Ataturk Cultural Center / Tabanlioglu Architects

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The iconic façade overlooking Taksim square is rebuilt, although using new technologies. While preserving the AKM’s outer image the front prospect reveals the most recognizable element of the new design: the 2040-seat concert hall, which is contained in a large hemispheric element. It is clad in bright red tiles, which were crafted as enlarged versions of the ceramic tiles present in the old AKM. Other elements of the original design have been reproduced or reinterpreted, such as the striking spiral staircase in the main foyer.The new AKM contains a variety of new functions; the expansion spreads on the site of the former parking lot, parallel to Gezi Park. Four blocks of decreasing heights are arranged around a descending sequence of staircases that lead to a secondary piazza, reaching Atatürk Library. Along this axis, “Culture Way”, there is a theatre, a cinema, a library, multipurpose and exhibition halls, a music platform, a children's art-activity center, and cafes. Suspended between the mass of the original AKM and the expansion, creating an entry space at ground level, a rectangular volume- with its wide glass façade, protruding onto the square- hosts an art gallery.Text description provided by the architects.Searching for an answer to the question of “how to handle the architecture of the 60s”- especially those having complex functions like opera, dealing with contemporary art, architecture, and urban understanding simultaneously, the new Ataturk Cultural Center project takes special care to preserve the aesthetic, physical and social values inherited from its predecessor projects. Considering its unique place in the memory of the city and for citizens individually, it would not have been possible to develop the Ataturk Cultural Center as a brand-new project. The cultural center, designed as a 21st-century cultural structure with the idea of reviving Taksim Square, evolves intwo joint fragments. The new design largely maintains the outer appearance and volumes of the previous structure, complementing it with a sweeping expansion.With reference to the mass scale, proportions, and facade design of the previous AKM, the main Opera House - located in lieu of the former Ataturk Cultural Center and preserves its symbolic and urban memory- is developed in the height limits of the former building, with additional structures - articulated along Mete Street and extends towards Ataturk Library andIstanbulTechnical University forming a culture lane which brings together the social, artistic and cultural performance units and secondary functions - efficiently ensure the conditions for the intensive public use of relevant functions, and stimulate the urban flow.