©Emre Dörter
Atatürk Cultural Center opened its doors with its long history to art lovers on October 29, 2021, after a grand renovation. The renovation works of the building, which hosts artistic, and cultural activities, and the intersection of east and west in Istanbul were completed by staying true to the meaningful traces of the past. The remarkable red globe-shaped Opera Hall makes the building more spectacular. In addition, the building will compete in the final category of completed projects at the World Architecture Festival (WAF 2022) will be held in Lisbon.
Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, Image taken from arkitera.com
Original Design
After World War II, in 1946 the governor of the time, instruction was given by Dr. Lütfi Kırdar and the first works of the Istanbul Opera House started in line with the designs of Rüknettin Güney and Feridun Kip. Due to the financial difficulties after the war, could not continue the construction of the project at that time. Ten years after the ordeal, the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement appointed Hayati Tabanlıoğlu and his team to reconsider the project. After the work of Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, "Istanbul Culture Palace" was opened as the fourth largest art structure in the world of it’s during the period in 1969. The fire accident that took place forced the building to suspend its service in 1970. After the fire, renovation works were carried out under the control of Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, and afterward the work, the building was opened and called "Atatürk Cultural Center" in 1978, and it was used again until the 2000s.
©Emre Dörter
©Emre Dörter
Renovation Works
Atatürk Cultural Center, the building now referred to by its abbreviation "Istanbul AKM" creates a link between the past, the future, and the present. The demolition of Istanbul AKM, which was likely to be demolished in 2005, was prevented by the efforts of art lovers, and the building was registered as the 1st group of cultural property in 2007. In 2008, an agreement was signed with Tabanlıoğlu Architecture for the new renovation project. Hayati Tabanlıoğlu’s son Murat Tabanlıoğlu started renovation works with the invitation. After a ten-year hiatus, he received from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2018. Murat Tabanlıoğlu, who has signed many world-famous modern architectural projects, designed the architectural design of Istanbul AKM by preserving the elements that make up the identity of the building. Its modern façade and spiral staircase design, which has a substantial architectural value for the 1960s and present, has been preserved when Istanbul AKM was built.
©Emre Dörter
Art Center has an Opera Hall with a capacity of 204, a Theater with a capacity of 781, a gallery of 410 square meters, and a multi-purpose hall. In addition, the design office, which takes care to use local products in the renovation works, preferred to use DENDRO Parquets for the flooring of the building. DENDRO Parquets was founded in 2004 by ASPEN - Interior Solutions and is located in the 7,500 m² application area of the cultural center with a total project area of 95,000 m². The "Sepera Partition Wall" product, which provides maximum transparency from ASPEN - Interior Solutions products, has played a role in the realization of the modern architecture of Istanbul AKM.
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References:
tabanlioglu.com
