Turkish architect Nevzat Sayin has wrapped an art gallery with a reddish brown veil-like façade in a historic district of Istanbul, Turkey. 

The renowned modern art gallery SANATORIUM, located in the historic Bosphorus port district of Perşembe Pazarı, opened its doors this autumn, adding to Istanbul's art scene.

Since its establishment, SANATORIUM has distinguished itself with its cutting-edge, critically engaged program and grown to be an important space for communication between Istanbul's contemporary art scene and the global art community. 

In collaboration with artists, curators, and institutions, the gallery has held a number of national and international curated exhibitions. It also keeps broadening the definition of contemporary art through initiatives that value experimentation, critical thinking, and novel aesthetics.

One of Turkey's most well-known conceptual architects, Nevzat Sayin, was commissioned by SANATORIUM's founder, Adnan Yerebakan, to design the architecture that references and is inspired by SANATORIUM's emphasis on process. 

The new gallery, covering a total of 600 square meters, blends in with the surrounding structures in this industrial section of town, which has historically been home to numerous small manufacturing ateliers and businesses that deal with ship parts. 

With a calm interior that lets the artwork take the stage and a brown and red outside, the structure is fashioned in the Basilica style.

The SANATORIUM is situated in Thursday Market, one of the few genuine modest production and commercial districts still standing in the center of Istanbul, Sayin's designs were impacted by the sensory stimuli of this busy neighborhood. 

Focusing on "acupuncture points," or underutilized parts of a city, enables intentional improvements to be made in the face of today's fast urban growth, ultimately improving the city as a whole.

The area is defined by the reddish-brown veil-like facade, which is also utilized on the Arab Mosque.Throughout the day, the facade reflects light in different ways; at night, it becomes something of a "lantern in the dark." 

Brown is reminiscent of rust, while the internal vaults, walls, and domes continue the outside color scheme to symbolize earth tones. 

The interior of SANATORIUM is purposefully uncomplicated to allow artist presentations to flourish while being somewhat cut off from the outer world.

In recent years, Istanbul has emerged as a hub for contemporary art and a thriving scene with independent galleries that draw international artists with a far wider geographic range than those in Europe and the United States. 

With events like this fall's Istanbul Biennial, the city continues to hold its position in the world's art calendar as a place where several artists and curators may contemplate from various angles. 

Desert Hyacinth, the first solo exhibition in Istanbul by artist Farah Al Qasimi, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, will be on display at SANATORIUM from September 12 to October 26.

NSMH was established by Nevzat Sayin in Kuzguncuk in 1986 to provide architectural services. In 1992, it underwent restructuring and adopted a participatory approach to management and execution.

Project facts

Project name: SANATORIUM

Architects: Nevzat Sayin / NSMH

Location: Istanbul, Turkey 

Size: 600 m2 / 5 Floors with 2 basement floors

Completion year: 2025 

Materials: Perforated Metal, Steel

All images © Egemen Karakaya.

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