SANATORIUM Istanbul contemporary art gallery building design, Turkish modern architecture images

SANATORIUM Istanbul contemporary art gallery

27 September 2025

Architecture: architect Nevzat Sayin

Location: Emekyemez mah. Abdussalah Sk. No: 3, 34421 Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Turkey

photo courtesy of SANATORIUM

SANATORIUM, one of Istanbul’s leading contemporary art galleries, is opening its third home this Fall in the historic Bosphorus port district of Perşembe Pazarı. Since its founding, SANATORIUM has stood out for its innovative, critically engaged program and has become an important platform for dialogue between Istanbul’s contemporary art scene and the international art world. The gallery has hosted numerous national and international curatorial exhibitions in cooperation with artists, curators, and institutions, and it continues to expand the scope of contemporary art through projects that embrace critical thinking, experimentation, and new aesthetics.

SANATORIUM’s Founder, Adnan Yerebakan, tapped Nevzat Sayin, one of Turkey’s most prominent conceptual architects, to create the architecture that is inspired by and referencing SANATORIUM’s focus on process. The new gallery stands in harmony with the surrounding buildings in this industrial part of town, historically an area of many small workshops dealing with ship parts and other small manufacturing ateliers. The Basilica-style building with a red and brown exterior while the interiors are calm to let the art be the focal point.

Looking at SANATORIUM’s location in Thursday Market, which is one of the last remaining authentic small production and commerce areas in the heart of Istanbul, Sayin’s designs were infl uenced by the surrounding sensory stimulants of this bustling area. In the face of today’s rapid urban growth, focusing on “acupuncture points”, which are underutilized areas of a city, allows deliberate improvements to take place, ultimately strengthening the city as a whole.

The veil-like façade’s reddish-brown hue is prominent throughout the area, also used on the Arab Mosque. The façade refl ects light differently throughout the day, transforming into somewhat of a “lantern in the dark” once night falls. The vaults, walls, and domes of the interior carry on the exterior color palette to represent earth tones while brown is reminiscent of rust. SANATORIUM’s interior is intentionally simple to give room for artist presentations to shine while being somewhat disconnected from the outside world.

Over the past few years, Istanbul has been a center of gravity for contemporary art and a vibrant scene with independent galleries that are attracting global artists with a much greater geographic diversity than their counterparts in Europe and the U.S. Through events such as the Istanbul Biennial taking place this Fall, the city maintains its place in the global art calendar as a locale for many artists and curators to reflect from a different perspective. Open this Fall from September 12th to October 26th, artist Farah Al Qasimi, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, will be showing their first solo exhibition in Istanbul at SANATORIUM titled, Desert Hyacinth.

SANATORIUM Istanbul contemporary art gallery, Turkey

This Fall, Istanbul’s art scene welcomed a significant new addition: SANATORIUM, a leading contemporary art gallery, opened its new home in the historic Bosphorus port district of Perşembe Pazarı. The space was designed by architect Nevzat Sayin. This building contributes to the city’s burgeoning contemporary art scene. This scene has witnessed other notable architectural additions recently, such as the Renzo Piano-designed Istanbul Modern, which opened last year.

SANATORIUM is actively shaping Istanbul’s contemporary art scene at a moment when the city is increasingly at the center of global art conversations. Below, you’ll find more details about this new space and its blockbuster opening exhibition of Farah Al Qasimi, which is running concurrently with this Fall’s Istanbul Art Biennial.

SANATORIUM’s founder, Adnan Yerebakan, commissioned renowned Turkish architect Nevzat Sayın to design the new Basilica-style building. Located in Perşembe Pazarı, a neighborhood historically known for its small workshops and ship part ateliers, the structure features a veil-like reddish-brown façade. Inspired by the nearby historic “Arab Mosque,” the façade’s appearance shifts with the light throughout the day, becoming illuminated after nightfall.

Inside, the interiors are intentionally understated, with earthy tones extending across the vaults, walls, and domes, creating a sense of removal from the outside world. This design ensures that the art within takes center stage. Sayın’s architectural philosophy, which he refers to as ‘acupuncture points’ in the city, focuses on transforming overlooked areas through context-driven interventions, ultimately strengthening the city as a whole.

photo : Yerleştirme Fotoğraflaı

The inaugural exhibition, Desert Hyacinth by Farah Al Qasimi, runs from September 12 through October 26 and marks the artist’s first solo presentation in Istanbul. Al Qasimi, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, is considered a defining voice of her generation, capturing the dizzying relationship between material culture, global media, and today’s society. In Desert Hyacinth, she draws on the plant’s metaphor of resilience in harsh conditions, layering themes of surveillance, intimacy, and resistance to social norms into a body of work that resonates with Istanbul’s layered cultural landscape.

Opening during the Istanbul Biennial, this new chapter positions SANATORIUM within the context of the city’s growing importance in the art world and underscores Istanbul’s role as a global meeting point for artists and curators of diverse points of view. Over the past few years, the city has opened more independent galleries attracting a wider geographic diversity of artists, broadening the city’s conversations around contemporary art.In recent years, the city has seen an increase in independent galleries, drawing a more geographically diverse group of artists and enriching the discourse on contemporary art.

SANATORIUM Istanbul contemporary art gallery building design images / information received 260925

Location: Istanbul, Turkey.