Why Would Haydarpaşa Ever Need To Be Somewhere Else?

by Yiğitcan Karanfil | Berkeley Prize Competiton 2010 Honorable Mention Prize

Haydarpaşa Train Station, located at the Anatolian (Asian) side of the Bosphorus, is one of the city’s most important landmarks. The station stands next to Haydarpaşa Dock and catches your eye the first moment you see it in silhouette of Bosphorus.

The station is significant in many ways. Most obvious feature of the building is its architecture. The station, which is considered an example of Neoclassic German architecture, was designed by German architects Otto Ritter and Helmuth Conu and completed in 1908. It has been active as a train station since then. The station is named Haydarpaşa because of the district it stands on, which was named after an Ottoman general. Bearing system of the building consists of steel frame, established on 1100 water resistant wooden stakes and clad with lots of ornaments cast on stone. Along with Germans, Italian masonry craftsmen worked during its construction. The building has a “U” shaped plan, surrounding the railway coming from east and solid west facade faces the Bosphorus. When seen from the sea, facade of the building is completely symmetric: a clock at the middle of the station, two towers at both sides, large gates at ground floor and windows which change their shape and size at three other floors. Towers have cone shaped tops and the main structure has an inclined roof with wooden structure. The ground floor contains facilities for passengers, the floors above are currently used by TCDD (Turkish State Railways) administration. There is a small dock in front of the station which is used by boats transporting people between the European side and Haydarpaşa. Even though it’s an architectural wonder, the building was damaged because of several past events and the building went through some repairs. Currently, the roof of the building and claddings are in poor condition due to humidity as a result of standing very close to the sea. In spite of these, the station is quite remarkable with its historical view.

Haydarpaşa Train Station is also the gate from Anatolia to İstanbul. It is the arrival point of trains from Anatolia. You can see the station in many old Turkish movies. Meeting and parting scenes at Haydarpaşa Station in movies can be considered a cliché or maybe a classic. Arriving to Haydarpaşa Station equals arriving in İstanbul. Most probably, the first thing any fictional or real person would do when he arrives at the station is going through the gates of the station to the coast and take a look at the view of the Bosphorus. It is the best way to convince yourself that you arrived in İstanbul. Haydarpaşa Port stands next to the station, thus the rail and water transportations are connected to each other. So apart from human transportation it also takes part in transferring shipment from sea to inner regions of Anatolia.

Above all these, Haydarpaşa Train Station has a special value for people of İstanbul. People almost have emotional bounds with this building. Being a train station, it reminds many people of their memories about traveling, people they bid farewell or they greet. I assume dozens of movies filmed in this station and books telling about this station causes people to feel a little more dramatic about it. Locals of İstanbul really love this building.

Despite all the historic, architectural, economical and cultural values Haydarpaşa Train Station presents, future of the station doesn’t seem to be too bright. Damage done by the weather conditions and sea are not the actual danger, as they are repairable with some maintenance (which unfortunately doesn’t seem to be done). The bearing system also doesn’t have problems. The real danger for the building is politics.

Currently, there are many “urban transformation” projects designed for İstanbul. Those projects are claimed to be for benefit of the people but in reality they will mostly bring harm to people or have no advantage for them. Haydarpaşa is one of the areas that will be victim of this so called “transformation” process and projects proposed for the area caused negative reactions from locals and public organizations.

First project about Haydarpaşa was exposed in 2004. Yes, I said exposed because the project was hidden from the public. All newspapers and TV channels were broadcasting about Haydarpaşa was going to be “Manhattan”. According to the project, the area including the port and the station would be converted into a World Trade Center consisting of seven skyscrapers (inspired by seven hills of İstanbul, what a great imagination!). Haydarpaşa was thought to be a commercial center by the coast with skyscrapers, which resembles Manhattan. Sadly, the current situation of the Bosphorus is not too well. Most of the green areas are already filled with insignificant buildings as a result of irregular urbanization and there is a skyscraper at the European side which is built by bending and breaking some laws (but still stands). A project like this would be the final blow to destroy the silhouette of the Bosphorus. Haydarpaşa Station would be a small dot standing next to seventy-storey buildings of the trade center. Besides, the station’s destiny was a mystery back then, and it still is. As it can be guessed, the public hated and protested the project. Especially The Chamber of Architects was completely against this “Haydarpaşa Manhattan Project”. The project wouldn’t only harm the silhouette, but it also would transform public spaces into private property. Later, the project was redesigned. It still would destroy the port, but this time there were no skyscrapers. Still, the project intended to convert the area into a commercial center with hotels, congress centers, hospitals, culture centers, yacht clubs etc. Another project intended to re-establish Haydarpaşa like “Venice”. This project offered dividing the region to artificial islands with water channels and building post-modernist strange buildings in those islands. The role of Haydarpaşa Station seems to be a hotel or museum in all projects proposed. Authorities are quite insistent about ending its function as a train station and converting the area to a commercial center. Different news and rumors about the station is spread in every few months. So, no one has a clue about what actually is going to happen to the station and the area around it. I’ve talked to some people working at the shops inside the station, and learned that they don’t even take the projects seriously, thinking of them as just rumors.

