Koray Duman, founder of Büro Koray Duman, approaches architecture as a social and cultural practice, using inclusive design to respond to the ecological and communal challenges of the built environment. A queer Muslim immigrant, he centers his work on fostering human connection and cultural exchange.
Beyond his professional life, a more intimate story unfolds at home. On Friday, March 20, he marks Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. Each year, he hosts a large dinner, extending the dining table and welcoming 20 friends from across New York’s design and art community to celebrate together. What follows is his diary of the gathering. Words and photos by Koray Duman.
I’m a gay Muslim immigrant who moved to the United States from Turkey for my graduate studies. I grew up in a secular environment in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Ankara is very close to the home of Rumi, and there is a slightly more mystical way of considering Islam in that part of the country.
Even though we didn’t fast at home growing up, Ramadan was always the month when we spent more time with our loved ones and supported people in need in our community. There was a joyful, peaceful energy, and Eid was a lively dinner, when the larger family gathered at my grandmother’s home.
With my chosen family here in the United States, I have wanted to continue that feeling and that celebration. As an immigrant architect, I think often about the communities we create around us, how they form and how they support us. For me, food and opening one’s home are essential parts of building a community.
My partner and I love cooking and bringing together people we care about from different parts of our lives. Food and intimate conversations are wonderful ways of nurturing our extended communities. We both work across art, culture and design, so many of our friends are connected to these fields: artists, curators, social workers, writers, designers.
We typically host 18 to 20 people at our annual dinner, extending our table with plywood panels. Because we are bringing together people from different circles of our lives, each guest usually knows about a third of the group well and is meeting the others for the first time, which is part of the pleasure. We separate people who know one another well and seat them next to those they do not yet know, making sure there is some overlap of interests. If a friend is shy or quiet, we try to place them next to someone more lively.
We make our place cards with our daughter, who is seven years old and draws something next to each name. It is always a welcome icebreaker when we sit down.
