FAST LANE TO ISTANBUL

The other major influence on their work is the city of Istanbul itself. “There is more than a thousand years history behind the city with so many different cultures”, she tells me. “It’s all about contrast, the old and new, and we draw our creativity from its chaos”. Their first offices were located in the historic Galata district of Istanbul—a deliberate choice. “It was like a laboratory for us”, explains Sefer. “There are lots of craftsmen there. So, it was a suitable place for making prototypes and trying out new techniques”.

It is also the location of The Galata Istanbul Hotel by MGallery Hotel Collection, which opened in April 2018 in a beautiful former bank building dating from 1836. Its spa is housed in an exquisite Turkish bath built in the early 18th-century. Autoban’s design inspiration for the project came largely from the Ottoman period. The geometrically patterned marble floors and wallpapers were inspired by historic gardens and mosques, and flower motifs on windows and glass ceilings were derived from old tiles. They were also keen to add touches of green in certain areas. “The street is very narrow, with very high stone buildings”, notes Seyhan. ”So, there’s not much nature in the area”. “Their design approach is very ‘glocal’ and also subtle and timeless as well”, enthuses MGallery’s senior design director, Isabelle Sicart. “They have the capacity to create an inspiring experience with an emotional touch”

“Their design approach is very ‘glocal’ and also subtle and timeless as well. They have the capacity to create an inspiring experience with an emotional touch”

ISABELLE SICART, SENIOR DESIGN DIRECTOR, ACCOR

Seyhan and Sefer first met in 1995 while at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. She was in the architecture section, he was studying interior design. They readily admit to having quite different characters. She is more decisive and has more of an overall vision of projects; he is more creative and more focused on details. It’s a combination that obviously works. “We look at things in different ways”, asserts Seyhan. “It enriches, it moves our designs, our ideas forward”. Their stated aim with each new product and project is “to add value to people’s lives”. They do so with an aesthetic that involves lots of layering and the presence of many geometric patterns. And for a firm, whose name is derived from road travel, it’s a little ironic that two of their most significant projects to date are linked to aviation. They were responsible the designing the interiors of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, and won numerous awards for the Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge at the international terminal at Atatürk in Istanbul. Unfortunately, the latter is now just a remembrance of the past. “The airline just moved to a new airport”, explains Seyhan. “Still, it’s something that will stay in our memories forever”.