The Rebirth of Casa Botter, the Pearl of Istiklal

Walking from Istiklal Street towards Tünel, there is a building, Botter Apartment, which draws attention with its fairy-tale façade design despite being closed for years. Built in 1900, the structure was commissioned by Jean Botter, the official palace tailor during the reign of Abdulhamid II, and designed in the Art Nouveau style by the famous palace architect Raimondo D’Aronco. It is considered the first building in Istanbul in this style.

The building, long awaiting attention in the Asmalımescit neighborhood, was restored by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) between 2022-2023 and reopened on April 15 as an art and design center. In this blog post, we will briefly touch on the history of Botter Apartment and who architect Raimondo D’Aronco and Jean Botter were.

Casa Botter, also known as Botter Apartment
While walking from Taksim to the Şişhane metro, a building immediately to your left catches your eye with iron flowers winking from its balcony and wavy-haired female faces leaning into the street. Despite years of neglect, the building has lost none of its grandeur and was unusable until recently.

Botter Apartment is Istanbul’s first Art Nouveau building. It is the first apartment in Turkey to use steel construction and, after Pera Palas, is the second building with an elevator. The building also housed Turkey’s first fashion house, Botter Modaevi.

On Botter Apartment’s ground, mezzanine, and first floors, the tailor Jean Botter’s workshop, workrooms, fitting rooms, and store were located. The upper floors were used as the Botter family residence. Istanbul elites who had visited fashion houses in Paris noted that Botter Modaevi matched the same standards. Parisian fashion was introduced to Istanbul through fashion shows held here. Like Lebon Patisserie and Pera Palas, Botter Apartment quickly became one of Pera’s most popular attractions after its completion. Tailor Botter, who sewed clothes for Abdulhamid II and elite Istanbulites, is also known to have sewn a vest labeled “Mustafa Kemal Bey” for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1913.

Botter Apartment was built in a contiguous layout, and its west façade, facing Istiklal Street, is the building’s only non-blank façade. This façade served as an important display, facing Cadde-i Kebir, also known as Grande Rue de Péra, today’s Istiklal Street, and is considered one of the best examples of 19th-century Art Nouveau style. According to the chief architect of the restoration plans, Afife Batur, “The ground floor contained the sales and display hall. From the hall, double-sided, oval staircases led to a mezzanine used for fashion shows.” However, this mezzanine was removed in 1960 when the apartment was converted into a bank branch, so it has not survived to the present day.

The west façade on the ground floor is divided into three equal rectangular openings, with the entrance door located in the southernmost opening. The pediment above the entrance is decorated with floral ornaments that appear to burst from the surface. The rose motifs, leaves, and buds continue throughout the façade and are sometimes synthesized with industrial elements. The strong three-dimensional projection of the façade gives the building a sculptural appearance. Each stone used on the west façade was individually drawn by architect D’Aronco. The slender, curved iron balcony on the first floor, the large flower-shaped iron lamps on the balcony, the smaller balconies on the upper floors, the curved elements in the terrace railings, dense vegetal decorations, fabric-like motifs, ribbon depictions fixed with nail motifs, and the Demeter reliefs smiling at the street with hair adorned with plants show how much Raimondo D’Aronco was influenced by Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession.

Art Nouveau Master Architect Raimondo D’Aronco
Raimondo D’Aronco was born in Gemona, on the border between Italy and Austria. Following in the footsteps of his builder father, he began studying construction at the Johanneum Baukunde Vocational School in Graz, Austria, which still operates today, starting at the age of 14. After winning first place in an architectural composition contest in Gemona, he was admitted to the Venice Academy of Fine Arts. His success at the academy and subsequent invitation to Istanbul marked a major step in his career. His adventure began with designs for the Istanbul Agriculture and Industry Fair and evolved into a 16-year journey. During this period, he gained the title of official architect of Abdulhamid II and was known to have close relationships with him. He is also recognized as the architect who introduced Istanbul to Art Nouveau and designed buildings for Istanbul elites, with Botter Apartment being one of the most notable examples. His other famous works in Istanbul include the Sheikh Zafir Tomb, the Italian Embassy Summer Residence in Tarabya, Huber Mansion, Memduh Pasha Mansion, Yıldız Palace Small Mabeyn Pavilion, the Dersaadet Industrial School (now Marmara University Rectorate Building), and the sadly lost Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha Mosque and Nazime Sultan Mansion. Additionally, he was tasked with restoring many of Istanbul’s monuments, such as Hagia Sophia and Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, after the 1894 earthquake.

The Transformation of Botter Apartment
With the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the psychological and economic exhaustion caused by the Balkan Wars and World War I, fashion became a luxury. In 1917, the Botter family migrated to France, leaving their beloved Pera. They sold the apartment to Mahmut Nedim Bey, son of Ottoman vizier Nedim Pasha, and permanently moved to Paris. The building was used for various purposes over the years but was completely vacated by the early 1990s.

Today, following restoration, Casa Botter operates as an art and design center, including an exhibition hall, screening center, film archive, conference hall, design workshop, and design offices. The 123-year-old Botter Apartment welcomed its first visitors on April 14 after 30 years of solitude. The exhibition “Dreams, Realities,” located in the ground-floor exhibition hall, opened to the public on April 15. Curated by Melike Bayık, the international and multidisciplinary group exhibition “Dreams, Realities” explores abstract concepts such as dreams, remembrance, revival, and awakening. The exhibition can be visited until July 16, 2023.