II · Written & Directed

Films

Award-winning short films, written and directed independently — most recently through a fully AI-driven production pipeline directed frame by frame.

BORAN · Chapter 1 Law Beneath the Bridge

Law Beneath the Bridge — BORAN · Chapter 1

Written & Directed by Umut Emre Erkan

Watch on YouTube ↗

A father, a newborn, and one night crossed twice — Istanbul and Kosovo, 1999. An anti-war film told with a locked camera, a four-note motif, and a single saturated color. Chapter 1 opens the story of BORAN.

"A child born in fire carries the fire."

Written & directed by Umut Emre Erkan. A solo AI-driven production, created with Seedance, Higgsfield, Nano Banana, and ElevenLabs. All characters are fictional and AI-generated — no real actors were filmed.

Official Selections & Awards at International Film Festivals

Posters · Law Beneath the Bridge

BORAN · Chapter 2 Father's Blood

Law Beneath the Bridge — Chapter 2 · Father's Blood

Written & Directed by Umut Emre Erkan

Watch on YouTube ↗

Stills · Law Beneath the Bridge

STRAY

Written & Directed by Umut Emre Erkan

Original score by UEE / Eleven Labs 3.0

In post — festival run forthcoming

UK-set social dilemma — multi-angle coverage, cut for tension, held in cold light.

Each film is written shot by shot before production begins — one camera position, one light, and a single action to a frame. The generated material is treated as footage; the film is assembled in the edit.

III · Selected Stills

Renders

A selection of still images from recent projects — interiors and exteriors across residential, cultural, and commercial work.

Interior

Interior ViewCultural Project

Materials

Material StudyDetail

Detail

Ceiling DetailInterior

Interior

Interior ViewCultural Project

Feature Wall

Feature WallInterior Detail

Exterior

Exterior ViewResidential Project

Biography

About

Umut Emre Erkan is a senior interior architect based in Istanbul. His work spans interior and exterior design at a broad range of scales — concert halls and cultural centers, luxury residences, cafés and restaurants, commercial offices — carried from concept design through material selection, joinery, and detail drawings, and documented in photoreal imagery at every stage.

Alongside the architectural practice, he writes and directs short films independently, most recently through a fully AI-driven production pipeline directed frame by frame.

Both practices draw on a consistent set of references: the economy of Bresson, the patience of Tarkovsky, the light of Kamiński.

Based inIstanbul, Türkiye
EducationYeditepe University, Architecture
PracticeInterior & exterior · Cultural, residential, hospitality, commercial
ToolsSketchUp · Lumion · V-Ray · After Effects · Photoshop · Premiere

← Projects

Residential · Riva, Istanbul

KORU

A private villa on the Black Sea coast at Riva — three levels following the slope, held together by a single material language that carries from the interiors out to the terraces, framing the pine canopy and the sea.

Interior & ExteriorFull villaRiva, Istanbul

MaterialsTravertineLime plasterOakJuteAged brass

KORU — Living & fireplace — Living & fireplace

KORU — Fitness & sauna — Fitness & sauna

← Back to Projects

← Projects

Hospitality · Istanbul

STRABORN Coffee

A two-floor coffee-and-library concept for STRABORN Coffee at Istanbul's Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM). A sculptural timber spiral stair links a ground-floor café to an upper reading library, with brick, textured stone, and warm oak wrapped around long communal tables.

InteriorBuiltAKM, Istanbul

MaterialsBrickTextured stoneWarm oak

STRABORN — Coffee library — Coffee library

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← Projects

Residential · Beykoz, Istanbul

BB Private Residence

A private house in Beykoz's Acarkent, Istanbul — a four-level concept across roof, first, ground, and garden floors, with 1,100 m² of living space opening onto an equal 1,100 m² of garden. Warm walnut, travertine, and full-height glazing frame the surrounding forest.

Interior & ExteriorConcept design1,100 m²Beykoz, Istanbul

MaterialsWalnutTravertineBronzeFull-height glazing

BB Private Residence — Living room — Living room

BB Private Residence — Kitchen & dining — Kitchen & dining

BB Private Residence — Bedroom — Bedroom

BB Private Residence — Master bath — Master bath

BB Private Residence — Dressing room — Dressing room

BB Private Residence — Indoor pool — Indoor pool

BB Private Residence — Wine cellar & bar — Wine cellar & bar

BB Private Residence — Entrance hall — Entrance hall

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← Projects

Residential · Beykoz, Istanbul

HB Private Residence

A private house of 750 m² in Acarkent, Beykoz. The plan is organised around the entrance hall and its main stair; a winter garden opens to the garden façade and an indoor pool sits at the lower level. Underfloor heating and full home automation run throughout, with a three-car open garage at the approach.

InteriorConcept design750 m²Beykoz, Istanbul

MaterialsCream lacquerLight oakMarbleBrassLimestone

HB Private Residence — entrance hall and main stair

HB Private Residence — Winter garden — Winter garden

HB Private Residence — Kitchen — Kitchen

HB Private Residence — Master bedroom — Master bedroom

HB Private Residence — Master bathroom — Master bathroom

HB Private Residence — Dressing room — Dressing room

HB Private Residence — Indoor pool — Indoor pool

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← Projects

Residential · Beykoz, Istanbul

AE Private Residence

A private residence in Acarkent, Beykoz, held to a single palette of travertine, lime plaster, and oak. Arched openings link the living spaces and repeat through the bedroom and bathing rooms; a library is set into a window bay, and a Turkish bath sits beneath a star-pierced dome.

InteriorConcept designBeykoz, Istanbul

MaterialsTravertineLime plasterOakBrushed brass

AE Private Residence — entrance hall and stair

AE Private Residence — Living room — Living room

AE Private Residence — Kitchen & dining — Kitchen & dining

AE Private Residence — Master bedroom — Master bedroom

AE Private Residence — Master bathroom — Master bathroom

AE Private Residence — Dressing room — Dressing room

AE Private Residence — Library — Library

AE Private Residence — Turkish bath — Turkish bath

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← Projects

Commercial · Levent, Istanbul

Private Law Firm

A 600 m² law office on an upper floor in Levent. The plan holds the client route — reception, lounge, meeting rooms, and boardroom — clear of the open work floor, so visitors never cross the desks. Dark oak, grey marble, and bronze run through every room, with the city kept in the window line.

Interior600 m²Levent, Istanbul

MaterialsFumed oakPietra GreyBronze

Private Law Firm — Client lounge — Client lounge

Private Law Firm — Managing partner's office — Managing partner's office

Private Law Firm — Partner office — Partner office

Private Law Firm — Private office — Private office

Private Law Firm — Work floor — Work floor

Private Law Firm — Boardroom — Boardroom

Private Law Firm — Meeting room — Meeting room

Private Law Firm — Staff lounge — Staff lounge

Private Law Firm — Kitchen & dining — Kitchen & dining

Private Law Firm — Washrooms — Washrooms

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← Projects

Cultural · Belgrad Forest, Istanbul

Valens Göktürk

A cultural and events complex of 200,000 m² in the Belgrad Forest at Göktürk, north of Istanbul. An open-air amphitheatre sits at the centre of the plan, with a restaurant, event lawns, and stone-and-timber lodges arranged along the forest contours and linked by a single looping drive. Stone, timber, and gabion carry the built work into the landscape.

ArchitectureConcept design200,000 m²Belgrad Forest, Istanbul

MaterialsStoneTimberGabionCortenGlass