An Interface of a Neighborhood: Ortaköy (1989-2019)

Erhan İşözen, as both the architect and a primary witness to the “Ortaköy Square and Surroundings Urban Design Project” carried out between 1989 and 1992, recounts the history of the neighborhood, its important buildings, social life, residents, decisions made, design plans, implementations, criticisms, praises, accompanied by archival documents and photographs.

İşözen, describing the period when they started the project as, “I explained, discussed, and shared what I saw, the project, and my ideas with everyone; I tried to create a participatory environment,” summarizes his rationale for preparing the book as follows:

 “... My aim in this book is not merely to describe architectural plans, sections, and elevations in architectural journals and books, or to say ‘I did this, I did that’ regarding physical planning. I also narrated the story of my experiences, using a mixed writing style rather than an academic one, encompassing the history of the neighborhood, its social life, the relationship of the space with the place, and the historical and architectural interpretations. The history of Ortaköy means the history of Istanbul, where different faiths lived in peace and friendship. Mosques, churches, and synagogues stand side by side.

Ortaköy was not designed with a pretentious approach or a formal purpose. This Bosphorus village, with its mosque, pier, plane trees, and fountain, bears the character of a traditional ‘Ottoman Bosphorus village’ with its unique structure belonging to the place. It is not a copy of existing cities or squares. Ortaköy’s impressive history is already its own.

I have seen the squares and streets of many cities in the East and West. I felt the beauty and difficulties of what has been done in different cities. I walked through all these cities. I examined their squares, houses, and historical buildings. I read what was written about the city. Most of all, I wondered about the people who use the city, its shopkeepers, its people; how they use those places, and how they form connections.

If I did not write and tell the background of the project, the relationship between what was done and the place, the story of Ortaköy, future generations and visitors would know Ortaköy, the square, and the neighborhood around it only by what they see today, and they would assume it had always been this way.

The primary goal of this work was to rescue this old neighborhood’s colorful, lively, old, narrow streets, used by different faiths, from being occupied by vehicles and to make it a pedestrianized area. Structures were addressed at the scale of individual buildings, and an effort was made to create an arrangement compatible with the historical fabric of the neighborhood, considering it as a whole. A synthesis of the physical environment and aesthetic concepts was attempted. Solutions were found for the inadequate infrastructure of the neighborhood, and problems with electricity, water, natural gas, and wastewater flowing into the sea.

Ortaköy Square was an environment of art and culture before Istanbul’s fake public spaces were built and shopping malls entered our daily lives. This work was done with the aim of making the people of Ortaköy and those who would come here happy, and it was an effort to improve the social life of the users. For thirty years, nothing has been added to this effort that was correctly integrated...”

The book provides detailed information on the histories and the changes and transformations experienced by structures that give the neighborhood its identity, such as Ortaköy Mosque (Büyük Mecidiye Mosque), Küçük Mecidiye Mosque, Hüsrev Kethüda Hamam, Naime Sultan Mansion, Esma Sultan Mansion, Feriye Police Station, Damat İbrahim Pasha Fountain, Ayios Fokas Greek Orthodox Church, Etz Ahayim Synagogue, Surp Krikor Lusavoriç Church, Simon Kalfa Apartment, Suzan Apartment, and Makbule Hanım Apartment.