Glass installation artworks designed through the collaboration between the Zero Waste Foundation and Şişecam Design Center were exhibited as part of the Zero Waste Forum, held at Istanbul Atatürk Airport between 4–7 June 2026.
This comprehensive environmental event—structured around sustainable living, energy efficiency, and the circular economy—aimed to raise environmental and climate awareness by bringing together public institutions, the private sector, and all segments of society around a shared vision. Organized under the theme
“Efficiency in Energy, Transformation for the Future,” the festival provided an important platform for promoting resource efficiency and a culture of sustainable living.
The glass used in the installation works exhibited at the festival was produced within Şişecam as both handmade and flat glass, then refined through different craftsmanship processes and finalized as a cohesive design whole.
The first artwork,
“CRUCIBLE,” symbolizes the unseen heart of glass production and its rebirth in the furnace. Molten glass is reshaped from fragments of sand glass; each piece carries, supports, and elevates another, gaining renewed value through transformation. The work narrates the cycle of glass: it melts, takes form, and comes into being once again. The stacked forms make visible the collective transformation inherent in the production process and the ever-moving nature of glass. While each piece holds meaning on its own, together they represent glass’s uninterrupted journey from past to future. The metal form passing through the center of the installation subtly references the blowing pipes used in handmade glass production, reminding us not only of glass’s transformation but also of the craftsmanship that gives it shape. This transformation, beginning in the furnace, emphasizes the reconstruction of glass’s cultural and emotional value alongside its physical form.
Another work,
“THE HEARTBEAT OF THE SEA,” refers to the invisible pulse through which the seas maintain the balance of life. The fragility of layered glass waves and the heart-rhythm form revealed when viewed from the front make this pulse visible. While the calm waves rising from a base reminiscent of a shoreline evoke harmony in life, the patterns formed as the waves rise and the pulse accelerates reflect the disrupted rhythm of waters left gasping by the climate crisis and the tension of species extinction. The artwork reminds us that protecting this rhythm is a shared responsibility for a sustainable future—and that every trace we leave today will inevitably return to us tomorrow as a tidal force.
These glass installation works will also be exhibited during the
“Şişecam 40th International Glass Symposium,” to be held at the Raffles Hotel on 18–19 June 2026. In parallel, Şişecam Design Studio continues its sustainability- and climate-focused work and is currently designing five new pieces for the
COP31 Türkiye 2026 Summit, to be held at the Antalya EXPO area in November. Together with the existing works, the aim is to participate in this major global platform with a total of seven glass installations.
Held under the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COP31 is one of the highest-level global climate platforms, seeking solutions on emissions reduction, climate finance, adaptation strategies, and sustainable development. Şişecam Design Studio’s participation in an event of this scale carries strategic importance in representing the company’s sustainability vision on the international stage through its design and production capabilities.