MUSEUM
BUILD
DESIGN
İstanbul, Turkey
2023
Hagia Sophia Mosque
The Hagia Sophia Experience Museum is located on the Hippodrome of Constantinople (Latin: Circus Maximus Constantinopolitanus; Turkish: Hipodrom), a circus that served as the sporting and social center of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today, it is known as Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul’s historic peninsula, Turkey. The building itself is the Defter-i Hakani Building, which served as the center for land registry records and ledger books during the Ottoman period. The structure, which stands upon some Byzantine ruins, was completed between 1908 and 1910 and designed by Architect Vedat Tek, one of the pioneers of the First Turkish National Architectural Movement.
In 2024, during the building’s transformation into an experience museum, Yurdaer Architecture is proud to have designed and built the Museum Shop, Museum Café, steel constructions in the main building, the Dome for the digital experience hall, and the Ottoman Gates in the Hagia Sophia Experience Museum.
Developed and operated by DEM Museums under the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with architectural consultancy by Ebru Kantaşı, the Hagia Sophia Experience Museum has been awarded the MUSE Creative Awards, receiving the title of Gold Winner in the Experiential & Immersive category for both Exhibition Experience and Augmented Reality.
