Dr Cansu Curgen-Gurpinar is an architectural designer, scholar, and co-founder of the independent
design-research practice Ambiguous Standards Institute. She lives and works in the UK and currently
teaches as a full-time faculty at Loughborough University's School of Architecture, Building, and Civil
Engineering. She holds a Ph.D., an M.Sc., and a B.Sc. in Architectural Design. Her research interests
include the economy-politics of architectural design; daily life studies, urban interventions; open-
source design practices; the history of design standards; and theory and criticism of modern
architecture. Her design-research projects have been exhibited in numerous design weeks and
biennials internationally. Among her recent works are The Ambiguous Standards Institute's solo
exhibition, held at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021, and her editorial and associate-curatorial
roles in the "The Shift | Vardiya" project for the Pavilion of Turkey at the 16th Architecture Exhibition
of La Biennale di Venezia. She co-edited and co-authored the 4-volume project book Vardiya | The
Shift, published by Yapı Kredi Publications, Istanbul, 2018. Several pieces of her work for the
Ambiguous Standards Institute have been acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago for their
permanent collection.