Category: Residential
Type: Apartment, Hotel
Location: Asmalı Mescit, General Yazgan St. Beyoğlu
Date: 1890-1900
Designer: Unknown
Period: Ottoman Empire
Photos: Kemal Olca
Situated in the vibrant Asmalımescit district of Beyoğlu, Casa Foscolo represents a sophisticated multi-disciplinary restoration and adaptive reuse project that transforms a late 19th-century historical asset into a contemporary boutique hotel and cultural hub. Originally known as Çubukçu Han, the building was constructed between 1890 and 1900 as an apartment-hotel for the Venetian maritime company Foscolo Mango & Co. Ltd., and later passed to the German Holstein family, reflecting the cosmopolitan heritage of the area. The design intervention by I-AM adopts a holistic approach that preserves the structure’s neo-classical essence, meticulously restoring original features such as high ceilings, exposed stone walls, a central spiral staircase, and hand-crafted oriental motifs while utilizing sustainable, local materials like marble and brick. The architectural program effectively bridges the building’s past and future by integrating twenty-five guest rooms that nod to its original residential function alongside new public layers, including a bookstore, art gallery, and collaborative workspaces. This revitalization not only honors the layered cultural identity of the “Four-Way Junction” of Beyoğlu through its branding and spatial language but also successfully reintegrates a derelict historical monument into the modern urban fabric as a living destination for social and artistic exchange.
