A Hotel Building Inspired by the History of Istanbul

Project: Lamartine Hotel
Architects: Designist
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Area: 10,763 sf
Year: 2021
Photographs by: Kadir Asnaz Photography

Lamartine Hotel by Designist

Inspired by the history and culture of Istanbul, Designist aimed to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere by using organic and soft-lined forms in Lamartine Hotel Taksim.

Located in Taksim Talimhane district, Lamartine Hotel was renovated by Designist, led by Aslı Arıkan Dayıoğlu. Lamartine Hotel was named after the poet Alphonse de Lamartine, who gave its name to the street where the hotel is located, lived in Istanbul in the 1800s and produced many works about Istanbul. The apartment building once belonged to one of the old sound artists of Istanbul, “Mermaid” Eftalya. The “lyre” figure on the entrance door of the building, whose real name is Şen Apartments, which is located opposite to Billur Apartments and belongs to Mermaid Eftalya, has become one of the most striking points of the building. The architect of the buildings, on the other hand, was Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, who was the architect of the Ethnography Museum and Turkish Hearth in Ankara, as well as a master in painting, sculpture and plaster decorations. This historical and cultural context and the story of the two artists were the most important starting points that shaped the interior design project of Designist.

The two structures are combined with an amorphous wall concept created in the middle section. In the hotel structure, where the reception counter, sitting areas, offices and a lobby bar are located on the ground floor, rooms are located on the upper floors and the breakfast room is located on the basement floor.

Inspired by Eftalya, which sings at night in venues on the shores of the Bosphorus and echoes across the entire Bosphorus, Designist has abstracted the wave movements of musical tones into the hotel interiors. While the strong effect of these waveforms is felt on the ceiling of the lobby, special cut natural stones are used on the floor. All the walls are formed with cornerless circular forms. The harsh effect of the wall, where the elevator and stairwell are located, is broken by covering it with a dark mirror and reflecting it. On a part of the mirror-covered wall, natural stone pavements in amorphous form, inspired by the silhouette of the Bosphorus, are included. A calm and peaceful atmosphere has been created by using neutral color tones in Lamartine Hotel, where organic forms are dominant in general.

Designist used light colour tones, open closet, and bathroom systems to make hotel rooms look more open and spacious. There are works of an art from female silhouettes that revive the memory of Eftalya, the Mermaid, plaques and photographs of Eftalya on the walls. Patterns that refer to sound waves are used on the wallpapers. By placing large-sized ceramics in wet areas, joint images are reduced and opaque glass material that can transmit light is used as a separator.

In order to emphasize the continuity of the spiral staircase that travels between the floors, a contrast colour strip is applied on the stair walls. The spiral staircase leading down to the breakfast room on the basement floor is accompanied by a walnut wood veneer in dark and vibrant tones on the wall. In the breakfast room, mostly terracotta and cream tones are preferred, while hand-drawn ceramics are used on the floor. In the toilets of the breakfast room, special print large-sized ceramics with nature figures were preferred.

Lamartine Hotel, where history and culture form the infrastructure of interior design as a context, is aimed to be created a calm and peaceful city hotel, inspired by the stories of a poet who fell in love with Istanbul and a woman who put her signature to the good old days of Istanbul with her exquisite voice.

-Project description and images provided by Designist