İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum: A Century-old Multifunctional Marvel

Since it was built and has gone through three periods of life, the İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum can give a nostalgic impression by maintaining its original appearance even though it has undergone a process of demolition, preservation, and construction for shifting functions.

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum by TEGET (cr: Cemal Emden) 

Located on Istiklal Street, one of the pedestrian arteries in the city of Istanbul, Türkiye, the İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum was founded in 1907 as a Baudouy Apartment built by a French merchant, Joseph Baudouy, with the ground floor and first floor as a store. The second period occurred in the 1950s when this building was purchased by İşbank which then functioned as a bank branch office until the 2010s. Its third period as the İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum began when construction by Teğet started in 2015 and was completed in 2023, serving as an exhibition space for the İşbank art collection.

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İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum is Located on Istiklal Street (cr: Cemal Emden) 

The three periods experienced by this building for a century are the main potential in the building revitalization project. It becomes a challenge to preserve the building while renovating it for the needs of a contemporary museum. So the resulting design response is the addition of a core that is anchored directly to the ground which has the functions of service, mechanical, and electrical without changing the original appearance or increasing the weights on the original building.

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum siteplan (cr: TEGET) 

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum Sketch (cr: TEGET) 

The stair located right in the center of the space plan was kept according to the original structure as part of the restoration approach. Likewise, the walls have seven layers of paint, revealing historical layers that have remained preserved despite the various complicated conservation and construction processes, blending the stark differences between the old and new structures. Restoration was also carried out on the facade which had been damaged in the 1950s, then rebuilt based on the original condition, materials, decoration, and patina.

The original stair inside İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum (cr: Cemal Emden)

The original stair inside İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum (cr: Cemal Emden)

The distribution of space on the ground floor includes: museum, shop, bookstore, cafe, multipurpose hall, and foyer. The first floor is for the management office and the upper floors are for the exhibition area. The sixth floor was planned as a restaurant but has not yet been built. The exhibition floors, which are almost identical to each other, are distinguished by gallery spaces connected to the new core building, creating a visual seamlessness between the floors.

The exhibition area inside İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum (cr: Cemal Emden)

The exhibition area inside İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum (cr: Cemal Emden)

The exhibition area inside İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum (cr: Cemal Emden)

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum presents a nostalgic architectural experience with three different functional periods, uniting new and old buildings through revitalization that maintains the ambience and atmosphere of the original building.

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum Ground Floorplan (cr: TEGET) İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum First Floorplan (cr: TEGET) 

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum Second Floorplan (cr: TEGET) 

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum Third Floorplan (cr: TEGET) 

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum Forth Floorplan (cr: TEGET) 

İşbank Painting Sculpture Museum Sixth Floorplan (cr: TEGET)