Revolutionary Development for Turkey / RMJM
Internationally recognized practice RMJM Architects have recently announced their groundbreaking $1 billon mixed-use complex for the Atasehir district, the growing residential and business area of Istanbul, Turkey. RMJM’s complex will allow the new business center to flourish by serving 20,000 people and providing for a variety of their needs. The project will be revolutionary for Turkey as it will become the country’s first LEED-certified mixed-use development upon its 2011 completion date.
More images and more about the complex after the break.
Situated on a highly visible site, the 60-storey tower will offer panoramic views stretching from the Bosphorus Strait in the west to the Princes’ Islands and the Sea of Marmara to the south. Custom-built by VARYAP, a Turkish real estate development company, the 372,000-square-meter project will include 1,500 residential units, a five-star hotel, offices and conference facilities with landscaped public areas and parking facilities.
RMJM’S New York and Istanbul offices teamed to create an iconic complex that drew aesthetic inspiration from the cultural context of Istanbul. ”We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to create a landmark community in Istanbul’s up-and-coming financial district,” said Chris Jones, RMJM Design Principal who leads RMJM’s new Istanbul office. “RMJM’s design not only addresses Istanbul’s culture, climate, architectural heritage and cosmopolitan attitude but also sets a new standard for sustainable design for Turkey. Sustainable design is no longer a trend but a necessity and our client VARYAP embraced the idea from the start.”
Active green design features include rainwater collection sites and facilities to optimize water usage and reduce energy consumption, wind turbine technology, cooling water pools that enhance the external landscape and a co-generation plant that will produce electricity for the development.
All images courtesy of RMJM Architects.
It’s great the buildings are “green” for whatever marketing value that ads – but the design just seems so bland and boring. The relationships between the towers, scale, design, etc all seem too common.
“revolutionary”?
Hmm, maiby it is a sustainable design, but actually I don’t like it. And what is so revolutionary in it?
“RMJM’s design not only addresses Istanbul’s culture…”
Istanbul’s culture?
How does it address?
And does it have to adress?
Quote” The project will be revolutionary for Turkey as it will become the country’s first LEED-certified mixed-use development upon its 2011 completion date.”
So what if it is the first LEED building. Last time I checked LEED does not equal revolutionary. This building is just plain bad. Not only is it aesthetically horrendous but it is just another office tower, another object we don’t need but is there to make some rich developer even richer.
This is only iconic of what drove our world into this economic crisis.
oho, well said Lucas Gray! That it the same thing about my country.
Their poor architecture apart, just look where they put St Petersburg:
http://www.rmjm.com/locations/view-location-map/
They must be very sensitive to local cultural context, you can tell!
Quote ”We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to create a landmark community in Istanbul’s up-and-coming financial district,”
I am thrilled too (with horror).
But it’s good, it’s LEED-certified.
what makes LEED certified so revolutionary? Isn’t that the standard now? And isn’t it actually pretty easy to become LEED simply by following the building code? What would be more revolutionary is if it were Energy Neutral! The images remind me of las vegas actually
What a waste of $1 Billion
Poor Istanbul is getting done over! This sort of stuff should be a crime!
i guess an architect has to make a livin somehow, huh
Ok it’s not really fugly. But just another “green BOX” in the making. Sadly Green seem to fast become a grey area.
A bit of this and that and the whole project brings nothing but green to the world?
I wonder if there was actually a chart that would show what the % of green in the total project. I think each building should have a commemoration plaque at the entrance that shows how green and not so green it really is!
Sad, not a glimpse of Turkish influence. Just a building that screams we wanna look as we ARE European. Pray they built it 100% earthquake proof!
8:13 PM Aug 12th
reading: Revolutionary Development for Turkey / RMJM http://bit.ly/1BGhT2
5:57 AM Apr 19th
wow…anyone else think that the pictures of new developments always look breathtaking? http://t.co/crAFHNz via @archdaily
7:12 AM Oct 2nd
Revolutionary Development for Turkey / RMJM http://t.co/aBcpVbIX #architecture