NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM

NAME OF THE PROJECT

Istanbul Maritime Museum

LOCATION
Istanbul, Turkey

Maritime Museum
Location

DATE DESIGNED/PLANNED
The architectural competition for the museum was first announced in 2004 and the evaluation
was completed in September

DATE CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED

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2010
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SCALE- BUILT UP AREA AND TOTAL SITE AREA

Total site area is 15000 square meters

ARCHITECTS
Teget

CLIENT
Ottoman Minister of Navy Bozcaadalı Hasan Hüsnü Pasha

CONTEXT
The architectural competition for the museum was first announced in 2004 and the evaluation
was completed in September, the same year. Most of the prominent architectural firms
submitted their proposals as the problem was challenging as well as a prestigious one. It
stands as a singular opportunity, when it comes to build a contemporary structure on
Bosporus, where strict conservation rules have been observed both by Bosporus Legislative
Department and National Monuments Council.

STAGE WISE DEVELOPMENT

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PROJECT BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

The former Maritime Museum was in service then, in the same location, with a
conglomeration of adopted buildings piled up from different periods. Apart from a wide
range of materials like ship models, maps, photographs, navigation tools, outfits etc., the
most striking aspect of the collection –and apparently the most spacious- was the part where
about 40 Ottoman Sultan boats were exhibited in fairly miserable conditions. Ranging from
45
meters to 10, dating from 1500’s to 1900’s, this has been probably the most intriguing
collection among its relatives throughout the world.

DESIGN BRIEF AND REQUIREMENTS

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FLOOR PLAN

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GROUND FLOOR PLAN

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FLOOR PLAN

FLOOR PLAN

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FLOOR PLAN
 NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM

SECTIONAL ELEVATION
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VIEW POINT -1 VIEW POINT -2 VIEW POINT -3

ABHISHEK AJAY PANCHAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROJECT
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ZOOM OUT PLAN SHOWCASING SEATING IN THAT ZONE

SITE ANALYSIS
The task was to propose a new exhibition scheme for the same site, preserving one –from
1940’s-of the existing buildings, as designated by the Monuments Council. The lot in
Beşiktaş, by the Bosporus aligned with Ottoman Palaces, offered a very limited space with a
set of difficulties to design and build; on the other hand, offering a symbolic strength to such
a location surrounded by intense metropolitan life and monuments like Bosporus, Palaces,
Sinan Mosque and Barbarous –Ottoman Admiral once very famous in the whole
Mediterranean Region- Square with the Statue and the Tomb.

SITE
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GENESIS OF PROJECT
Challenged by the building codes of the region that don’t allow the building of contemporary
edifices along the banks of the Bosporus, the architects took hold of the opportunity to add to
the historic waterway skyline with a design that would contribute to the strait’s long-held
connection to the city.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
The project site had 3 façades -the remaining one facing the neighboring ex-tobacco
warehouse was virtually invisible and mainly reserved for services-. The Bosporus side was
reserved for the boat gallery. On the opposite direction, at the Dolmabahçe Boulevard where
it is linked to the city and the traffic access, we placed the entry. Finally, at the Beşiktaş
Square side, we revealed the courtyard, embracing the Barbarous statue, around which the
program of the museum revolved. Starting from the entry, the façades unfolded following a
spiral circulation that incorporated the existing building at one corner.

First of all, it is a single space, where the long and slender sultan boats stand side by side
facing the sea, providing the opportunity to perceive the collection in an impressive ensemble
at a glance. Secondly, it is a compartmented space, subdivided into narrow bands each
reserved for a boat. The seemingly two paradoxical aspects are brought together to co-exist in
a single special experience. Such a feeling is enhanced by the design of structure. The
extensive space allocated for the gallery is constructed with 7 bridges made of 6-meter-high
steel trusses varying in length from 55 to 25 meters. The outcome is a double height gallery
with an alternating rhythm of voids and steel trusses, where the ground level is totally left
column-free. The roof and the facade reflect the alternating rhythms of the interior
organization. The space opens up to the sky and the Bosporus in a rather refrained fashion,
through solids and voids. The ideal sealed box of the ‘generic’ museum is thus compromised
here for the favors of natural light and views.
The planimetric refractions of a fractal line as an outcome of the chronological and
dimensional order of the collection is further accentuated in three dimensions with alternating
solids and voids, each corresponding a cladded material: Solids in eternity, voids in copper.
The whole composition rises from a shallow pool, which connects the gallery to the sea. The
facade line of the new structure is recessed from the existing building at the Dolmabahçe
Boulevard to form an open space in front of the entry that promises a meeting and gathering
place for people in an otherwise fairly congested street scape with narrow sidewalks.

USER/USE ANALYSIS
Kusadasi, Turkey
The Naval Museum has been extended and includes exhibits from the Turkish Navy's early
days in 11th century to present day.
Apart from the excellent exhibits of actual Sultan caiques (traditional wooden skiff, in this
instance rowed by any number of oarsmen) from mid-1800's, Ataturk’s actual rowing boats
and the oldest wooden galley in the world (built mid-16th cent.), all other ship exhibit
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model.
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PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE AND UNIQUENESS

The establishment of a comprehensive maritime museum in Turkey, which is surrounded by
three seas, is of great importance in terms of maritime history. In addition, it is possible to
establish more than one maritime museum in different provinces with the thousands of pieces
in the collectors’ inventory.

LIMITATIONS
The project was challenged by the building codes of the region that don’t allow the building
of contemporary edifices along the banks of the Bosporus.

LEARNINGS
From the above project I came to know that the purpose for which the maritime museum is to
be designed is major concern because the spaces will be designed accordingly.
In the above project major concern is protecting the collectibles and artefacts of maritime
importance.so the spaces here are designed more as exabit area where a lot of interaction
between people takes place.

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