Pelin Alkan
Pelin Alkan
Pelin Alkan is an interior architect specialized in exhibition design. Before joining the UNC Charlotte, she contributed to numerous exhibition design projects for renowned institutions such as Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna and Pera and YapıKredi Museums in Istanbul. Her experience covers a wide range of exhibition types, including contemporary, archival, archaeological, science and nature, and memorial exhibits.
Her master’s thesis explores the display politics of cultural heritage in Turkey, emphasizing the need for a multilayered and dynamic representation of cultural heritage objects. At UNC Charlotte, she led an exhibition design course centered on the Mint Museum’s Ancient Americas collection, where students developed projects that are now showcased on the museum’s website as an online exhibition in connection with their collection.
In addition to her academic work, Pelin is the founder of PelinCeramics Studio. One of her designs is set to be showcased at Isola Design during the 2025 Milan Design Week.
As an instructor, Pelin has taught Interior Design, Furniture Design and Basic Design Studios in various universities such as Bilgi, MEF in Istanbul since 2021. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture from Istanbul Technical University and a Master’s degree in Design from Domus Academy in Italy, where she earned a scholarship.
explore her recent work
Tulip Vase | The Tulip Vase (2023) is a product designed with AI assistance. The generated image is digitally modeled, and 3D printed to create the production mold. The vase has been selected for exhibition at Milan Design Week 2025, Isola Edition.
Ways of Exhibiting | The Ways of Exhibiting course focused on rethinking the design of the Ancient Americas collection at the Mint Museum. Throughout the project, students had opportunities to engage with museum staff. The final review took place at the Mint Museum Randolph, where the collection is housed. The museum is now showcasing the students’ designs in an online exhibition on its website.
Sagalassos | Alkan was part of the Istanbul-based exhibition design group for the Meanwhile in the Mountains: Sagalassos exhibition at Yapı Kredi Cultural Centre, Istanbul, in 2019–2020. Featuring 368 artifacts from the Burdur Archaeology Museum, it was a collaboration between Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, KU Leuven University, and others, highlighting Sagalassos, a well-preserved ancient city on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List.