabled and eco-friendly features using recycled materials.
Talking to Cyprus Today, she said: “My interest in pottery grew after being on duty at the Vounous Ceramics Symposium in Çatalköy last year when I had the opportunity to watch and observe ceramic artists.”
Local and international artists gathered for the Vounous symposium last year to recreate artefacts from the Bronze Age necropolis and will do likewise again next month.
Miss İbrahimoğlu added: “I also like to make use of handicrafts at places that I create and I enjoy attending exhibitions.
“This [Eco Ceramics Hub] project was inspired by Cyprus and is very important for me as it was a challenge and I am proud of myself.
“I hope the internship I have won goes well as I am excited by the prospect of gaining experience of project management.”
Describing her creation as being “an emotional, warm and sustainable public space”, she stressed that her idea was to create a place in Lancashire that could benefit the lifestyle of local people while encouraging handicrafts.
“Success is achieved through hard work but it is also important to be happy with the job you have chosen,” she said.
“I always wanted to open a workshop but my dream is transforming into opening an arts school. I like to keep my dreams big and my advice is to just believe in yourself. Do your best and good things will happen.”
The annual design competition aims to build relationships between employers and potential future employees while seeking innovative and talented students of the next generation. One of its judges, Vanessa Brady, said of Miss İbrahimoğlu’s “ecoaware” project: “I was personally impressed and pleasantly surprised to see such insight circumventing barriers young creatives face as a start-up business.
“The project also created the feel of a thriving hub that generated a community ethos.
“All the important elements of success for a creative to consider had been addressed. In addition, I believe it was the type of project that a client would have paid a professional designer a fee for and that is a rare commodity for a designer in training to achieve. Superb.”