Atatürk Cultural Centre
Rebuilt performing arts complex on Taksim Square with an opera hall, theatres, cinema and gallery.
The Atatürk Cultural Centre, universally known as the AKM, opened on Taksim Square in 1969 as Turkey's flagship opera house and modernist landmark, designed by Hayati Tabanlıoğlu. A fire in 1970 closed it for several years, and after decades of use it was shut in 2008 amid a long public argument about its future. The original building was demolished in 2018 and replaced by a new complex designed by Murat Tabanlıoğlu, son of the first architect, which opened in October 2021.
The new centre keeps the memory of the old façade grille while adding a red-tiled spherical opera hall that is visible through the glass front. It contains the Türk Telekom Opera Hall seating roughly 2,000, a theatre stage, a cinema, a multi-purpose hall, a recital hall, an exhibition gallery, a library and a design shop set around a public square. It is the main Istanbul home of the State Opera and Ballet and the State Symphony Orchestra, and a principal venue of the Istanbul Culture Road Festival.
Highlights
- Türk Telekom Opera Hall seating about 2,000 behind a glazed front
- Red-tiled spherical auditorium visible from Taksim Square
- Theatre, cinema, recital hall and exhibition gallery in one complex
- Istanbul base of the State Opera and Ballet and the State Symphony Orchestra
