Category: Cultural
Type: Cultural Center
Location: İstiklal Ave. Galatasaray, Beyoğlu
Date: 1958-1962 and 2011-2017
Period: Republic of Türkiye
Designer: Paul Schmitthenner, Muhtar Oral / Ertuğ Uçar, Mehmet Kütükçüoğlu
Photos: Cemal Emden
Situated at the heart of Galatasaray Square along the historic İstiklal Avenue, Yapı Kredi Culture and Arts (YKKS) serves as a vertical extension of the urban fabric, designed to break the traditional confinement of street life to the ground floor. As a transformative adaptation of Paul Schmitthener’s 1958 structure, the building preserves its original mass, street-facing facades, and vertical supports to honor collective memory while hollowing out the interior facing the square to create a transparent, public void. This internal “interspace” is connected by a series of ramps that weave together various functions—including a bookstore, museum, gallery, library, and performance hall—allowing visitors to experience the movement of the city from diverse heights and angles. A defining feature of the project is the integration of İlhan Koman’s Akdeniz sculpture, which is positioned to belong simultaneously to the building and the square, fulfilling the architects’ core motivation to merge the urban landscape with the interior cultural experience.
