Erdem Akan, the enfant terrible of Turkish design, loves joining opposites. Natural with artificial, technological with artisan, reality with dreams. And especially "east" with "west". This is a characteristic that he shares with his native city, Istanbul, where old juxtaposes with the new. Design to him means taking a contradiction and working it into an unexpected balance, or perhaps magnifying the tension to obtain an unforeseen result. Akan delights in combining different cultures and subject areas, playing with clichés and defying convention to pursue an idea that is always personal and born of the moment. He wants to provoke, make you think, express emotion.