BEYAZIT STATE LIBRARY
LOCATION: ISTANBUL
CLIENT: REPUBLIC OF TURKEY, MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM / AYDIN DOGAN FOUNDATION
YEAR: 2016 RENOVATION
STATUS: BUILT
TYPE: CULTURE
USABLE AREA: 2,925m²
Mavi Boncuk |
Beyazıt State Library Renovation
Conveying the knowledge and the building into 21st century and beyond
eyazıt State Library is one of the oldest state libraries in İstanbul, founded in 1884 as the “Kütüphane-i Umumi-i Osmani”. The Library can be found in Beyazıt Square adjacent to Beyazıt Mosque built by Sultan Beyazıt II and completed in 1506. Beyazıt Square is today the most vibrant space in the old part of the city. The restoration of the State Library has involved the sensitive reorganization of the interior and careful restoration of the building fabric with its prominent multi-domed roof. A modest extension, respectful of the scale of the existing building has been added to the northeast façade of the existing Library. The area around the State Library is infused with historical connections of a literary nature. The book bazaar, a courtyard on the site of the Byzantine book and paper store, can be found to the south east of the Mosque and can be entered either from Beyazıt Square or from the Grand Bazaar via the Beyazıt Gate. The restoration of the Beyazıt State Library is exemplary. The ‘minimal intervention’ approach ensures the spirit of the place survives while modern facilities are grafted onto the historic fabric.
Beyazıt State Library is one of the oldest libraries, and the first state library in Turkey, founded in 1884. The library is located at the most important public space in the historical peninsula of Istanbul in an environment that has strong ties to literature and history. The exemplary updating and fine-tuning of the State Library involved sensitive re-organization of the interior and careful restoration of the building fabric. The ‘minimal intervention’ approach of the project ensures the spirit of the place survives while modern facilities are grafted onto the historic fabric. The exterior shell is renovated and returned to its original state while the additions enhance the spatial qualities, without suppressing the existing, on the contrary, respectfully aggrandising the inheritance.
Originally the soup kitchen and inn of the Beyazıt Complex, dating back to the 16th Century, the library was in a derelict state with 25.000 rare books and manuscripts within its collection in dire conditions. The project aimed further for environmental betterment, and urban regeneration of the public realm by reviving all the traces and capacities, principally of the complex and of Beyazıt Public Square that is charged with the echoes of the literary connections, from surrounding Istanbul University to the neighboring Booksellers Bazaar and memory of Küllük Kahvesi -gathering place for the intelligentia for many decades. Re-organization of the library introduced a public flow from the square to the backyard through spaces devoted to the display the books and reading rooms grouped around the courtyard. To provide an optimal reading and research atmosphere and a protected archive for the books, and to introduce a contemporary infrastructure for a library as a public space, the authentic aura of the complex were brought to the fore by injecting contrasting but harmonious details to modern facilities.
Utilizing contemporary materials and techniques in harmony with environment, yet different from the original elements of the building the overall attitude of “minimal intervention” is reflected in material level with an approach that is true to the nature of the building’s historicity and values while respecting the spirit of the complex.
Monolithic, transparent black boxes, housing the rare books, stand in stark contrast to its surroundings while at the same time reflecting the original space. Transparency provides visual contact, moreover, the books are accessible yet in a protective envionment. All of the infrastructure and technical needs for a fully functioning library is placed under raised floors, retracted from the historic walls, and following its contours, the lighting design contributes another layer enhancing the perception of depth,.
Hovering above, a light and transparent inflatable membrane covers the courtyard filtering the daylight and providing a controlled atmosphere. Another transparent structure, a glass roof, covers the Byzantine Church that was discovered during the construction, through which it can be observed.
Tabanlıoğlu Architects is established in 1990 by Murat Tabanlıoğlu and his father Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, and Melkan Gürsel (AIA Int.) joined the group as partner in 1995.
İstanbul-based architectural firm, with its long family tradition since 1950, started with Dr. Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, architect of Çankaya Mosque, Erzurum Atatürk University, Atatürk Cultural Center, İstanbul Atatürk Airport and Galleria ‘the first shopping mall of Turkey’. Spanning over six decades, the office demonstrates a professionalism based on rigor and know-how.
Tabanlıoğlu Architects develop innovative, yet efficient and economically viable design alternatives for residential buildings, offices, industrial facilities, shopping malls and transformation projects considering the uniqueness of the “place” and the individuality of “requirements”.
Tabanlıoğlu renders services of projects and counselling in architecture, urban planning, and interior design, in national and international scales.
The practice is currently engaged in major assignments worldwide, from Dakar to Kazakhstan, Ukraine etc., with offices in New York and London. Tabanlıoğlu projects comprise wide range of building types, with various awards including RIBA International in 2011 and 2013. The quantity and quality of projects, awards and publications endorse its solvency.
Searching for new efficiencies in terms of global and environmental needs and developments and respecting resources and existing values, the office aims high to benefit new technologies, envisioning the needs of people of our era of novelties and rapid changes.
Operating mainly in Turkey, MENA and CIS Countries with almost 200 architects, office’s keen to design high-quality urban space that attracts both local and international users/visitors, through projects providing immediate presence at its location as well as making a positive urban impact, targeting betterment, contemporary development and content end-users.
Murat Tabanlıoğlu (RIBA, Chartered Member, Int’l. Assoc. AIA) studied architecture at Vienna Technical University and graduated in 1992. Besides his atelier program at Istanbul Bilgi University, he lectures at universities and various international platforms. In addition to his national and international contributions as a jury member, such as at AIA and WAF, Murat served on the Master Jury for the 2013 Cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. In 2014 he has been granted with the great honor of curating the first Pavilion of Turkey at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. In 2015, he has been the curator of “Port City Talks. Istanbul. Antwerp.” exhibition at MAS Antwerp, as a major event of Europalia 2015 Turkey.
Melkan Gürsel (Int’l. Assoc. AIA) studied architecture at Istanbul Technical University. Following her graduation in 1993, she attended Polytechnic University of Metropolitan Catalonia for her Master of Architecture. She is the partner of Tabanlıoğlu Architects where percentage of women architects rises to almost 60%. Melkan gives lectures at various national and international platforms and serves as jury member at several programs, one of her contributions being RIBA Annie Spink Award for Excellence in Architectural Education. She has co-curated an exhibition at London Design Festival 2015 with French artist Arik Levy. Besides many other awards, Melkan has been selected as one of the “Europe 40 under 40” for 2008 and as “Fifty under Fifty: Innovators of the 21st Century”, in 2015. In 2010, together with Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Melkan selected as “Architect of the Year” by Big Project Middle East Awards.
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