War and conflict are some of the most negative realities faced by humankind. In order to annihilate these negative concepts, peace missions, reconstruction operations and international law have been developed as tools to create stability and peace - and these should be recognized. However, the road to sustainable peace is tough and troublesome. Studio-X Istanbul hosts two different exhibitions to shed light on these concepts. The exhibitions entitled "The Good Cause: The Architect of Peace" and "Vocabulary of Hospitality" is open to visitors until April 24. "The Good Cause: The Architect of Peace" investigates how the process of development and reconstruction should be conducted after a war, via projects undertaken in Afghanistan, Kosovo, South Africa, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine. "The Good Cause: The Architect of Peace" is a multi-partner, collaborative project that was initiated by Amsterdam-based Archis. The Istanbul section of the project is curated by Arjen Oosterman, Lilet Breddels and Saskia van Stein."Vocabulary of Hospitality," which is specific to Istanbul, focuses on another problem caused by war and conflict: Refugees and asylum seekers. The exhibition was conceptualized by Merve Bedir based on Jacques Derrida's texts on hospitality, and features works of Banu Cennetoğlu, the Artıkişler Collective, Abd Nova, Basem Nabhan, Auguy Lufuluabo, Metehan Özcan, Ülkü Oktay, Alican İnal and others.The first version of "The Good Cause" exhibition was created in 2011 for the Canadian Centre of Architecture (CCA) and commissioned by the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI). In December 2013, a selection from the exhibition was screened at the Kimisagara Football for Hope Center in Kigali, Rwanda. The exhibition also includes new sections investigating the theme of peace and a chapter on divided cities in Europe, which was presented at the Architecture Museum in Munich.'The Good Cause'Even before conflict and war come to an end, reconstruction and rebuilding must begin. Refugee camps or centers that are established to conduct and oversee peacemaking processes are good examples of this beginning. But the answer to the questions such as "who is designing," "who are "we" building for," "what should be built" and "who decides" are very complicated. Architecture and urban design are a kind of manifestation of these answers and the reconstruction process. While non-governmental organizations and relief organizations work hard to meet the basic needs of the people they seek to assist, the process of reconstruction is often coordinated and conducted without consulting architects or urban planners. One of the most important points that the exhibition advocates, is that in order to create a stable, peaceful and sustainable situation, spatial intelligence and design expertise should not be overlooked. The case studies that are featured at the exhibition show how some designers avoid potential pitfalls faced by the reconstruction process in some contexts and actually contribute to positive peace. In order to achieve success, some factors such as modesty, sensitivity to context, trust and collaboration play an important role. The project emphasizes "the good cause" and "the architecture of peace," while showing those who want to contribute to peace, ways in which to do it. The aim of the exhibition is to encourage different ways to manage reconstruction processes in a post-conflict zone, since a world without conflict seems to be far from reach.'Vocabulary of Hospitality'This Istanbul-centric section is dedicated to asylum seekers and refugees, and examines them through spatial language. Conceptualized from Derrida's texts on hospitality, the exhibition investigates the cultural, legal and social suggestions of the word "guest" and their traces in the city. The exhibition also attempts to find answers to certain questions such as "when do the guest and the host become strangers to one another," "in which context do they become enemies or hostages of each other" and "how does the guest become visible or invisible."While the "Vocabulary of Hospitality" focuses on the meanings of refugees and asylum seekers, events that have been organized by Yaşar Adnan Adanalı in parallel with the exhibition address migration as an emergency situation, the rights of guests in "foreign" lands and the problematic nature of political and geographical borders and citizenship.About Studio-X IstanbulFounded as an initiative of Columbia University, Istanbul-based Studio-X aims to generate new ways of thinking in order to characterize and solve the problems that Istanbul currently faces and will face in the future. Hence, Studio-X establishes a new platform that enables information exchange between experts, universities, non-governmental organizations and local administrations. Sponsored by Borusan Holding, the Enka Foundation and ATÜ Duty Free, Studio-X works in collaboration with the Turkish office of Columbia Global Centers, which conducts various projects with all Colombia University departments.