‘We are a nation that crushes its own culture’

Switzerland has watches; Belgium chocolates; Germany has its non-breakable machines; Italy has its cuisine, fashion and furniture…

Well, do we have, as a country, sectors that lead in the world, brand marks that are known worldwide?
No, we do not.

We have to outgrow being an “intermediate country” and must prioritize design to become a brand.
If we cannot blend innovation with creativity, then we cannot move beyond machinery.

Since 2000, the designer, in the world, has become the individual who produces good products, who turns innovation into a product culture. One of the best examples of this is what Jonathan Ive did in the Apple group. Apple not only produces goods; it is marketing a culture.

Even only from this we can see how the designer in the world has become such a strategic individual. Now, the designer is the person who creates the brand and brands are the inventors of cultures that make countries a soft power.

Let us accept that we cannot produce products. Well, then, why can’t we produce our culture?

China has made the wok a worldwide product. Wok is very much like our folkloric steel pan. Everybody in our country now who is above a certain segment does not buy the traditional steel pan anymore, instead they buy the wok.

Designer Hakan Gürsu said, “Our culture has not been able to become a brand. We are a nation that rapidly adopts the Western culture, while crushing its own culture. Our architecture is like that. We have a lot of architects; but there are no distinguished buildings, there is no style, no identity…”

The Research and Development of Turks has been more of a “Go, copy, bring it home” type… “We go to...