Having been based for more than 15 years in Luvr Apartment in Beyoglu, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) moved to another historical building of Istanbul, Deniz Palas, in Sishane in December 2009. On the top floor and on the terrace of the building is a restaurant overlooking the Golden Horn. The guests who come to the new building of IKSV will be able to enjoy one of the most spectacular views of Istanbul from the Deniz Palas Restaurant managed by Borsa, with a special menu prepared by Rasim Ozkanca and Sakir Eczacibasi. With this new restaurant, IKSV is now adding gastronomy on its agenda and making Istanbul’s cultural and artistic life even more delicious!
The dream of one of the founders of IKSV, Dr. Nejat F. Eczacibasi, was to accommodate the foundation with a space of its own. Purchased in 2004 by IKSV and introduced to art lovers as a venue at the 9th International Istanbul Biennial in 2005, the restorations of Deniz Palas Apartment began on 6 September 2006. The three years of renovation work, which will become a part of the dynamic artistic and cultural life of the city, cost IKSV approximately 14 million dollars. The purchase and restoration of the Deniz Palas Apartment was made possible by the contributions and support of many individuals and institutions including Halide Fitnat Altan, Ayse Saime Eren, Leyla Gencer and Tunc Yalman who donated property. The development was further supported by The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Republic of Turkey, Governorship of ?stanbul, ?stanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and Beyoglu Municipality.
Deniz Palas Apartment is a unique building located at the crossroads of Tarlabasi and Sishane in the district of Galata, which served as a residential and commercial centre throughout history. The façade and the construction materials reflect the architectural style of 1920s and the building which could survive to our day in its original form expresses the art nouveau style apartment plan of the era. In the settlement section of the Pervititch maps, the building is named as Kirzade Apartment and is noted as being reinforced concrete. Deniz Palas Apartment is a stone building constructed by steel girders that are used in the floorings and uses an original application of iron and cement plasters that carry features of concrete that are inside floorings. On top of the girders are the wooden skeletons of the building and the wooden floor casings. The ceilings are ornamented with plaster mouldings from 1940s. On the walls under the plaster mouldings there are compositions of coloured engravings which were frequently used in the buildings of Pera during an era.
During the restoration of the building the original architectural elements were kept without alterations while elements which disappeared have been diligently recreated. Dogan Tekeli, Saruhan Architecture, whom specialize in the restoration of historic buildings, executed the renovation led by Saruhan Erim. Nazl? Gonensay worked on the interior design of the building; Dr. Kaya Ucer worked on interior ornaments and decorations. The corporate identity advisor of IKSV, Bulent Erkmen was responsible for the execution of the orientation boards in the building's interior. Deniz Palas Apartment, covering 4.200 meter squares with its seven floors comes back to life with IKSV, and beginning in January, it houses various spaces aside from the foundation's offices as well as welcoming art lovers as a new meeting place.
IKSV's move to Deniz Palas is meaningful not just as the settlement of an art institution in a new building, but also in terms of preservation of Istanbul's original identity and the contributions it will make in the arts and cultural life of the city. IKSV is getting ready to introduce new colours to the artistic and cultural life of Istanbul from its new building.
