About

SpaceChase is a software development project, being developed for “Mekan Dizimi Tasarım Uygulaması” (no:119M082) under ARDEB 1001 programme of TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey). “Mekan Dizimi Tasarım Uygulaması” is a collaborative research project between Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul Bilgi University and Tuspa Design Studio / Urban Atolye. The project is currently being conducted by Tuspa Design Studio and Urban Atölye

Active Development Team

Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Vivamus elementum semper nisi.
Nilüfer Kozikoğlu
Team Leader
Creative Lead
Oğulcan Üneşi
Developer
Accounting
Melda Güzel
UI/UX Designer
Accounting
Egesu Esentürk
Visual Communication Designer
Accounting
Baran Saraç
QA Tester 
Accounting

Research Team

Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Vivamus elementum semper nisi.
Pelin Dursun Çebi
Project Head
UX/UI Designer
Nilüfer Kozikoğlu
Project Co-Coordinator
Creative Lead
Tuğrul Yazar
Project Co-Coordinator
Accounting
Oğulcan Üneşi
Researcher
Accounting
Büşra Balaban
Researcher
Accounting
Melike Sena Erden
Researcher
Accounting

Strategic Partners

Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Vivamus elementum semper nisi.
Aymelek Kozikoğlu
Financial Consultant
Creative Lead
Gökhan Karakuş
Strategic Consultant
UX/UI Designer

Former Team Members

Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Vivamus elementum semper nisi.
Çağla Yılmaz
Former UI/UX Designer
UX/UI Designer
Ceylin Öz
Former UI & Architectural Designer
Accounting

Team Bio

Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Vivamus elementum semper nisi.
Nilüfer Kozikoğlu
‍Urban Atölye, Tuşpa Design Studio
Creative Lead
Nilüfer is a graduate of Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, 1995, with a masters degree in architecture and urban design from the Architectural Association, School of Architecture, London, 2003. She runs her architectural design practice at NK agency for architecture, prototypical design works at Urban Atolye.Kozikoglu is interested in emergent properties of spatial, material and structural compositions with a focus on organic/inorganic in their differentiated states. Her interest in “livelihood” reflects on her installations that involve digital technologies and handcraft together with in situ processes and workshop experiments. nkozik@gmail.com
Pelin Dursun Çebi
Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture
UX/UI Designer
Prof. Dr. Pelin Dursun Çebi is a Professor at the Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University. Her PhD thesis focused on morphological analyses of home environments in the city of Trabzon. Prof. Dr. Dursun has been a visiting scholar at University of Newcastle upon Tyne, CARDO, UK. and at The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. She has been a member of many research and design teams national and international number of design projects including student social centres, conference rooms and research-educational spaces in different faculties of ITU.  Her research interests focus on architectural design, architectural design education, architectural morphology and space syntax. Prof. Dr. Dursun currently teaches at the Architectural Design Group of ITU Faculty of Architecture both at the undergraduate and graduate level. dursunpe@itu.edu.tr
Tuğrul Yazar
Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture
Accounting
Prof. Dr. Tuğrul Yazar is a computational design researcher – architect. He studied architecture at Yıldız Technical University and received his doctorate degree in 2009 from the same school’s Computer-aided Architecture program in 2009. He has publications on computational design and production technologies. Since 2010, he has taught design geometry, design computing, mathematics, parametric modeling and basic design courses at Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture. He’s sharing a part of his research on his blog at designcoding.net. In 2016, he published the first Turkish book in this research field titled, “Parametric Modeling with Grasshopper”. In addition to academic publications, he is a computational design consultant and workshop tutor. The works of the POTPlus research group, established together with Fulya Akipek were exhibited in various exhibitions and biennials. tugrul.yazar@bilgi.edu.tr
Oğulcan Üneşi
Urban Atölye, Tuşpa Design Studio
Accounting
Oğulcan Üneşi received his BA degree from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Department of Architecture in 2017, his MA degree from Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in 2018, and a second MA degree from Istanbul Bilgi University in History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture in 2022. Since 2020, he has been teaching computational design and design studio courses as a lecturer at architecture faculties of various universities. Since 2019, he has undertaken research and software development roles in scientific research projects at TÜBİTAK, İTÜ and İBÜ. In addition to his academic studies, he supports research organizations and architectural offices in the fields of computational design and software development. He has development experience in machine learning applications, CAD software plug-ins, multi-user virtual environments, desktop and mobile video games, and interactive interfaces. He continues his PhD studies in the Department of Architectural Design Computing at Istanbul Technical University. ogulcanunesi@gmail.com
Melda Güzel
‍Urban Atölye, Tuşpa Design Studio
Accounting
Melda graduated from the Department of Industrial Product Design at Bahçeşehir University. After graduating, she worked on projects both abroad and in Istanbul, blending physical and digital mediums in her work. She leveraged her experience in 3D modeling applications to focus on user experience in service design. Currently, she continues to work on physical designs at Urban Atolye while establishing herself as a researcher in the digital design world. melda.guzel@tuspa.net
Egesu Esentürk
Urban Atölye, Tuşpa Design Studio
Accounting
---
Baran Saraç
Urban Atölye, Tuşpa Design Studio
Accounting
---
Aymelek Kozikoğlu
Urban Atölye, Tuşpa Design Studio
Creative Lead
Aymelek is a graduate of Bogazici University Istanbul, 1986, with a masters degree in international banking from the Heriott-Watt University Edinburgh, 1993. She runs administrative practices at Urban Atolye. Kozikoglu had over two decades of work experience in banking, finance specially on derivative and investment banking products.
Gökhan Karakuş
E-Medya
UX/UI Designer
Gökhan manages a web design firm called E-Medya, an electronic services design, development and auditing company based in Istanbul. He worked as a curator in many architectural and design-oriented exhibitions held in Istanbul, London, and New York. He continues to work actively on vernacular solutions applied in modern designs focusing on local cultures. He was recently appointed as a Member of the Advisory Board of the Istanbul Design Biennial 2016.
Büşra Balaban
Accounting
Büşra Balaban is a researcher and architect working with critical and interdisciplinary modes of spatial studies. She is currently pursuing her PhD studies at Istanbul Technical University, Architectural Design Program, where she received an MSc degree with her thesis; “Non-Interior: A Critical Spatial Production at the Intersection of Architecture and Cinema”. Her research interests mainly focus on critical spatial research, feminist theory and method, the performativity of architectural representation, mapping practices, filmmaking and viewing practices while her work consists of drawings, critical mappings and essay films. She has contributed to the Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of Interior Design as a full-time research assistant with teaching, research and administration duties between 2021 and 2024. She has been a scholarship student in the research project.
Melike Sena Erden
Accounting
Sena graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture and earned her master’s degree in the Architectural Design Master's Program at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in 2022, with a thesis titled “Spatial Cartographies of Determinant Objects on a Generative Base.” During her master's studies, she assisted several architectural design studios at Medipol University and ITU, gaining valuable academic and practical experience. She transitioned into tech and now works as a front-end developer while also providing freelance UI/UX design services. She has been a scholarship student in the research project.
Çağla Yılmaz
UX/UI Designer
Çağla is an architect and a graduate of Mimar Sinan University, Department of Architecture. She is a former Urban Atölye member who has worked in the development of the SpaceChase game.
Ceylin Öz
Accounting
Ceylin is an architect and a UI/UX Designer. After completing her degree on Architectural Design and Environmental Sustainability in 2017, she has worked with copious design collectives in Canada, England and Turkey. She is a former Urban Atölye member who has worked in the development of the SpaceChase game.