Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Year: 2006

The Maslak section of Istanbul is currently experiencing significant real estate development & expansion. This 100+ meter tower designed for prevalently residential use will be an important addition to an area in which skyscrapers are already a reality. The site is unique in its configuration: a narrow opening onto one of the principal arteries of the city offers a visible and deep lot which has inspired the design of a curvilinear blade directing skyward.
Two façades of the tower are in limestone, while the remaining two will be glass curtain-walls characterized by aluminum profiles that reinforce the verticality of the structure. Visible on two sides from the main road linking downtown to this new center, the transparent façades will be luminous day and night. They will extend beyond the last floor by several meters, ‘dematerializing’ the structure as it reaches upward. A break in the visual continuity seduces the eye, gives breathing space to the composition, and provides a dramatic two-story, floor-through, open terrace at the conceptual intersection of the arterial axes.