Istanbul Guide

201

Recent architecture in the city can hardly be called inspiring. One building of note is Kanyon, a mixed residential, office and shopping development in Levent, designed by the LA-based Jerde Partner ship with local architects Tabanlıoğlu Partnership. The nearby Loft Gardens residential complex and İstanbul Sapphire tower, both by Tabanlıoğlu Partnership, are also impressive, as is the terraced plaza and underground car park in Şişhane by Şanal Architecture. Nota ble contemporary religious buildings are few and far between, with the only exceptions being the extraordinary Sancaklar Mosque in Büyükçekmece outside the city, which was designed by Emre Aro lat; and the sleek Şakirin Mosque in Üsküdar by Hüsrev Tayla and Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu. Many art museums and cultural centres around town feature im pressive new wings or inspired architectural conversions of indus trial or commercial spaces. The best of these are İstanbul Modern, by Tabanlıoğlu Partnership; SALT Galata, by Mimarlar Tasarım; the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, by Savaş, Erkel and Çırakoğlu; the İstanbul Naval Museum in Beşiktaş, by Mehmet Kütükçüoğlu; and santralis tanbul in Sütluce on the Golden Horn, by Emre Arolat, Nevzat Sayın and Han Tümertekin. Tabanlıoğlu Partnership’s Beyazıt State Library restoration and Emre Arolat’s Eyüp Cultural Centre and Marriage Hall are also noteworthy. At the time of writing, a number of projects by high-profile in ternational firms were on the drawing board or in the first stages of construction. These included the city’s new airport designed by Grimshaw Architects with Haptic Architects, which features a tulip shaped traffic control tower.

Architecture Ottoman Revivalism & Modernism

Nevzat Erol’s 1953 İstanbul Belediye Sarayı (İstanbul City Hall), located opposite the Şehzade Mehmet Mosque on Şehzadebaşı Caddesi in Fatih, was the first International Style building in the city.