Terminal Kadıköy, Istanbul’s new meeting point that brings together culture, art, sports, and gastronomy, is now hosting a striking contemporary artwork in one of the city’s busiest transit areas. Created by multidisciplinary artist Uğur Acil, the 10-meter-high figurative installation invites viewers to adopt a different perspective amid the fast-paced rhythm of everyday life.

One of Istanbul’s most heavily trafficked locations, Terminal Kadıköy is now home to a large-scale contemporary artwork.

The 10-meter-high figurative installation by multidisciplinary artist Uğur Acil freezes the city dweller—caught in the rush of daily life—at a specific moment, offering a new way of seeing.

Rising in a space where thousands of people pass every day but very few ever “stop,” the figure appears suspended in a timeless pause, as if it might resume running at any second. In a time when movement has become an automatic reaction and we often forget where and why we are running, the figure’s state of being suspended in limbo and its visual vitality confront the viewer with a presence that is both familiar and dreamlike—emerging from within everyday life itself.

A Timeless Pause

The artwork captures the human body in a fleeting gap between “movement and stillness” in a place where thousands of people hurry past each day. The figure stands as if about to take its next step, yet remains momentarily “frozen” before doing so. This pause poses a simple but powerful question to the viewer: “Where are we running, and why?”

A Familiar Yet Dreamlike Encounter

Uğur Acil’s work questions the transformation of movement into an automatic reflex in modern urban life. The figure’s body, seemingly suspended in an in-between state, establishes a strong visual encounter with the viewer as both a familiar and a dreamlike presence. The scale and vitality of the work offer a striking invitation to “stop and think” within the public realm.

The Power of Art at Terminal Kadıköy

With this special installation, Terminal Kadıköy offers more than gastronomy, entertainment, and social spaces; it also integrates the transformative power of art in public space into urban life. The artwork makes art a natural part of everyday experience within the site’s dynamic atmosphere.

 About Terminal Kadıköy

Developed by Akfen with a vision of exemplary urban transformation, Terminal Kadıköy offers visitors a new social living space in the heart of Istanbul where they can pause and breathe.

Located in Söğütlüçeşme, Kadıköy, at the intersection of the Marmaray, High-Speed Train, and Metrobus lines—used by an average of 120,000 people daily—Terminal Kadıköy creates a new meeting point at the very center of the city with its distinctive layout of 13 horizontal and 1 vertical streets.

Positioning itself as a one-of-a-kind gastronomic hub in Türkiye, Terminal Kadıköy offers a wide variety ranging from street food and international cuisines to gourmet chef restaurants, next-generation coffee shops, and an open organic market.

Developed under the consultancy of the Culinary Arts Academy, 7DE7 brings together 21 different food venues under a mercado concept while also housing the world’s largest sports bar. In addition, a 1,500-seat stage and cultural arts center, to be developed by Paribu, will host events from various disciplines throughout the year.

Designed with principles of social transformation and sustainable living, Terminal Kadıköy aims to bring a fresh perspective to Istanbul by holistically integrating art, gastronomy, and social life.

About the Artist

Uğur Acil was born in 1991 in Diyarbakır. Frequently using public space as a narrative surface, the artist works across installations, drawings, and multidisciplinary productions, participating in various projects.

His artistic practice develops from daily, monthly, and annual observations. By transforming the images and symbols that emerge from these processes into compositions, he constructs narratives. Rather than tracing lived experiences, his works pursue unlived and potential possibilities, often concealing these states through symbols and creating layered, hidden meanings.

His works in public spaces aim to establish direct contact with viewers, offering new perspectives on everyday life through subtle interventions.

The installation of the artwork was carried out with the technical support of the Terminal Kadıköy and CPM Istanbul teams.