Grimshaw Architects

Arter Museum

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

ARTER MUSEUM

Grimshaw

ARCHITECTS
Grimshaw

DESIGN TEAM
Turgut Alton Mimarlik

CLIENT
Vehbi Koç Foundation

CONTRACTORS
Ark Insaat, Metal Yapi, Fibrobeton

MANUFACTURERS
Dinesen, Fibrobeton, Microstation, Robert Mcneel & Associates

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Kirsten Lees, Managing Partner Of Grimshaw’s London Studio

CONSULTANTS
Entegre

ENGINEERING
A-teknik, Enmar, Dinamik, Thornton Tomasetti, Max Fordham, Neill Woodger, Thornton Tomasett

PHOTOGRAPHS
Quintin Lake

AREA
17050 m²

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Istanbul, Turkey

CATEGORY
Theaters & Performance, Cultural Center

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

Text description provided by architect.

A subsidiary of Turkey’s philanthropic Vehbi Koç Foundation, Arter is a vibrant cultural hub that brings together artists and audiences to celebrate contemporary art in all its forms and disciplines.

Conceived as a dynamic multi-layered, interdisciplinary public building for showcasing artistic works, it offers a rich cultural programme to stimulate and challenge its audience.

Grimshaw won the design competition in 2012, following which it led a multi-disciplinary team to address the scale, complexity and aspiration of the design and build process, including Istanbul’s Turgut Alton Architects and other local consultants, specialists and contractors.

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

Articulating Vehbi Koç’s vision for social responsibility, the design hinges around spaces designed to promote access for everyone, both within and around the museum.

Derived from concepts of transparency and fluidity, inspiring and adaptive public spaces are at its heart, with carefully positioned large picture windows used as a way of opening the building to the street and connecting the gallery to the city.

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

This connectivity provides continuous links between Istanbul, the museum and its art, while still fulfilling the functional requirements of gallery spaces in protecting the large internal gallery volumes from natural light.

A triple height entrance gallery forges a visual and physical public route through the centre of the museum, connecting Dolapdere street with the park to the rear, making the building effectively face both ways, accessible and welcoming to all.

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

This internal street negotiates the steep level change across the site and is the main organising element of the building.

Below ground two performance halls occupy the lower levels accommodating programmes of film and performing arts, as well as conferences and panel discussions.

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

The Sevgi Gönül Auditorium’s telescopic seating system gives a capacity of 168, while the ‘blackbox’ Karbon theatre has a flexible seating structure for up to 332, as well as state-of-the-art lighting, sound and technical capabilities. A library offers visitors the opportunity for further research, while retail and catering facilities provide relief and relaxation.

The building’s galleries range in scale and volume, with interlocking double height spaces offering a multitude of flexible configurations and capacities for its diverse artistic programmes. Views and connectivity between exhibition areas provide natural wayfinding and orientation.

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

Learning spaces overlook each of the main galleries, allowing discovery and interpretation programmes to remain connected to the exhibitions. These spaces straddle the double-height galleries to reach the outer edge of the building and define the punctuated picture windows that give expression to the façade.

The main volume of the building that houses the exhibition galleries is articulated externally through subtle chamfering of the façade, adding plasticity to the blank façades typical of gallery building typology.

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake
Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake

3D convex and concave rhomboid-shaped panels create a dramatic and inviting envelope and reflect the sun as it moves across the museum throughout the day.

The rich palette of changing light and shadow animates the building in an exciting and dynamic way, providing an engaging and contemporary reinterpretation of Istanbul’s historic mosaic façade.

Arter Museum
© Quintin Lake


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Arter Museum
Plan
Arter Museum
Level 02 Plan
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Level 02 Plan
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Level 03 Plan
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Level 04 Plan
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Level 06 Plan


Arter Museum
Arter Museum
Arter Museum
Arter Museum
Arter Museum

Grimshaw Architects
T +61 3 93212600
Grimshaw Architects
21 Bouverie St, Melbourne VIC 3053, Australia