Steer a million people per day. Beyoglu, Istanbul

The studio will explore global scenarios for Istanbul and offer a concrete intervention to the specificities of a site in a redefined context.The site of the project is located in Beyoglu, one of the densest art, culture and shopping districts of Istanbul. Beyoglu has stood as the significant cosmopolitan venue of Istanbul with its distinctive urban, architectural and social locale. It has been a center for cultural social and commercial center and a link to European culture with its many European embassies. Since 18th century, this is an area where these programs have remained unchanged. Today Istiklal Avenue is a pedestrianized zone where a million people pass by per day. A lot of international investors are accelerating the growth of the area. Total rentable space of Istiklal Avenue is double the bigness of the site.Due to its size and location, the site has the potential to steer the growth of Beyoglu. At our investigations we will look for potentials where context and program accommodate and at the same time interpret, challenge and transform each other. The aim of the studio is twofold: to invent programmatic organizations for the project site with the awareness and interpretation of context and in parallel, to develop formal and spatial strategies for realizing it. The studio is partially sponsored by Demiroren Group in Turkey and the Aga Khan Program at the GSD.