Building restoration program shores up Istanbul’s cultural heritage
Istanbul is working to protect its neglected structures while providing arts and culture spaces for the public.
ISTANBUL — Behind a yellow tarpaulin on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue workers are painstakingly restoring a 123-year-old apartment building as part of an ambitious project to revitalize the city’s vibrant architectural heritage.
The Botter Apartmani, designed by Italian architect Raimondo D’Aronco, was the first Art Nouveau building of the Ottoman Empire when it opened at the beginning of the 20th century. In recent decades it has been neglected and allowed to slip into disrepair, its roof crumbling and its walls home to pigeons and stray cats.
