Gokhan Avcioglu completed his education in 1983 at the Faculty of Architecture at Konya Selçuk University. Following this, he founded GAD Architecture and GAD Foundation, shaping the field of architecture with an innovative approach. With over 40 years of experience, Avcioglu develops thoughts on architectural heritage, spatial design, current needs, and even life on other planets, regularly sharing them through various platforms.
In 1994, he established Global Architectural Development (GAD Architecture) in Istanbul, where he undertook over 350 projects in various functions and stages, with a significant portion of them being constructed. His projects include office buildings, and public and commercial spaces, as well as master planning projects in Istanbul, Bodrum, New York, Dubai, Riyadh, Erbil, and Tashkent. Among his globally acclaimed award-winning projects are Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bodrum, Susona Beach Resort & Spa Bodrum, Swiss Hotel Resort Bodrum, Kuum Hotel Bodrum, Divan Kurucesme, Trump Cadde, AHK Kundu Villas, Media City, Tasigo Spa Thermal Hotel Eskisehir, Borusan Music House, and One & Ortaköy.
In addition to the prestigious Aga Khan Award for the Kadıköy Public Park Facilities project, Avcioglu has received numerous awards, including the WAFX Smart Cities Award, American Architecture Award, AR Future Awards, Jeu d’Esprit Award, WAF 2022 (World Architecture Festival), Future and Built Projects Category Shortlisted, Divan Kuruçeşme WAF 2022 Future and built projects category shortlisted Cappadocıa Spa Hotel, International Architecture Awards 2023, WAF 2023 (World Architecture Festival), Future Projects Masterplan Category Shortlisted, Architecture MasterPrize, German Iconic Awards and Green Good Design 2024 and 2025, WAF 2025 (World Architecture Festival), WAF Future Projects - Residential, WAF Completed Buildings - House and Villa (Urban) and Best Use of Stone PrizeShortlisted,
In 2013, the GAD Foundation was established to promote a better understanding of the environment for architecture and construction. GAD’s publication Less or More, authored by Gokhan Avcioglu and his collaborators, was released in March 2022 and contains more than six hundred pages of ideas and projects from GAD and Avcioglu's theories on architecture.
Avcıoglu and GAD's projects have been extensively exhibited at the Minima Art Gallery in Philadelphia, the Miami Biennial, the Architecture Museum in Rotterdam, and the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Objects designed by Gökhan Avcıoglu in April 2009 were exhibited at the Blok Exhibition in Milan, and GAD's work was exhibited in Los Angeles in 2010. Selected projects have been showcased at special design weeks such as the Prague Design Week and the Istanbul Design Week, and the One & Ortaköy project was exhibited at the Chicago Athenaeum Museum in 2012.
He has also been involved in teaching at École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul Technical University, Middle East Technical University, Bilgi University, and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design University of Pennsylvania. GAD - Global Architectural Development has been recognized as one of the top 100 architecture firms globally by Archello.
Avcioglu is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and the Chamber of Architects of Turkey (TMMOB), TSMD, TTYD and Turkish Architects Federation and GYODER. He has offices in Istanbul, New York, and Lisbon.
