City at Sea Level

tides of future

In the next two centuries, sea levels are expected to rise by meters, reshaping shorelines and pushing high tides deeper into cities. The climb won’t stop as warmed oceans and ice sheets keep responding for generations, how far and how fast depending on the choices we make now.

a peek inside

The collaborative practice of Bahar Orçun and Baran Göktepe, explores the potential of space and reflects on the urgencies of our time. Embodying this approach, and building on evidence-based projections, City at Sea Level translates numbers into a spatial experience. Speculating on a scenario in which climate change has overtaken urban life, the installation invites visitors to ascend into a heterotopia where they experience a flooded cityscape. Inside, familiar fragments of our shared spaces are left half-submerged, swallowed by rising waters, a vivid reminder of the shifting balance between urban life and nature.Two meters above ground, a circular platform stages urban elements half-sunken; visitors pass beneath and slip their heads through openings to peek into a new reality. This point of view creates the sense of submersion, letting the visitor confront the dystopian context at eye level.

the horizon

Through the disorienting encounter, City at Sea Level acts as a playful yet unsettling messenger from a not-so-distant future shaped by ecological inaction, urging us to reflect on one essential question:

Is the horizon fixed, or is it rising?