Istanbul to get exclusive shopping center
Posted by meb at January 12th, 2008
The first luxury shopping center will open its doors next Friday in the posh Istanbul neighborhood of Nişantaşı.
City’s, built right in front of the Sofa Hotel, which opened a year ago on Teşvikiye Street, aims to mainly address fashion pursuers, working people, and brand and quality addicts. There are 126 stores in City’s, which is designed by renowned architect Sinan Kafadar who is well known for his contribution to historic and urban architecture.
Kafadar, a graduate of Istanbul Technical University’s class of 1986, has managed projects as an architect and interior decorator in various locations in Turkey that are known for their different architectural features such as the Four Seasons, Radisson Sas, Sofa, Ritz Carlton, Divan hotels and Koç University. But this is his first involvement in the architecture of a shopping center.
“The shopping mall City’s, has been built with an investment of $125 million, on a plot of land which once belonged to Şişli Terakki High School and following the school’s relocation was used as a car park for five years,” said Kafadar and emphasized that Şişli Terakki Foundation has rented the ground to the Gülaylar Group for 33 years.
Kafadar said they did not stick to the former appearance of the building but united the old and new in this project, as they had to consider the height of buildings on Teşvikiye Street.
The designs of buildings, which have the influence of Western architecture patterns of the first National Architecture Movement as well as Ottoman facades have also influenced Kafadar. He said that when he started the City’s project he tried to give the sense that “it was always there” and harmonious with the traditional architecture of Nişantaşı.
The construction work started with a 40-meter deep dig. The shopping mall consists of fiber, concrete and stainless steel. The project group consists of 10 people led by Kafadar. The first year was spent on planning the project and the second year they had to deal with the legal side of things and in the third year construction work began. The interior designs of the shops belong to the brands that rent the stores. The AVM partners, the company, which rent the stores to famous brands, have created a backbone called “shopmix.” They decide on the brands and sectors that will have places in the shopping center.
There are many brands in City’s such as, D&G, Gian Franco Ferre, Jean’s Paul Gaultier, Cerutti, Versace Jeans Couture, Class Roberto Cavalli, Tru-Trussardi, DKNY Jeans, Pura Lopez, John Galliano, Dilek Hanif, S’nob, Marlboro Classics, Steve Madden, Baldinini, Nike Women, Levi’s, Dockers, Mavi Jeans, Navigare, Nautica, Lush, Mothercare, Nest, Silk & Cashmire, Linens, Jean Tonıc, So Chıc, Rebecca, Tchibo, Swatch, Swiss Equınox, Berk, Nuxx and MOS.
“It is possible to rent a 20,000 square meter area of the shopping mall, which spans a total area of 55,000 square meters,” said Kafadar, adding that the building has a six-storey car parking area with a daily capacity of 1,600 cars and valet service is also available. There is a three-storey shopping area on top of the car park. For the first time in Turkey a fashion designer has designed clothes for the employees of the shopping mall. Visitors will be able to see Canan Göknil’s designs on the staff. “We installed advertisement boards inside and there is a big atrium in the center of the shopping mall,” said Kafadar and added, “we called the dining place “food hall’ because unlike other shopping centers we have classic restaurants which don’t serve food with plastic spoons and forks.” There are 10 stores, which have not been rented yet in the nine-storey City’s, said Kafadar and added: “Osmanbey was the most popular place for shopping in the last 15 years in Istanbul. After the opening of Galeria shopping center in Bakırköy, new shopping centers opened but Nişantaşı’s Abdi İpekçi Street has gained popularity as a reaction to shopping malls. Although this street has world-famous brands, its capacity is insufficient. Today places like storage depots and basements are rented to famous store chains. Nişantaşı has recently been undergoing a process of change. Along with Bağdat Avenue on the Anatolian side, Nişantaşı is one of the two locations where world brands want to open a store.” The City Life Entertainment Group owns the movie theaters in the shopping mall. The most striking feature of City’s is the huge plasma screen, 16 meters in length and six meters in width. Fashion shows are shown on this plasma screen and this is a pleasant surprise for people passing by Teşvikiye Street, especially those stuck in Istanbul’s mad traffic.
source: Turkish Daily News
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