YENIKAPI ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM AND ARCHEO-PARK

Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Year: 2012-2018
Client: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
Architect of Record: Aytaç Arhcitects
Structural Consultant: ARUP

The Yenikapi project, which began as an international invited design competition, required us to organize a 20-hectare site incorporating a new commuter rail station, waterborne transit, and an active archeological site of international significance, as well as to design two museum and research buildings to house the archeological findings. To organize the site we located the museums along the remnants of an excavated ancient port wall. We then developed two types of landscape: sunken gardens and a transit plaza to the south of the buildings, and an active archeological field to the north, which will be variously landscaped as findings allow. Our interest and experience in working simultaneously with buildings and landscapes, or sites, produces a multilayered site that is both efficient and engaging, as well as exciting museum spaces that will serve the 18 million local inhabitants and international tourism.

The first building, Museum A, opposite and parallel to the rail hub, serves also as a gateway to the urban core of the historic peninsula. This building, sited alongside in situ archeological findings, incorporates commuter needs with museum display space in a truly multipurpose facility.