Actually, municipality of İstanbul organized urban planning project competitions for Haydarpaşa area before. Unfortunately the ideas of winning projects, which re-organize the coast for use of public, are not even taken seriously at all. Objections from any expert are also ignored. The government is only interested about projects that will bring economical profits. These projects would not be legal due to restrictions at these areas a few years ago. So instead of changing the project they changed some laws to make it possible! This should give you a clue about their determination.

Construction of Marmaray project (which is another disaster for Haydarpaşa Train Station) started at 2004 (what a coincidence!) and still continues. The project aims to connect the railways of two sides (Europe and Anatolia) of İstanbul with a tunnel going through the Bosphorus under the sea. Another objective of the project is to solve some part of İstanbul’s traffic problem and decrease the traffic density at two bridges of the Bosphorus. The problem is, as intercity and international trains will also use the tunnel, the project will render Haydarpaşa Train Station practically useless, as the project doesn’t include Haydarpaşa. Actually, Haydarpaşa was a step of Marmaray project, but secretly and without a proper explanation it was cancelled. Any reactions to this act (as predicted) were ignored as well. Besides, the project is also far from solving any traffic problem of İstanbul by the way it is. Along with some other re-organized laws, the project is accused by being just another project only serving administrators’ own economical benefits and criticized heavily. There are other areas that will be “transformed” along with Haydarpaşa with this project. So in this state, when Marmaray project is completed it will perfectly justify ending Haydarpaşa Train Station’s activity as a train station and setting the transformation project in motion.

As you can see, future projects intend to end the transportation activity in the area and transform it into Manhattan, Venice or some other place that isn’t slightly related to current Haydarpaşa or allow public use of these areas. The question is: Why would Haydarpaşa ever need to be somewhere else? Istanbul is already a city which has its own cultural values and today Haydarpaşa is a part of them as it is. After the news of the first project were spread and project was cancelled, authorities involved in projects tried to comfort people and public organizations, by telling that the historical buildings in the area would be preserved, and there would be no skyscrapers to harm the silhouette of the Bosphorus. So what, should we be thankful or relieved? Of course the buildings that carry historical, cultural and social value at the area can’t be destroyed. Of course silhouette of the Bosphorus shouldn’t be stained any more. This is the way it is supposed to be. How many people will go to the train station when it becomes a museum? Who will be able to afford staying there when it becomes a hotel? I can guarantee that it will be much lesser than now. Because of this, many people will lose connection with the station. Keeping the building without its function as station will be like mummifying it, just a dead shell without a soul. The dramatic, nostalgic atmosphere of the building will remain in movies and novels of past, lost in new flashy context of Haydarpaşa.

Instead of transforming Haydarpaşa into somewhere else, improving its functions and evolving it into a more efficient transportation center seems like a much better option to me. To achieve this, first step should be including Haydarpaşa to Marmaray project again before it’s too late. If Marmaray is integrated with Haydarpaşa Train Station, the station will become a crossing point that suburban, intercity and international trains and sea transport if the port is still active. Also, it will become a passage between Europe and Asia. This will allow the transport of the goods brought by the ships to inner parts of land both ways. Also, the area will have a much more important part in public transportation.

The most probable future for Haydarpaşa Train Station is likely to be converted to a museum. Personally, I think the concept of museum is usually something that puts some distance between the public and art. How many people actually go to museums? Only those who can afford and already interested in arts go to the museums and spend time and money for it. Especially in a country like Turkey where life standards aren’t too well for a majority of society, museums are visited by less people. The point is, if the station is shut down and then turned into a museum only a minor amount of people in İstanbul would(or could) go there. However, a solution to this matter can be bringing art to a public space, like graffiti in Berlin or street painters in Florence, in this case to Haydarpaşa Train Station. If art is exhibited in public spaces, everyone can see it without concerns about time or money. Combined with the idea of Haydarpaşa being a transportation center, organizing exhibitions in the station becomes an even better choice. First of all, numerous people will be passing by the station, which means if they are placed at right places, exhibited objects will be seen by much more people. As it is a train station, people will be waiting for trains. Exhibited objects can attract their attention, and people would spend their time examining art objects instead of getting bored in waiting rooms. Moreover, a building like Haydarpaşa Station would be a suitable place for exhibitions. With its architecture, atmosphere, spacious areas and high ceilings, various kinds of art (photography, paintings, sculptures etc.) could be exhibited here. I think there must absolutely be exhibitions at the ground floor which is used more by travelers, but of course they may continue through upper floors. Some part or the whole TCDD administration can be moved to another building.

In these current conditions, my suggestions may seem extreme, but I believe Haydarpaşa Train Station and the area can become a much better place without harming the context, losing its function and bounds with people. The only way to stop current government’s activity seems to be through democracy, which will be up to people of İstanbul and Turkey. I am not against the idea of using buildings with different functions, but Haydarpaşa Station is a special place for many people, and it should stay as a station. Haydarpaşa can be an even better area that meets passengers all over Europe and Anatolia with art without losing its soul and the port can become more active.



Sources:

News archive:
http://www.arkitera.com
http://www.yapi.com.tr

History Of Haydarpaşa Station:
http://haydarpasagar.com/

Details about Haydarpaşa Project and legal process:
TMMOB Mimarlar Odası istanbul Büyükkent Şubesi, “Küreselleşen İstanbul Ve Haydarpaşa”, 2005. Print.