22 Creative Street Installations By “OK Labs” That Turn Ordinary Urban Spaces Into Art

Locations Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey and Allerweltshaus, Cologne, Germany

Description: “We turned Rick and Morty’s iconic portal into a street installation connecting two different cities. The journey began on a wall in Istanbul, where the characters appeared to be disappearing into the portal, and continued all the way in Cologne, Germany - as if they had actually travelled from one city to another. A small piece of pop culture became our playful way of building a bridge between Istanbul and Cologne.”

Location: Bomonti, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “Balat is full of old walls, cracks, gaps and architectural details that already seem to tell their own stories. During our Urban Hacking Workshop, we used these small imperfections as starting points, adding playful forms that appear to emerge from, disappear into or become part of the walls themselves. Instead of covering the city’s irregularities, we wanted to make them part of the design.”

Location: Osmanbey, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “What happens when Bart Simpson finds his way out of Springfield and into the streets of Istanbul? During one of our Urban Hacking Workshops, we used the city itself as the starting point for a playful intervention, turning an everyday urban detail into a little scene that feels like it escaped from a cartoon. For us, urban hacking is often exactly that: seeing something ordinary and imagining what else it could become.”

Location: Cem Sokak, Moda, Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “Inspired by the nostalgia of growing up in the ’90s, we brought Super Mario out of the screen and into the streets of Moda, Istanbul. A 3D-printed Mario was combined with a laser-cut and hand-painted pipe, transforming an ordinary wall on Cem Street into a small, playful urban surprise. The installation is part of our ongoing practice of using pop culture, design, and street interventions to create new connections between people and the city.”

Location: Bebek Park, Istanbul

Description: “Instead of treating an electrical box as something that simply had to disappear into the background, we turned it into part of the playground. Using 3D-printed elements and color, an ordinary piece of urban infrastructure became a small character-filled surprise in Istanbul’s Bebek Park — proof that even the most overlooked objects in a city can join the fun.”

Location: Kadıkoy, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “A familiar character from the world of Street Fighter escaped the screen and became part of the city for this playful street intervention. By placing a piece of video-game culture into an unexpected urban context, the installation transforms an ordinary street detail into a small visual joke for anyone who recognizes it.”

Location: Sıraselviler St., Beyoglu, Istanbul

Description: “What if repairing a damaged city surface could feel like adding a new level to a video game? For this intervention, discarded and surplus ceramic pieces were arranged in a pixel-art language inspired by ’90s gaming, turning a worn urban surface into a Super Mario scene. Instead of hiding the imperfections of the city, the repair makes them part of the story. Mario produced by 3D printing.”

Location: Balat, Fatih, Instanbul

Description: “A small opening in the city became our gateway to something much bigger. We placed an octopus tentacle emerging from an urban gap, suggesting that an entire creature might be hiding somewhere behind the wall. The piece turned a forgotten little void into the beginning of a story, with the rest left completely to the imagination.”

Location: Kalfaoğlu Street, Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “We brought The Little Prince into the streets of Kadıköy as a small invitation to slow down and look at the city with a little more curiosity. Inspired by the story’s themes of friendship, belonging, and seeing beyond the obvious, the installation transforms an everyday wall into a quiet encounter with one of literature’s most timeless characters.”

Location: Kartal St. Beyoglu Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “We gave one of art history’s most serious faces a slightly less serious moment. By adding an oversized bubble-gum detail to David, the intervention creates a playful collision between classical sculpture and contemporary street culture - the kind of visual joke that only really works when you unexpectedly meet it in public space.”

Location: Bomonti, Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “Balat is full of old walls, cracks, gaps and architectural details that already seem to tell their own stories. During our Urban Hacking Workshop, we used these small imperfections as starting points, adding playful forms that appear to emerge from, disappear into or become part of the walls themselves. Instead of covering the city’s irregularities, we wanted to make them part of the design.”

Location: Balat, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “During our Urban Hacking Workshop in Balat, we found a bricked-up opening on an old building and imagined that something might be hiding behind it. The answer was a gorilla peeking out at passersby, turning an architectural leftover into one of the neighborhood’s strangest new residents. The intervention was developed collectively with workshop participants after exploring Balat and looking for overlooked urban details to transform.”

Location: Kadıköy Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Kadıköy, Istanbul

Description: “For World Children’s Day, we created an installation using 43 school bags to talk about something much bigger than the objects themselves: every child’s right to education. Installed at a public high school in Kadıköy, the bags became symbols of dreams, opportunities, and the transformative power that access to education can have in a child’s life.”

Location: Bomonti, Sisli, Instanbul, Turkey

Description: “Buzz Lightyear finally made it to infinity - although this time, he landed in the streets of Istanbul. Inspired by the world of Toy Story, we created a 3D-printed Buzz Lightyear installation that turns an ordinary urban surface into a small moment of childhood imagination. Each piece was individually produced, assembled, and painted before taking its place in Bomonti.”

Location: Heinrichplatz, Berlin, Germany

Description: “We scattered a few familiar faces across Berlin and turned the city into a small pop-culture treasure hunt. Sonic and Snoopy were placed in different locations, each designed around the specific urban detail it landed on — so a park or street fixture could suddenly become part of their world. The series uses collective nostalgia as a way to gamify the city and make everyday routes feel a little less predictable.”

Location: multiple streets across Instabul

Description: “As part of the LEGO Space Installation Project, we transformed ordinary urban details into playful scenes inspired by space, imagination, and building. Using 3D-printed elements and site-specific interventions, the project brought a small piece of the LEGO universe into the streets of Istanbul and invited people to see familiar places with a more curious eye.”

Location: Waldemarstraße, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany

Description: “Apparently, one portal between Istanbul and Cologne wasn’t enough. We opened another one in Kreuzberg, bringing Rick and Morty’s interdimensional adventures to the streets of Berlin and continuing a story that had already travelled across cities and countries. At this point, even we’re not quite sure where they’ll show up next.”

Location: Balat, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “A utility box probably isn’t the first place you’d expect to spot wildlife in Istanbul. During our Balat Urban Hacking Workshop, we transformed an ordinary gas box into a zebra, using its existing shape as part of the joke rather than trying to hide it. It’s a simple example of how we like to read the city: not just for what things are, but for what they could become.”

Location: Bomonti, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “Even Michelangelo’s David can use a change of scenery every once in a while. For this intervention, the familiar classical figure left the museum pedestal behind and became part of an unexpected street composition - mixing art history with the everyday visual language of the city. It’s the kind of encounter that makes you look twice.”

Location: MotionLab, Alt-Treptow, Berlin, Germany

Description: “For MotionLab Berlin’s Hardtech Innovation Demo Day, we created a large sculptural totem built piece by piece through digital fabrication and hands-on making. The installation combines more than twenty 3D-printed elements with repurposed materials, including components made from discarded bicycle tires, turning the object into a celebration of experimentation, collaborative production and Berlin’s maker culture.”

Location: Theodor-Wolff Park, Berlin, Germany

Description: “We scattered a few familiar faces across Berlin and turned the city into a small pop-culture treasure hunt. Sonic and Snoopy were placed in different locations, each designed around the specific urban detail it landed on — so a park or street fixture could suddenly become part of their world. The series uses collective nostalgia as a way to gamify the city and make everyday routes feel a little less predictable.”

Location: Moda Bostani St. Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey

Description: “Sometimes all a blank wall needs is a pair of eyes. For this series, we placed playful eye forms onto overlooked gaps and surfaces, instantly turning anonymous pieces of the city into little characters that seemed to stare back at people walking past. Once you start seeing faces in the city, it becomes surprisingly difficult to stop.”