Istanbul, Turkey

The office has occasionally undertaken interior design projects for a small number of houses including Rena Residence. These projects, which jolt the reflexes acquired in the larger-scale designs and which have become mechanical, are projects that are considered as relatively experimental works within the context of structural precision, and in which it is possible to take on the refining of details, which are easily cast aside in projects where a great number of repetitions are used. The confidence and know-how acquired through these projects have been drawn on in larger-scale projects.

The 4-story residence located in a closed housing compound in Beykoz, Istanbul, was treated as a shell that would be entirely hollowed. The ground floor, one of the inputs of the initial project, was altered due to the problems posed by its relation with the lot, and all the interior divisions were rearranged according to the user’s wishes and the structural limitations. While on the one hand during the process we strove to convince the client of the prejudice that the decorative design of any residence could not be undertaken by the architect, on the other hand the problem of “joint”, which is one of the most important aesthetic decisions of the design, was taken into consideration so as to reform the conventional lineup techniques such as for baseboard, casing, and lath.

Instead of the motivation derived from the “architect’s creating a style”, which is customary in such arrangement projects, a base was sought that would be neutral toward the user’s personal style. 2 years later during a visit to the residence, it was observed with surprise that the “designed areas” reached at the end of the construction were practically untouched and had been transformed into a “casual home”.