Stitching Istanbul strategically choreographs public space in order to break down perceived social and cultural differences in the cosmopolitan city of Istanbul by creating new relationships between secular and clerical architectonic expressions and programs the attempt is to add cosmopolitan value to the Eminonu District by reintroducing the secular and clerical qualities through cultural weaving and the introduction of modern Turkish architecture.

Turkey has been divided between the secular and clerical for centuries with one suppressing the other one consecutively. While secularism and secularity refers to the organizational and operational system of the state being separate from any religion in a country where multiple ethnicities coexist, clerical systems are the opposing system to this where religion is largely integrated into the operations and decisions of the state. The new political party, Justice and Development, favors clerical systems over secular systems and has, in the past ten years, made changes in that lean the Turkish legislation towards introducing religion into the state system, most of which are seen by the secularist as a threat to not only cosmopolitan values but also to Ataturk’s Principles and Reforms.

EMINONU TEXTILE MUSEUM attempts to balance seemingly conflicting programs of the secular and clerical in the cosmopolitan city. The strategy to achieve the proposed integration of the two is weaving, in the literal manner, with the intention to promote a figurative interweaving of culture. EMINONU SQUARE IS DESIGNED to create a public space where disparate cultures can weave through interaction.

The mosque is set parallel to the shoreline, on the northwest-southeast axis. The L-shaped market, adjoined by a cemetery and a tomb to the east, defines a large courtyard on the hillside. Walls that separate the mosque from the lower docklands on the seaside, until their demolition in the nineteenth century, joined the market at either end to enclose an irregularly shaped precinct.

The Eminonu Square Textile Museum inEminonu District, is the urban center for Istanbul’s Historical Peninsula. The project is a Museum for the city, a new landmark to celebrate the enduring passion of the Turkish fabric

The Eminonu Square Textile Museum combines two new independent tower structures with the existing programs by unification of weaving: The Rug Exhibition (RE) Tower and The Fabric Exhibition (FE) Tower as a cultural meeting point and a venue for textile exhibitions.

The Museum is planned by redirecting several main programs to the main square to create a very public museum with continous inside/outside spaces constructing physical relationships to the city. The Eminonu square becomes the lobby, two towers are the multifunctional exhibition halls,.The two exhibition towers are located on top of the underground passages, which serves to connect the towers to the other side of the road from underground that leads to the Galata Bridge in the Northeast wing, and temporary exhibitions to the Southeast.

Central to the project is the 12 minarets that are weave the two towers together. These 12 minarets contain the cosmopolitan programs of the museum such as the circulation, admissions and bathrooms.

During the ride up IN THE COSMOPOLITAN Minarets atrium, visitors GET TO EXPERIENCE THE IMAMS PERSONAL SPACE . The visitor proceeds through the Exhibitions from top to bottom IN THE CARPET EXHIBITION.

Two aspects of the museological arrangement, the collection of carpets are ordered chronologically from BOTTOM TO TOP, starting with the threads on the top floor in the display dedicated to the city’s urban fabric. From this starting point at the top Rug exhibition, the +fifth level, the visitor will take the spiraling ramp down; linking the process of the construction of the rug. THE two towers skin cross each other THROUGH OUT THE COSMPOLITAN RAMP mimicking the interweaving strands of a Turkish knot.