From the street much of Istanbul
appears to be crumbling. Paint and plaster has peeled away to expose the brickwork of the once grand
fin-de-siècle Ottoman mansions that line the steep cobbled lanes of Istanbul’s Çukurcuma and Cihangir
neighbourhoods. It’s a sight that is stirring and atmospheric. Yet behind these doors, with burnished brass
knockers and fogged-up peepholes, the most exciting design revolution in Europe is taking
place.
I squeak open an anonymous door
in a back street in Çukurcuma. A bold chandelier hangs above the original tiles of this mansion built in
1850. A grand staircase, made from imported Italian marble, rises up four floors, past the rooms and suites,
to the lounge of the recently opened House Hotel. Two Chesterfield sofas huddle around a log fire, the same
chandelier hangs above a wooden mid-century-style coffee table, and marble tables attended by wicker chairs
sit off towards the bar. It’s an incongruous mix that hangs fabulously well together: Ottoman opulence with
mid-century modern cleanliness. As any discerning visitor to Istanbul will spot, the designer is
unequivocally Autoban.
Despite winning the Wallpaper*
Best Young Designer award as recently as 2004 (there have been dozens of awards since), it’s hard to imagine
a design firm that has stamped a signature so unmistakably on a city. So much so, many of the new bars and
hotels in Istanbul are now inspired by Autoban’s style.
The place where Autoban’s vision
is most successful is in the House Café mini-chain. Across Istanbul there are 11 House Cafés, each stunningly
designed. They are not based on the cookie-cutter Starbucks model, but each is sensitively fitted to its
surroundings: An Ottoman townhouse, a waterfront yalı (mansion), a new shopping mall. Autoban designs almost
every element from the light fittings to the tables.
“The House Café is the project
we are most proud of,” Seyhan Özdemir, joint founder of Autoban, tells Lifestyler. “They let us do what we want and we can
experiment with new designs in the House Cafés.”
From humble beginnings in an old
apartment in 2002, the House Café — and with it the international popularity of Autoban — grew. It was the
first time the “latte and laptop” crowd had somewhere to work while lingering over a good coffee, eat a
healthy lunch or indulge in an interesting cocktail. Previously, it was only the male-dominated Turkish
teahouses that provided a place to relax. Today, Istanbul is full of stylish cafés, five-star hotels, funky
bars and restaurants. Istanbul is hurtling into the future.
On my first day in Istanbul, I
climb up to Leb-i derya, a bar and restaurant at the top of the Richmond Hotel. From a balcony high above the
labyrinthine streets of Istanbul, the city’s skyline appears much as it would have a half-millennium ago.
Hagia Sofia, dedicated by the Roman Emperor Justinian in AD 537, and Süleymaniye Mosque, designed by master
architect Mimar Sinan and completed in 1557, dominate the vista with domes and minarets. The deep blue
Bosphorus teems with boats, tankers, cruise ships, sailboats, yachts and ferries of all sizes as it has done
throughout the long, turbulent history of this city. The view is almost overwhelming.
Yet imaginings of Roman
marauders and wealthy Ottomans, not to mention the Persians, Avars, Arabs, Bulgars, Russians and British, all
of whom at one time or another have marched on the city, are soon dissipated as a basil martini and a plate
of “pancetta & chard sea bass fillet with truffle-scented potato puree and celery foam” are placed before
me. I’m thrown back into the 21st century. Leb-i derya Richmond is one of Istanbul’s hippest nightspots and
in a city of fabulous panoramas, it probably can boast the finest.
As the sun sets over the more
traditional Asian shore, the European side of Istanbul is waking up. Finishing up the martini, I wander out
onto Istiklal Caddesi, the principal pedestrianized thoroughfare of Beyoglu — Istanbul’s modern centre. Even
at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday, the streets are filled with families and groups of youngsters socializing. Head off
the main street, and drinkers in bars spill onto the narrow lanes. The atmosphere is good-natured and
raucous, and it’s a Tuesday night.
The next morning I walk on to
Galata Bridge that spans the Golden Horn — a five-mile inlet that separates the ancient city once known as
Constantinople and Beyoglu, Istanbul’s modern, secular heart. Wafts of grilled anchovies, recently
hoisted out of the Bosphorus by the many fishermen lining the bridge, are too inviting to pass upon. Thrown
in between fresh bread with some onion and squirt of lemon; it’s a fortifying breakfast.
