Türkiye, the museum of contemporary art designed by Renzo Piano inaugurated

2023-06-05 09:11:00

The Istanbul museum designed by Renzo Piano

Turkey, the museum of contemporary art designed by Renzo Piano inaugurated: five floors and over 10,000 square meters on the Bosphorus

A new museum, indeed a new headquarters for the Istanbul Modernwhich replaces the previous one opened in 2004. And that was it designed by the Renzo Piano Workshop Building studio: an imposing five-story building for a total of over 10,000 square meters overlooking the Bosphorus.

The new headquarters was inaugurated last May 4th in full swing election campaign, and immediately became a multipurpose cultural center for the daily life of the Turks, complete with a library, restaurant, bookshop and breathtaking panoramic terrace on the Bosphorus, attracting countless tourists. Large windows, iron rods and rough concrete do not disturb the sacredness of the surrounding minarets: we are in European Istanbul, in the “Golden Horn”, where the Marmara, Black and Mediterranean seas cross. Inside, the atmosphere is muffled and leaves no room for the muezzin’s singing, nor for the chaos of Istanbul’s perennial traffic. Once you cross the threshold, you find yourself in one of the most sober museums in the world, where several white rooms follow one another like a labyrinth.

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The idea of ​​refounding the old museum for contemporary art was born in 1987, during the first Istanbul International Biennial (now in its 17th edition in 2022): an institution that has strongly contributed to the already present dynamism of a centenary culture, for centuries in dialogue with the Western tradition, balancing with the arabic middle eastern culture.
Located in the Beyoğlu district, in the Galataport complex, the museum experienced (before its current location) various vicissitudes, between textile and industrial warehouses, to find local sponsors and works that would become part of the permanent collection.
As the Turkish people witnessed the country’s accession negotiations to the European Union, the construction of the museum on an 8000 square meter site, owned by the Turkish Maritime Organization, appeared in 2004 as yet another approach to the rest of the world.

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