Istanbul-based architecture practice Tabanlıoğlu Architects has reinterpreted 1943's classic Turkish novel titled 'Madonna in a Fur Coat' with a 13-metre-long mirrored black box on the bridge over the V&A’s Medieval & Renaissance galleries for London Design Festival 2016.

Madonna in a Fur Coat, written by Turkish author and poet Sabahattin Ali in 1943, the novel is now transformed as an evocative, multi-sensory installation on a bridged gallery over the V&A’s Medieval & Renaissance Galleries.

''Madonna in a Fur Coat is one of the greatest novels in Turkish literature,'' says Murat Tabanlıoğlu; ''We wanted to introduce the book to a new audience in London, as the book has recently been published in English translation for the first time in its 73-year history.''

Image © Mark Cocksedge, courtesy of LDF

Named Beloved, the installation takes the form of a 13-metre-long mirrored black box, with cracks in the surface through which visitors can peer. Within, atmospheric scenes from the novel will be re-created using cinematic techniques, physical objects, text, light and sound. 

''The installation is a physical, multi-sensory realization of the way the human mind imagines scenes from a book as they read,'' says Tabanlıoglu. “It’s a very intimate experience that celebrates literature, passion and the human condition.''

Image © Mark Cocksedge, courtesy of LDF

Located at Brompton Design District in the V&A’s Medieval & Renaissance galleries, Tabanlıoğlu Architects chose to site the installation on the bridge as a metaphor to describe the themes of the novel, which deals with the relationship between a young Turkish man and an enigmatic German woman, and is set between interwar period in two cities; Berlin and Ankara.

''The novel’s conclusion is that you should never evaluate people based on their appearance,'' says Tabanlıoğlu. ''It is the same with our installation. At first glance, you see just a huge black box. When you get up close, though, you can peer inside and witness the interior life of the book.''

Image © Mark Cocksedge, courtesy of LDF

Behind slits in the shell, the life of the writer Sabahattin Ali, and Raif the protagonist, their stories fragmented as “Berlin the big city”, “Berlin of the night”, “Berlin of the lovers” and “the woman” (video work of Melisa Mızraklı), and in parallel, Ankara in 1930s, the emerging capital of the newly-found Republic of Turkey, were highlighted. 

Additionally, in the footsteps of Sabahattin Ali, as well as Raif’s, Murat Tabanlıoğlu strolls around today’s Berlin and Potsdam, photographed by Cemal Emden. All these moments of past and present, real and fiction are tied with an ethereal atmospheric soundscape by composer Serdar Ateşer. 

The installation was led by the artistic team composed of Emre Dörter, Cem Kozar, Işıl Ünal (PATTU), TA_Atelier, and with the consultancy of Necmi Zeka and Prof. Dr. İhsan Bilgin.

Image © Emre Dörter, courtesy of LDF

“The first sentence of the novel ‘Of all the people I have chanced upon in life, there is no one who has left a greater impression’ describes the importance of the main character, Raif, yet who is humiliated the first time we meet him. The questions of ‘how something looks’ and ‘how it is’ were the starting points of our design. 

For the shell of Beloved, we referred to Raif’s black notebook; the inner world of this man, portrayed in the interior of the installation. Raif can be discovered only when you get close. Intrigued by glimpses of light, the audience peer through the ‘cover’ into the fascinating story that tells of a profound love of this anti-hero” Melkan Gürsel says.

Image © Emre Dörter, courtesy of LDF

Emotionally powerful, intensely atmospheric and with profound historical and social resonance, Madonna in a Fur Coat is an unforgettable novel that dramatizes the conflict at the heart of modern Turkey. Madonna in a Fur Coat was originally published in 1943 and has been a bestseller in Turkey for the past three years again, selling a quarter of a million copies last year alone. Available in English for the first time, the novel is recently published by Penguin Modern Classics in the UK. 

The installation viewed for ten days in London. It will be accompanied by a book including texts contributed by Filiz Ali , Fatih Özgüven , Olaf Bartels, Ali Cengizkan and İhsan Bilgin, focusing on Sabahattin Ali, the novel , the period and the two cities, Berlin and Ankara. The book also comprises interviews- moderated by Necmi Zeka- with the curator / designer (Murat Tabanlıoğlu and Melkan Gürsel) and with the other team members who were involved in the exhibition process. 

The exhibition book was published in English with the support of Yapı Kredi Publications (YKY), and is available on request. Beloved was part of the London Design Festival with the agreement of Sabahattin Ali’s descendants, and with the cooperation of the publishers YKY in Turkey and Penguin Publishing in the UK.

London Design Festival was held between September 17- 25, 2016. Over 400 events and installations offered across the city, from a stimulating programme at the Victoria and Albert Museum to Landmark Projects in Shoreditch and Chelsea. 

The Festival showcased ideas from more than 300 partners, representing the heart of London’s design community, proving its role as a leading force in the city’s creative economy.

Madonna In a Fur Coat. Exhibition book cover. Image courtesy of LDF

Tabanlıoğlu Architects is established in 1990 by Murat Tabanlıoğlu and his father Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, and Melkan Gürsel (AIA Int.) joined the group as partner in 1995. Istanbul-based architectural firm, with its long family tradition since 1950, started with Dr. Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, architect of Çankaya Mosque, Erzurum Atatürk University, Atatürk Cultural Center, Istanbul Atatürk Airport and Galleria ‘the first shopping mall of Turkey’. Spanning over six decades, the office demonstrates a professionalism based on rigor and know-how.

Top image © Mark Cocksedge, courtesy of LDF

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