Dodging the lines being cast
into the river, I cross south to the old quarter, awed at this living museum. It’s easy to see why Topkapı
Palace, high on a promontory overlooking the narrow Bosphorus, was the seat for Istanbul’s successive
leaders. It overlooks the narrow strait linking the Mediterranean with the Black Sea. Istanbul truly is on
the axis of East and West, Europe and Asia, tradition and modernity. By day, the sights of the old city,
called Sultanahmet, are unmissable (if busy). The magnificent Hagia Sofia with the largest dome in the world
— until it was pipped in 1590 by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome 1,000 years later — is spectacular and the
jewels in Topkapı Palace show the true wealth of the Ottoman Empire.
By night, however, cross back
over Galata Bridge and into Beyoglu — the all-encompassing name for the neighbourhoods of Galata, Pera,
Çukurcuma and Cihangir. Beyoglu, with the rather ugly Taksim Square at the centre, is the symbolic heart of
the secular republic. Headscarves give way to mini-skirts, minarets are replaced by 18th-century mansions and
skyscrapers, and tea shops are replaced by bars… lots of bars. The meyhane (tavern) is where Istanbullus go
to relax. Over a meze of a dozen dishes and a bottle of rakı — a potent aniseed liqueur — the city’s
residents animatedly discuss the events of the day on the sidewalk terraces: The politics, the gossip, the
soccer.
It’s a hugger-mugger of
activity. Corn on the cob boiling on mobile stands sweeten the breeze, ice-cream sellers tease tourists by
pretending to throw the garish concoctions at them, musicians sing from the bars through husky amplifiers and
pedestrians narrowly avoid the 100-year-old tram that trundles up and down Istiklal
Caddesi.
Over in the up-and-coming
Bohemian neighbourhood of Cihangir, bars such as Meyra and Smyrna are busy until the early hours. They are
flawlessly designed with a mix of the kitsch and retro — the style adopted by Autoban. It’s easy to see the
inspiration while hiking the steep, narrow streets of Çukurcuma and Cihangir. Junk shops, antique stores and
artists’ ateliers are filled with collectibles and furniture from the 1950s to the 1980s (there was an
abundance after the political turbulence of the 1970s — they left everything). Stores selling these goods in
Toronto or London would be tripling the price. This particular design aesthetic — 19th-century lavishness
with modernist furniture — could only happen in Istanbul.
Autoban co-founder Özdemir says,
“We are, of course, influenced by the Ottoman period, but not directly. Istanbul is our influence. Some parts
are European, some parts are Asian or Arabic and it’s good to be living in the middle of it. It’s a different
spice that we get from Istanbul.”
Istanbul’s Finest Design Hotels
House Hotel
|
thehousehotel.com
There are now three of these
Autoban-designed, House Café-run residences. They are stunning, spacious properties, and very good value for
money.
Witt Istanbul
|
wittistanbul.com
The suites in this marvellous
hotel, also Autoban-designed, are among the best we have seen worldwide. A gorgeous
option.
A’jia
|
ajiahotel.com
The ultimate escape from the
hectic city, A’jia is on the Asian shore of Istanbul. There’s a private boat for use to cross to Müzedechanga
(see “Where to eat”) and amazing views of the Bosphorus.
Tomtom Suites
|
tomtomsuites.com
Huge rooms are only one boon of
this magnificent hotel. The view from the bar is another. The building has retained much of the original
features from when it was a Franciscan nunnery.
Park Hyatt Maçka Palas
|
istanbul.park.hyatt.com
Forget your preconceptions of
chain hotels — Park Hyatt Maçka Palas is a joy. Clearly designed to jump on the boutique bandwagon, it has
instead redefined the chain hotel. One day all large hotels will be like this.
Where to Eat:
Istanbul’s Best New Restaurants
Mimolett
|
mimolett.com.tr
Opened in 2010 by Murat Bozok
(previously at Pierre Gagnaire, Sketch, L’atelier de Robuchon and Petrus), Mimolett is gunning for Turkey’s
first Michelin star. The best restaurant in Istanbul at the moment.
House Cafés
|
thehousecafe.com
These 11 fabulously designed,
inspirational cafés across Istanbul serve healthy inventive food from morning to the cocktail hour. Free
Wi-Fi, great service, lovely food — what more can you ask?
Topaz
|
topazistanbul.com
The views overlooking the
Bosphorus are gorgeous, but the food — there’s both a “contemporary” and an “Ottoman” menu with modern
touches — is superb.
Leb-i derya
|
lebiderya.com
This bar and restaurant has
almost certainly the best views in Istanbul. The food is contemporary and the cocktails inventive but, wow,
that view. Start your trip here.
Müzedechanga
|
changa-istanbul.com
Set up near the Bosphorus by the
Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan, this has won awards for its design (by guess who?), and the food is
excellent. The terrace, high on a bluff overlooking the Bosphorus, is wonderful. •
Photos by Daniel
Neilson
