Grand Manner alla Turca

Since the 2000s, Istanbul has been moving toward a polycentric urban model supported by ambitious housing and transportation projects. However, these endeavors have transformed the historic peninsula into a significant transit hub, reinforcing the core densities. The paper delves into this pattern of formal and functional re-centering and articulates the difficulties of placing large-scale urban forms on the city’s challenging terrain through several urban episodes. It argues that as opposed to relying on infrastructures designed to minimize contact with its terrain, the city must decisively engage with it, as illustrated by a recent competition project focusing on the Yenikapi area in the historic peninsula.