IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluVisited Beyoğlu Cinema, Muammer Karaca Theatre, Botter Apartment and Metro Han, which were restored by İBB Heritage teams to add value to Istiklal Street, with journalists. After the completion of the works, Beyoğlu will regain its old artistic days…
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğlumade a tour of Istiklal Street with journalists. He examined the works in Beyoğlu Cinema, Muammer Karaca Theatre, Botter Apartment and Metro Han, which are historical places that IMM Heritage teams will restore and bring back to Istanbul, together with journalists.
THE HISTORY OF BEYOĞLU CINEMA
Beyoğlu Cinema is based on the Pera Circus, which was originally built in wood at the back of the Aleppo Passage. After the fire in 1904, this building took the form of the first theater building with the intervention of Architect Campanaki. The building, which was renamed “Varyete Theatre” in 1906, “French Theatre” in the Republican Period, “Voice Cinema and Theater” in 1942, and “Dormen Theater” after being overhauled in 1963, was completely transformed into a movie theater in 1972. . The building underwent a major repair in 1984, with the condition that only the front of the passage was preserved. In 1989, the 300-seat Beyoğlu Cinema, in accordance with Western standards, was put into service on the lower floor of the inn. Thus, the building has become a place that contributes to the cultural and artistic life of Beyoğlu. In 1990, the first season after its opening, Beyoğlu Cinema became one of the screening halls of the Istanbul International Film Festival. The first cinema company from Turkey to be accepted as a member of Eurimages European Cinema, which was established under the umbrella of the European Union in 1994.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
Beyoğlu Cinema will be rented by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) and will continue to be one of the iconic venues of Beyoğlu's memory, which will continue throughout Istiklal. After the studies, it will continue its feature of cinema.
“BEYOĞLU CINEMA IS A GREAT CULTURAL RICHNESS”
Stating that Beyoğlu Cinema is a very valuable structure, İBB President Ekrem İmamoğlu“First of all, when you look at many points of Istanbul, when you look at the past and lift the curtain, you can feel and live with how rich it is. This is an area with a history going back to the beginning of the 20th century, and since then; Beyoğlu Cinema is a place that has experienced name changes, fires, closures, openings and so on, but above all, it has accumulated tremendous memories. Of course, we pay attention to such points, but we make sacrifices by producing corporate but moral but some sponsorships, and we know that such areas will add morale and morale to the society beyond measure. In that sense, with these steps we have taken, we will actually make a tour of Beyoğlu today. We will take a tour of Istiklal Street. One of them is Beyoğlu Cinema. We will soon see the Botter Apartment, a fashion center with a story of more than 20 years, going back to the beginning of the 120th century, and we will actually feel what an important history it has, that Istanbul is actually a fashion center in a way. Then we can tell about Metrohan. We will go to the Muammer Karaca Theater, where unfortunately there were many boards and similar problems related to its production for many years. We overcame these and started our construction by describing the relations with the neighboring Consulates there in the best possible way. And frankly, we want to bring Muammer Karaca to life within a year. Metrohan is a separate wealth. We are talking about a magnificent steel structure standing on top of a tunnel on a subway that we can call the second oldest subway in the world, and we will turn this place into a cultural space," he said.
“WE WANT BEYOĞLU TO BE THE REGION REMEMBERED WITH FREEDOM, MEETINGS, CULTURE AND ART, NOT OTHER RECIPES”
Stating that they want Beyoğlu to be remembered with art, meeting and culture, not with bad events, İmamoğlu said, “I will share all this with you and the public in a more holistic manner at a meeting on November 29, in order to explain Beyoğlu's strategy and reveal Beyoğlu's vision. We'll meet at the Sound Theatre. In fact, maybe we will have the opportunity to announce more strongly what we think and what we want to do about Ses Theater at that time, everybody already knows what it means to us all together, but we will share it with the public there. I'm not going to say anything about Ses Theater in advance, but let's express our determination to show what a strong will. When the day comes, I would like to set it up with more correct sentences. Istiklal Street, Beyoğlu, Pera, in my opinion, is the oldest free zone trade area in the world. In this area, which we describe as Suriçi, which Istanbul has built within itself as the city of empires, or which we can think of as another side of the part that currently forms the borders of the Fatih district, social life, social life, there is a state fiction, state structure, but social life, cultural life in this region, too. life, commerce, art, he has accumulated tremendous memories in many areas. It is an important point of a city with thousands of years of history. Today, we very much want İstiklal Street or Beyoğlu to be a region that is not known by other definitions but by freedoms, meetings, culture and art. I share my every step with you regarding this," he said.
