Derya İyikul

Derya İyikul is an architect, playground worker, and playground inspector.

She completed her bachelor's degree in interior architecture and then her master's degree in architecture at Istanbul Technical University. She has been working at the research-based design office Superpool since 2012 and has been its director since 2021. She has worked on numerous architectural projects and, since 2017, has focused on the evaluation of early childhood play, safe streets, and urban playgrounds. Drawing on her experience and practice in Türkiye, she currently supports the design and implementation processes of natural playgrounds in Ethiopia and Jordan. The "Playground Evaluation Form," developed in her research thesis on playground evaluation criteria in Istanbul, was used as a reference for collecting data on playgrounds in Istanbul as part of the "Istanbul Play Master Plan" prepared by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

She supported the publications "Playground Idea Guide for 0-3 Year Olds," "Mobile Playground Design Guide," and "Playgrounds for Early Childhood: Design and Implementation Guide in Addis Ababa," published by Superpool. As a founding partner of the Nordic Playground Institute Türkiye, he has been actively conducting playground safety audits and providing training on TS/EN1176 Playground Safety Standards since 2022.