Category: Infrastructure
Type: Tower
Location: Küçük Çamlıca, Üsküdar
Date: 2011-2020
Designer: Melike Altınışık
Period: Republic of Türkiye
Photos: Ege Acar, Melike Altınışık Architects-MAA
The Istanbul TV and Radio Tower, designed by Melike Altınışık Architects following a 2011 competition, stands as a 369-meter tall futuristic landmark that harmonizes organic design with advanced engineering. Rising from the topography of Küçük Çamlıca Hill, the structure features a monolithic core wrapped in a glass fiber reinforced concrete facade that deforms symmetrically to capture diverse panoramic views of the Bosphorus, the Historical Peninsula, and the Black Sea. Beyond its architectural role as a vertical public space housing exhibition areas, media libraries, and high-altitude observation decks accessed via panoramic elevators, the project serves a critical urban function by consolidating over 80 FM radio transmitters into a single point. This integration effectively eliminated the visual clutter of legacy antennas across the skyline while significantly reducing environmental radiation, transforming a functional telecommunications hub into a sophisticated socio-cultural icon of modern Istanbul.
