As you walk down Istiklal Avenue towards the Tünel (a historic underground funicular line between Karaköy and Beyoğlu), the Botter Apartment catches your eye with its picturesque facade design, even though it has been closed for years. Built in 1900 by the renowned royal architect Raimondo D'aronco in Art Nouveau style for Jean Botter, the official royal tailor of Abdülhamid II, the building is considered to be the first of its style in Istanbul.
After waiting for attention for many years in the Asmalımescit Neighborhood, the building was restored by IBB (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality) in 2022-2023 and reopened on April 15 as an art and design center. In this blog post, we briefly touch upon the history of the Botter Apartment, the architect Raimondo D'aronco, and Jean Botter.
Casa Botter, also known as Botter Apartment
As you walk from Taksim to Şişhane subway station, a building on your left side immediately catches your attention with iron flowers winking from its balcony and the faces of women with wavy hair stretching their heads out onto the street. Despite years of neglect, the building has lost none of its splendor and was recently restored.
Botter Apartment is the first Art Nouveau building in Istanbul. It is the first apartment building in Turkey to use steel construction and the second building with an elevator after Pera Palas. The building was also home to Botter Fashion House, the first fashion house in Turkey.
The ground floor, mezzanine, and first floor of the Botter Apartment housed famous tailor Jean Botter's atelier, workshops, fitting rooms, and store. The Botter family used the upper floors of the building as a residence. Istanbul elites who had the chance to visit the fashion houses in Paris used to say that the Botter Fashion House was of a standard that could compete with them. Istanbulites were introduced to Parisian fashion with fashion shows organized here. Soon after its completion, Botter Apartments, along with Lebon Patisserie and Pera Palas, became one of the most popular attractions in Pera. Botter, a tailor who made clothes for Abdülhamid II and the Istanbul elite, is also known to have sewn a vest labeled 'Mustafa Kemal Bey' for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1913.
The Botter Apartment was built in an attached order, with its west facade facing İstiklal Avenue and serving as an important showcase. It is the only facade of the building that is not blank and is considered one of the best examples of the 19th century Art Nouveau style. According to Afife Batur, the Master Architect who prepared the restoration plans of the building, there was a sales and exhibition hall on the ground floor, connected to a mezzanine by a two-sided, oval staircase used for fashion shows. However, the mentioned mezzanine was removed during the renovation of the apartment into a bank office in 1960.
The western facade of the building has three equal rectangular openings on the ground floor, with the entrance door located in the southernmost opening.The pediment above the entrance door is decorated with floral ornaments that seem to spring from the surface. The rose pattern, leaves, and buds continue along the entire facade, and are synthesized with industrial elements in some parts. The strong expression of the facade in the third dimension gives the building a sculptural appearance. Each stone used in the cladding of the west facade was individually drawn by the architect D'Aronco.
The first-floor balcony features an elongated, curved iron design, with iron lamps that resemble giant flowers. Smaller balconies can be found on the upper floors, with curved elements on the iron railings of the terrace. The intense floral ornaments fill the surface, along with fabric-like elements and depictions of ribbons fastened with nail motifs. The reliefs of Demeter, smiling and watching İstiklal Avenue with wavy hair decorated with floral ornaments, all show how much the architect Raimondo D'Aronco was influenced by Art Nouveau and the Viennese Secession.
Art Nouveau Maestro Architect Raimondo D'aronco
Raimondo D'Aronco was born in Gemona, on the border between Italy and Austria. Following in the footsteps of his father, who was a builder, he began studying construction at the Johanneum Baukunde, a famous construction school in Graz, Austria, from the age of 14. This school is still active today. After winning first prize in architectural composition at a design competition in Gemona, D'Aronco was accepted to the Venice Academy of Fine Arts. His success at the Academy and invitation to Istanbul were important steps that shaped his career. His adventure, which began with preparing designs for the Istanbul Agricultural and Industrial Fair, turned into a 16-year journey. During this time, he became the official architect of Abdülhamid II, with whom he had close relations. He was also known as an architect who introduced Art Nouveau to Istanbul and designed buildings for the Istanbul elite. The Botter Apartment, which is the subject of this blog post, was the first of these buildings to draw attention. Among his other well-known buildings in Istanbul are the Sheikh Zafir Mausoleum, the Summer Residence of the Italian Embassy in Tarabya, the Huber Mansion, Memduh Pasha Waterside Mansion, the Small State Kiosk of Yıldız Palace, the Dersaadet Industrial School (now used as the Rectorate Building of Marmara University), and the Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha Mosque and Nazime Sultan Mansion, which unfortunately no longer exist. After the earthquake of 1894, he was commissioned to repair many of Istanbul's monuments, including Hagia Sophia and Mihrimah Sultan Mosque.
The Evolution of Casa Botter
When the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, along with the psychological and economic exhaustion caused by the Balkan Wars and World War I, made fashion a luxury, the Botter family decided to leave their beloved Pera for France in 1917. After selling the building to Mahmut Nedim Bey, the son of Nedim Pasha, one of the Ottoman viziers, the family moved to Paris for good. The building was later repurposed for different uses, but remained completely vacant by the early 1990s. After restoration, Casa Botter has become an art and design center that features an exhibition hall, screening center, film archive, conference hall, design studio, and design offices. With a history of 123 years, the Botter Apartment welcomed its first visitors on April 14 after 30 years of abandonment. On April 15, the exhibition hall on the ground floor hosted the "Dreams, Truths" exhibition, curated by Melike Bayık. This multinational and multidisciplinary group exhibition explores abstract concepts such as dreams, remembrance, revival, and awakening. The exhibition will be open until July 16, 2023.