Mental Design Works approaches architecture not merely as spatial design, but as a cultural representation, an intellectual stance, and a forward-looking vision. Founded in 2010 by architect Salih Çıkman, the studio evolved into a multidisciplinary practice in 2012 with the addition of architect Tülin Meydan. Since then, it has developed a production practice that shapes architectural identity, generates ideas, and inspires.
The design philosophy of Mental Design Works prioritizes concept over form, understanding over detail, and meaning over material. Each project is treated as an architectural synthesis that brings together the history, cultural context, and natural characteristics of its site. The studio designs in a way that makes architecture timeless, contextually rooted, and founded on principles that are both ethical and aesthetic.
Environmentally conscious green building projects, strong relationships with the local context, user-focused planning, and careful attention to detail have become the studio’s signature. Every project becomes not only a physical structure but also an intellectual proposition, a dialogue through design, and above all, an entity that carries its own purpose.
Mental Design Works positions itself in Turkey’s architectural scene not merely as a producer, but as a pioneering platform for thought, a critical perspective, and one of the intellectual references of contemporary architecture. The studio understands the context before attempting to transform it; it engages with the memory of space, explores the potential of materials, traces the presence of nature, and reinterprets it all anew with each project.
At the heart of the studio is an architectural community committed to sustaining design excitement, embracing interdisciplinary thinking, and approaching every new project with the passion of day one. Their shared goal is not only to create “good buildings” but to imagine a livable future and bring it to life through architecture. With a reflective, questioning, and re-defining approach, Mental Design Works produces architecture that respects the future while shaping the present, communicates the local in a universal language, and creates designs with a strong identit