Palazzo Donizetti Istanbul, Tapestry Collection by Hilton / Public Areas
We are pleased to share the artworks we created for the public areas of Palazzo Donizetti Istanbul. This work covers the reception, lobby, restaurant, restrooms and meeting rooms. It is part of an art program that connects the hotel’s historic architecture, the legacy of Giuseppe Donizetti, the composer who gives the hotel its name, and the cultural memory of 19th century Istanbul. The artworks were brought to life through a holistic process that spanned art consultancy, concept development, design, production and on site installation. Each piece was conceived for its specific location, shaped by that area’s function and atmosphere. In this article, you will find the starting points of our approach, how the works took shape, and how they were adapted to the public areas of Palazzo Donizetti.
Palazzo Donizetti Art Program | Between Music, Memory and Space
Donizetti built a bridge between Italian opera and the Ottoman court. He played an important role in shaping the Mızıka-i Hümayun, the imperial band, and left a lasting mark on the musical life of 19th century Istanbul. We approached his life, the universal language of music and the cosmopolitan Istanbul of his time as a dialogue. We looked for its traces in archival documents, handwritten manuscripts, theater posters, musical instruments and the architectural fabric of the city. Five ideas shaped every artwork as we carried these historical fragments into a contemporary visual language: layering, fragmentation, rhythm, harmony and dialogue.
Recomposition | A Sound Born from Fragments
Recomposition stands at the reception as a sculptural focal point, bringing the hotel’s identity into view at the very moment of arrival. The cello was built from individually shaped fragments, reassembled into a single form and finished in deep navy. The form is broken apart and brought back together, and in doing so it refers to Donizetti’s compositions and manuscripts. It becomes a metaphor for a sound that reaches from the past into the present. Framed by dark wood paneling and warm light, the work turns the reception from a place of welcome into the opening chapter of a story.
Hands in Overture | Overlapping Scenes
Hands in Overture, located in the lobby, brings together images from different eras and narratives through a series of overlapping frames. A conductor’s gesture, an opera curtain, a backstage scene, a sheet of music and the moment of composition read as layers that reflect the fragmented nature of memory. A baton and a violin bow are physically built into the composition. They carry the rhythm and continuity of music beyond the wall and into the space itself, bringing the fragmented scenes together into a single narrative.
Folded Melody | A Note in the Memory of the Space
The second work in the lobby, Folded Melody, combines a textured relief surface covered in musical notation with a metal gramophone form that extends beyond it. The gap left between the two layers gives the work physical depth and casts shadows that shift throughout the day. The piece was positioned with the architectural axes and sightlines in mind. It merges with the wooden wall behind it and builds a strong relationship between art and space.
Color Resonance | In the Footsteps of Music
The Color Resonance series in the restrooms reinterprets stylized instrument forms through hand textured painted surfaces and layers of metal. Each piece is placed on its own in a single stall, offering guests a small exhibition experience in an unexpected setting. The series brings a trace of music into an intimate space, and each stall becomes an exhibition space that completes the hotel’s overall concept.
Echoes of the Gallery | A Story Echoing Across the Wall
Set along the restaurant’s stairwell wall, Echoes of the Gallery is one of the project’s most extensive wall compositions. Frames of varying sizes and shapes are mounted at different depths, giving the wall a rhythmic, three dimensional structure. Instrument and piano imagery sits at the center, surrounded by historical references to opera, concerts and Istanbul. The composition can be read as a journey from Donizetti’s life to memory, from music to opera, and finally to Istanbul.
Istanbul Landscapes | A Quiet Companion in the Meeting Rooms
In the meeting rooms, classic Istanbul landscapes carry the project’s narrative forward in a simpler and calmer voice, with gilded frames and a soft color palette. The works sit naturally within the hotel’s architectural language and offer a quiet yet distinctive presence alongside thinking, creating and conversation. They also bring the project’s idea of cultural continuity into the meeting spaces.
Color in Dialogue with Space
The artworks use deep navy, dark brown, gold and warm earth tones, which echo the hotel’s wood paneling, brass details and historic character. The collection brings together sculpture, relief, installation and painting. Although it takes different forms from one area to the next, this shared palette lets it read as parts of a single whole.
Diğer Projeler
ALAN Project
