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COVER STORY | POWER LIST
MURAT & MELKAN TABANLIOĞLU
PARTNERS
TABANLIOĞLU ARCHITECTS
Loft Gardens,
Turkey (left);
Astana Arena
(top); Tripoli
Congress Centre.
Murat Tabanlıoğlu and his wife
Melkan are partners at one of the
most highly rated and prolific firms
in the Middle East. What’s more, the
Turkey headquartered practice has
recently opened a Dubai office, to
capitalise on the winning of a major
mixed-used tower complex on JBR.
With its undeniable design flair, the
practice has picked up several MEA
Awards including Architect of the
Year in 2010.
In 1990, Tabanlıoğlu Architects
was formed by Murat, who studied
architecture at Vienna Technical
University and graduated in
1992. Melkan joined Tabanlioğlu
Architects in 1995 after studying at
Istanbul Technical University and
Polytechnic University of Metropolitan
Catalonia.
The firm has had the biggest
impact in Turkey with buildings such
as Levent Loft & Loft Gardens and
Kanyon (with Arup & Jerde); Sapphire
tower, the tallest residential
building in Europe; contemporary
urban complex Zorlu Center (with
EAA); and an urban transformation
project Istanbul Galataport.
One of its most impressive buildings
is the Tripoli Congress Centre
in Libya, an elegant and intricately
designed public project. It has also
highly active in Kazakhstan, having
designed the Palace of Peace (with
Foster + Partners), Astana Arena,
Astana Media Centre and Almaty
Fitness Centre.
The opening of the Dubai office
will surely result in a swathe of GCC
projects for Tabanlioğlu Architects.
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