Our project centres on the art of curating and nurturing emotional connections through the simple yet profound acts of eating and drinking together. We seek to explore how these everyday rituals can become vessels for love, fostering deep and meaningful shared experiences. In our quest to rekindle the essence of community connection on a global scale, we envision creating a melting pot for love and a guide for muhabbet, a term that encapsulates the warmth of heartfelt conversations and connections.
Our journey begins with a visit to a meyhane, where we will immerse ourselves in the experience of communal dining. Rakı Table or Meyhane ritual is a very strong and special cultural element across Turkey; bringing people together to cherish good moments in life as well as to support each other when going through difficult times. It’s a ritual that entails many different layers of meanings and symbolisms. It’s a true platform for growing and nurturing love.
We will be exploring triggers of emotional connections, through an integrative collaboration with a startup called Istanbul Elsewhere. Istanbul Elsewhere is a cultural project exploring acts of being from Istanbul or in other words acts of "Istanbuliteness". Istanbul Elsewhere’s initiative called Pop-up Meyhane creates platforms for bringing Turkish communities together by re-creating Istanbul Meyhane experience in London.
Project Melting Pot of Love will be focussed on exploring and investigating interactions at Pop-up Meyhane evenings and on capturing triggers of love. Through this exploration, we aim to construct the drivers for emotional connection, unveiling the secrets of how simple acts of sharing food and drink can ignite the flames of love and bring communities closer together.
Insights form first visit to Pop-up Meyhane - A special experience that made us feel like we were actually dining in Istanbul, connecting with the Turkish community in London, by simply only being in the same room sharing a dining experience. Each dinner party, deepening their connections as well as connec6ng with a group of people on a different level without even needing to speak with each other.
Six drivers of emotional connections - Open communication, Being present, Trust and vulnerability, Shared experiences, Active listening, Showing appreciation.
Our design process will be guided through a deep dive into the six drivers for emotional connections. Pop-up Meyhane guests will be provided an opportunity capture their experiences. They will be offered to get an abstract illustration, capturing their triggers of love based on the insights they share.
Data and insight on emotional connections, will be collected throughout three months, from guests participating to different pop-up events. This will enable us to better understand the root-causes of what actually happens during Pop-up Meyhane Experiences and how this experience triggers love.
Pop-up platforms will ultimately be utilised as a platform to find ways explore the essence of its value proposition. Driving from those learnings, construct ways of extracting the know-how of the essence.
We believe in making life-long love connections through great design.
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