Trump Cadde / Istanbul / Turkey

Trump Cadde / Istanbul

Cadde brings more than 25 carefully chosen retailers and of course restaurants to the Trump Towers Mall’s roof terrace, creating an environment much more than what you might expect from any other mall. Inspired by the qualities of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and the agora, Cadde reinterprets the ancient codes into a context-specific design that strives on bringing localism to the shopping mall. Both the bazaar and agora are deep rooted within the local culture therefore the user experience invokes familiarity through memory that, in turn forms a sense of belonging.

The simple and creative concept uses modular units between the two towers, creating main alleys and secondary aisles. Crisscrossing paths slice through the primordial mass maximizing the façade areas, whilst providing shortcuts and creating cyclical and dynamic spaces throughout the project. The lower level houses 18 shops and restaurants, and provides an urban setting with plazas, wider alleys, down to more narrow shortcuts. Communal, interdependent benches as well as private seating for each unit are playfully arranged throughout.  These informal features combined with themed terraces invite the visitors to remain in a totally alternative setting to the mall below and discretely connects the units with the plazas, creating a friendly network arranged around the sharing of space. Fully opening facades carry the individual atmosphere outside from each unit and erase the boundaries between the inside and outside, while bringing in natural daylight and allowing large eye-catching window displays. 

The context-specific fully opening facades are exceptionally beneficial to the project as they allow natural ventilation during the hot summer Istanbul months, significantly lowering energy consumption levels. The second, upper level is less dense. Parks and large deck spaces invite the visitors to a less hectic atmosphere where they can relax and observe the hustle and bustle from above. On this level a community garden project has been included with several large planters. This communal space allows the local residents, most of whom have never owned a garden, to grow their own herbs and plants while (re)establishing (re)ationships and reconnecting with each other via sharing and open exchange. 

This key feature is an asset in an area where the inhabitants are deeply consumed in their urban lifestyles. The unifying design approach also becomes most obvious on the terrace. A steel frame construction paired with an underfloor technical layer provides flexibility for the layouts of each unit. The varying matrix of unit sizes range from 15 to 90 m2, with 3m ceiling heights, are all interchangeable and can be easily merged or added to in the future.