TURKISH DELIGHT

Ever since the advent of the Bilbao effect, cities around the world have strived to recreate the success of the Frank Gehrydesigned Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain. Opened in September, the Odunpazari Modern Museum (OMM) in Eskisehir, Turkey, is the latest contender. Founded by art collector and entrepreneur Erol Tabanca, this museum seeks to showcase modern and contemporary art by local and international artists while creating a cultural centre in the university town in northwestern Turkey. Designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates (KKAA), the museum architecture made reference to the district’s history; the Odunpazari district took its name from its origins as a timber trading market and the wooden cantilevered Ottomanera houses in Turkey. Interlocking timber boxes are stacked one on top of the other to create varied art spaces, with a central light- well at the atrium suffusing the museum with daylight. OMM Inn, a boutique hotel adjacent to the three-storey museum, continues the museum’s nature-inspired ethos with cosy rooms clad in a calming palette of light wood and stone. A site-specififi c installation by Japanese bamboo artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV has also been commissioned to commemorate the museum opening. Built using the Tiger bamboo from the Kochi prefecture in Japan, Chikuunsai’s sculptural work pays homage to the district and its venue; it features interwoven strands of bamboo that soar towards the ceiling.