“IMM PREVENTED BEYOĞLU CINEMA TO BE CLOSED”
Speaking about Beyoğlu Cinema, IMM Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat said, “We started to work to prevent this area from disappearing with the instruction of our President. As of today, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has prevented the closure of the Beyoğlu Cinema, and with a model that will be a supporter of culture and art as a new operator, the Beyoğlu Cinema on Istiklal Street in Taksim, keeping the name of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Beyoğlu Cinema, continues as a cinema house for screenings and meetings. , develop culturally side by side. He prevented it from closing with a project that he would consider to host," he said.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MUAMMER KARACA
Muammer Karaca (1906-1978), one of the leading figures of the boulevard theater, is a theater and film actor, theater director and theater manager. He joined the Muhsin Ertuğrul and Friends group in 1924, and started to work in the city theaters in the same year. The artist, who worked at the City Theaters until 1942, founded his own troupe in 1945 under the name of “Karaca Opereti” and appeared before the audience in different buildings in Beyoğlu. After 1955, he founded the Karaca Theater in the French Dilemma and continued his artistic life in this theater until his death, with some of the plays he directed.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
Within the scope of the project, which was prepared considering the needs of the building, which hosts the most important theater artists of the country, and its original sections dating back to the 19th century:
It was decided to demolish and reconstruct the reinforced concrete section, which is at risk of collapse in a possible Istanbul earthquake. Instead of the existing rectangular stage, a new generation stage with contemporary architectural features, reflecting international standards with its seating arrangement and stage viewing angle, was designed. The audience capacity of the hall was increased to reach 168 people in total, with a 43-seat parter and 211-person balcony. The rotating stage, which can move horizontally and vertically, and the orchestra pit that can move up and down, were meticulously studied. It was decided to preserve the existing acoustic ceiling panels under the consultancy of expert artists and technicians. The historical vaulted space was planned to serve as an exhibition space. After the works, which are aimed to be completed in a way that will preserve the relationship of the historical building with Istiklal Street and the interior setup as it is in the memory of the city, Muammer Karaca Theater will open the curtain to the culture and art life of Istanbul as a meeting stop that lives 7/24.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BOTTER APARTMENT
It bears the signature of the Palace architect, Italian Raimondo D'Aronco, in the early 1900s. It stands out as the first Ottoman building in the Art Nouveau style. The building, which is dated to 1900-1901 and known as “Casa Botter”, was built by the sultan of the period II. It was built for the official tailor of the palace, Jean Botter, at the request of Abdülhamid. The city's first fashion house, Botter Modaevi, which brings the inspirations of European fashion to Pera, is also opening here. The Botter Apartment sheds light on its period, as it is a building that reflects the apartment building process that started in the Beyoğlu and Galata regions with the effect of Westernization. Since it was built on a narrow and long plot, the building was constructed in the form of a long and trapezoidal rectangle, adjoining. After the building was built, it became one of the most popular buildings in Pera and a center of attraction with the Lebon and Markiz patisseries nearby.
IT WAS THE FASHION CENTER OF EUROPE
European fashion was introduced to the wealthy of Istanbul with fashion shows held here. A mezzanine floor, which is accessed by a pair of stairs on the store floor and used for fashion shows, has not survived since it was removed in 1960 when the apartment building was turned into a bank branch. The front of the first floor is a large hall, the back is to the assistant tailors' rooms; the upper floors were reserved for members of the Botter family. The balcony on the first floor, which also serves as a lamp, is decorated with flower-like motifs, was carried to the front with four pillars and was supported by two iron furrows from below. Balcony railings with floral motifs, carrier posts, furrows and lamps are the architect's own unique designs. The Botter Family, who was in great pain when their young son, who went on a trip to Paris, died by getting sick, immigrated to Paris and built the building after II. He was the Minister of the Navy during the reign of Abdülhamid and sold it to Mahmut Nedim Efendi, the son of the captain of the sea, Osman Pasha. When Nedim Bey died at a young age in 1939, his wife Zeynep (Ovayar) rented the lower floors to be used as offices by various commercial establishments. During this period, poet Ferit Edgü rented and restored the third floor of the building for the advertising agency he founded, and used it as a residence after the agency moved. After Zeynep Hanım's death, the building, which was left unclaimed, was confiscated by the Treasury. The building fell into disrepair as a result of the legal process that started after the second degree heirs claimed and lasted for years. In 2007, Zeynep Ovyar's nephews took over the Botter Apartment from the Treasury.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT BOTTER APARTMENT?
Representing one of the unique pieces of the Beyoğlu treasury with its history, story and spirit, Botter Apartments recalled its glittering days in 2021 with the meticulous hand of İBB Heritage's facade conservation. The historical building will meet the transformative power of culture and art, and in Istanbul, titled UNESCO City of Design, it will become the “Casa Botter Art and Design Center” that inspires the whole city. Botter Apartment, which will break the silence with the excitement of meetings, events and screenings in the new period, is on the ground floor and first floor, which is planned to be completed as a priority in the restoration:
*Showroom,
*Impression Center,
*Istanbul Documenter Film Archive,
* Information Document Center, Conference Hall,
*Design Workshop,
*Design Office Open Space,
*Artist Design Hub Open Space
*It will host different event areas such as the Artist Hub.
-The additional structure in its garden will host the people of Istanbul as the Cafe and the outbuilding as the Design House.
Along with the restoration, Botter Apartments will be opened to the visitors of the city with the "open construction site principle", just like the Land Walls, Bukoleon Palace, Anadolu-Rumeli Fortress and Sen Pierre Han.
THE PASSAGE INTO THE CITY MEMORY 'METROHAN'
Eugene Henri Gavand, a Frenchman named Eugene Henri Gavand, realized that in Istanbul, where he came as a tourist in the early 1860s, hundreds of people had to risk a steep and tiring slope to commute between Beyoğlu and Karaköy every day. Thereupon, he started working to connect the two ends of this sloping road underground. His dream was an underground railway project with two stations moving on rails… Henri Gavand, the project and construction engineer of the Tünel, presented his dream to the sultan of the time, Abdülaziz, and the Tünel Metro began to serve the residents of Istanbul in 1875, shortly after. In a way, the Tunnel Line, which removed the difference in elevation between Galata and Pera, was recorded as a first that will not be erased from the memory of the city, and also played an important role in the transformation of the city and social life, accelerating the modernization of the Ottoman Empire.
The building, whose upper floors were considered as a hotel in Gavand's project, took its place in its current location as Metrohan (Tünel Han). Opened for use in 1914, Metrohan has the Istanbul Tunnel on the ground floor and office units on the upper floors.
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