Architecture builds relationships between the parts of life.
The value of a building lies in the kind of life that can be built in and around it.
Aura Design Studio approaches architecture through the relationships of everyday life. It asks what a space makes possible, and how it affects people’s time, independence and sense of belonging to the place they live.
Form emerges from meaning.
Aura does not begin a design with a predetermined image. It tries to understand the place, the need and the life that will unfold there, and develops the architectural form as a result of that understanding.
A building is never alone.
Every building is part of the life around it. Aura approaches a building through its relationships with the street, the city, nature and people, and looks for the value of architecture in the quality of those relationships.
It makes room for the diversity of life.
It does not accept a single way of living as the ideal. It designs environments where different ages, needs and habits can find their place, and thinks about togetherness while preserving individual independence.
It treats change as part of design.
Life changes; needs and ways of use transform. Aura does not limit architecture to the day it is completed. It cares that buildings can adapt over time and keep their value.
Architectural identity comes from consistent decisions.
It builds architectural identity through decisions rooted in place. It seeks coherence among scale, material, light and space, and embraces an architecture whose impact comes not from visual excess but from the clarity of thought.
Design carries responsibility.
Every architectural decision affects resources, the environment and people’s lives. Aura considers aesthetic, social, environmental and economic responsibility together, and judges success by the value a building generates over time.
Between spaces, between lives.
Aura Design Studio is a design studio founded by Filiz Cingi Yurdakul. It works in architecture, urban design and interior design.
It approaches projects not as single buildings, but through the relationships they build between housing, work, education, care, commerce and public life. It sees mixed use not merely as bringing different functions together in one place, but as creating connections that can be used within everyday life.
In projects of different scales, it evaluates architectural identity, quality of use and long-term value together.
The right questions, before form.
The studio begins design by understanding needs and the conditions of the place. It thinks about the program, usage scenarios and implementation processes together, and turns this understanding into spatial decisions.
Understands the need and the context. It evaluates users, the environment and the client’s goals within the same frame.
Develops relationships and options. It explores how functions will connect, how the building will be used and how it may change over time.
Treats design together with implementation. It supports the consistent development of decisions through BIM and interdisciplinary coordination.
It evaluates energy, daylight, materials, indoor comfort and life cycle from the very beginning of the design. It sees accessibility and environmental responsibility as part of the project’s quality of use.
Founder & Design Director
Filiz Cingi Yurdakul
She graduated from the Department of Architecture at Middle East Technical University in 2003. She has worked at different scales on urban design, mixed-use, housing, education, commercial, office, hotel and interior design projects, gaining experience in design, project management and implementation processes.
At the center of her approach to architecture is the relationship buildings form with everyday life. She treats the connections between housing and city, private and public life, and different generations as the fundamental questions of design.
Her writings on architecture →- Architecture and urban design
- Mixed-use and housing
- Interior design
- BIM and design coordination
- Sustainable design
- Project and construction management
From thought to practice.
Architecture in everyday life.
Studies on spatial perception, user experience and sustainability deepen the studio’s design questions.
Articles and studies →The international recognition of projects.
Aura Design Studio’s projects have received awards from the European Property Awards and the Luxury Lifestyle Awards.
Award news and press →Thinks about space, life and time together.