Modern architecture and traditional bazaar culture coming together
İMÇ is a visionary architectural project designed in the late 1950s, situated on the edge of Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula. The competition announced in 1957 was won by three young architects, Doğan Tekeli, Sami Sisa, and Metin Hepgüler, with a proposal for a modern market consisting of six blocks. To respect the historic silhouette of the Süleymaniye Mosque and its surroundings, the project called for a horizontal mass rather than a vertical one. Using the land’s natural slope, the architects arranged the blocks in a connected horizontal layout and reinterpreted the courtyards and passageways of Ottoman bazaars in a contemporary style. The first section of İMÇ opened in 1967, featuring 1,117 shops, inner courtyards, ramped walkways, and spiral staircases, making it the largest shopping complex of its time. The six separate blocks were linked by street-like passages at ground level, which also opened onto the surrounding neighborhood and Atatürk Boulevard. This distinctive layout made İMÇ a striking example of how local architectural traditions and modern design could merge in Turkish architecture. In fact, at the time it was built, the complex was described as the most significant architectural work ever constructed in Istanbul in a single phase and has since become regarded as one of the key masterpieces of modern Turkish architecture.
One feature that distinguishes İMÇ from similar commercial complexes is that it was among the first to integrate artworks into public spaces. In the 1960s, an international trend grew to display public art on large buildings, and İMÇ’s lead architect Doğan Tekeli became a trailblazer for this movement in Istanbul. At that time, Turkish regulations mandated that 2% of the construction budget be dedicated to artworks in government buildings. Tekeli embraced this idea for İMÇ and suggested placing sculptures and panels representing Istanbul and its trading life in specific areas of the complex.
As a result of a competition launched with a limited budget, eight leading artists of the time earned the right to display their work at İMÇ. The nine pieces installed across the complex’s blocks between 1965 and 1967 transformed İMÇ into a showcase for contemporary Turkish art. Years later, architect Doğan Tekeli explained that this decision was made to maintain historical continuity, saying, “This building should carry examples of contemporary Turkish art.” Just as Süleymaniye features the calligraphy of Karahisari and the stained-glass works of “Drunken” Ibrahim, this site, too, should hold a piece that represents Turkish art of its own time.
Artworks at İMÇ
As a result of this vision, the walls and courtyards of İMÇ became an open-air museum where public space and art blend. Mosaic panels, ceramic works, sculptures, and reliefs illustrating Istanbul’s urban culture were installed on the facades of concrete blocks and in courtyard corners. Although many people do not notice them today, İMÇ houses important pieces by Turkish art masters such as Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Eren Eyüboğlu, Kuzgun Acar, Ali Teoman Germaner, Yavuz Görey, Füreya Koral, Sadi Diren, and Nedim Günsür.
- Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu—(Abstract Composition) Mosaic Panel
Bedri Rahmi, a leading painter of the D Group movement, created this large mosaic illustrating an abstract landscape of Istanbul. It features birds, fish, minarets, towers, domes, and deep blue waves. With its vivid colors and folkloric details, it is one of the most striking works in İMÇ.
- Eren Eyüboğlu – Another mosaic panel
Eren Eyüboğlu, wife of Bedri Rahmi and an artist who traveled extensively throughout Anatolia, incorporated traditional life and folkloric motifs into her work. In her mosaic at İMÇ, she captures these Anatolian elements in a contemporary style, paying a gentle tribute to traditional culture.
- Füreya Koral – Large ceramic from 1965
Füreya, a pioneer of wall-ceramic art, created this piece after drawing inspiration from the spiritual atmosphere of the Süleymaniye Complex. She wanted to express love, joy, and happiness through a figurative language, and chose ceramics as the material she felt carried these emotions best.
- Kuzgun Acar – the metal sculpture titled “Kuşlar” (Birds)
This large wall sculpture by Kuzgun Acar, one of the masters of Turkish sculpture, depicts an abstract flock of birds on the façade of İMÇ. Over time, the piece was worn down by outdoor conditions and was taken in for restoration in 2013, then reinstalled in 2016. The metal birds, once again soaring toward the sky, have become a symbol for İMÇ.
- Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu – the second mosaic panel titled “Abstract Composition”
Placed on the facade facing Atatürk Boulevard, this piece features glass reliefs in various colors and shapes against a lively background. With this abstract design, Bedri Rahmi crafted a unique facade that suggests themes of trade and abundance.
- Yavuz Görey – Decorative fountain sculpture
This small, fountain-like sculpture made of white marble by Yavuz Görey, one of Türkiye’s first-generation sculptors, is located in one of the open courtyards of the complex. Designed from a modern perspective, the fountain was intended to bring coolness and vitality to the space as a functional water feature.
- Ali Teoman Germaner – abstract wall relief
The sculptor Ali Teoman Germaner, who also designed the “Altın Portakal” award statuette, created a low-relief wall composition for İMÇ using limestone. These relief panels, composed of several separate pieces, were installed in various groupings on the building’s exterior walls. It remains a significant example that showcases the abstract sculpture approach of that period.
- Sadi Diren – Ceramic Panel
This large panel gifted to İMÇ by renowned ceramic artist Sadi Diren interprets the heritage of Anatolian civilizations in a modern way. In his works, the artist combines the features and motifs of Anatolian ceramic traditions with contemporary forms. Inspired by tile art, this panel mixes those elements into an abstract design that complements the cultural context of İMÇ.
- Nedim Günsür – the mosaic panel titled Horses (1967)
Painter Nedim Günsür’s fascination with horse figures inspired one of the largest panels at İMÇ. In this work, placed on the facade of the sixth block, the artist depicts stylized horses running across broad fields of color in an abstract style.
Silent treasures of half a century
İMÇ blocks, now more than half a century old, hold a lasting place in Istanbul’s memory of both music and art. These corridors, once filled with the echoes of cassettes, records, and new voices, were the heart of a unique creative ecosystem from the 1970s to the early 2000s, where producers, distributors, and music shops all operated under one roof. While examples like the Brill Building in New York or Music Row in Nashville stood out as clusters of offices or street-based networks, Unkapanı brought together every stage of production, distribution, and retail in a single marketplace. Today, these corridors host a very different kind of creativity. In the vacant shops, artists now work; studios, small exhibition spaces, and independent initiatives breathe new life into the complex. The traces of the public art vision from the 1960s still remain on the walls. The mosaics of Bedri Rahmi and Eren Eyüboğlu, the ceramics of Füreya Koral, the metal birds of Kuzgun Acar, the fountain by Yavuz Görey, the relief by Ali Teoman Germaner, the ceramic panel by Sadi Diren, and the mosaic titled “Horses” by Nedim Günsür all silently preserve their place in İMÇ’s stone memory.
Today, initiatives like 5533 and İMALAT-HANE continue to produce art within this modernist framework. The old market isn’t a gallery or a museum, but art and artistic expression still flourish within its walls. If you find yourself in Unkapanı, walk under the Valens Aqueduct and visit İMÇ. Despite the city’s changing pace, you can still see firsthand that art can exist in public space.
