SANTRALISTANBUL CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM

This 7,000 square meter (75,347 square foot) project was completed in 2006 and opened in 2007. The Istanbul Bilgi University developed the idea of renovating the Silahtaraga Power Plant, a typical modern industrial complex built between the early 1900s century and the 1950s, converting it into a museum, and recreational and educational center.

The site is at the end of Golden Horn, a former center of Istanbul that was progressively abandoned and has again come into fashion. The architects studied the history of the power plant and sought to understand the layered construction that transformed the site over the course of its industrial existence. The renovation and conservation scheme was developed on the basis of this history, and included such elements as the role of two large boiler houses long since demolished. According to the architects, “Just like the old buildings, the new structures are composed of a dense and heavy inner core and a light, semitransparent exterior sheathing that covers the core without touching it to the greatest possible extent.” Metal mesh placed over a concrete base was used.*