Unit Terrenum Rosa | burcakbingol

Unit Terrenum Rosa was created by Burçak Bingöl for Frieze Sculpture 2025 titled

In the Shadows curated by Fatoş Üstek at the Regent's Park, London, during 17 September - 2 November 2025.

Unit Terrenum Rosa is a site-specific sculpture that explores the intersection of nature, history, and geography. Shaped as a one-cubic-meter form, the piece is constructed from rammed earth using Cappadocia clay in Türkiye and incorporates ceramics inspired by—and sourced from—the clay-rich soil of Regent’s Park and ceramics that are made with this clay. The work is also inspired from the Rose Garden at the Regent’s Park.

Unit Terrenum Rosa, 2025

Rammed earth; Avanos and Regent's Park clay, sand, stone, cement, metal, ceramics, transfer prints and casts from roses of Beyoğlu and Queen Mary's Rose Garden

100x100x100 cm

Installation view at Frieze Sculpture 2025, Regent's Park, London

Ceramic artist Burçak Bingöl draws upon the deep relationship between clay and its cultural and natural associations. Clay, a fundamental element of the earth’s crust, plays a central role in her practice. Just as she once dived for China clay in Cornwall for her Tate St Ives exhibition, during her walks in London’s Regent’s Park, Bingöl learned from the park’s gardener that the ground also contains clay. She collected samples, brought them to her studio in Istanbul, and through a series of experiments, transformed them into fired ceramic forms.

Glazed ceramic piece showing Burçak Bingöl and assistant Ayşe Aydoğan with the British Consulate gardener Abdurrahman Esin, Istanbul, 2025

Unit Terrenum Rosa presents a geometric intervention within a natural setting—a cube, a shape rarely found in nature. Within this volume, various elements incorporate the images of real roses collected by the artist from her neighbourhood Beyoğlu (Istanbul) — including the Garden of the British Consulate (Pera House) and the Galata Mevlevi House — and roses from Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in the Regent’s Park. In this way, the rose, an important motif in Turkish decorative arts, transforms into a cross-cultural connection. This cubic landscape examines the intrinsic connection between earth and clay, the natural and the man-made, as well as the travels of materials and crafts across geographies. The work invites viewers to reflect on how borders and environments are reassembled, reimagined, and transformed—highlighting the artistic and material links across geographies.

(left) Glazed ceramic piece showing Burçak Bingöl with the Royal Parks gardener Andrea Manfrin, London, 2025

(right) Glazed ceramic piece showing Royal Parks head gardener Anne Tuomisto, London, 2025