Sixty Million Years Old
September 17-October 30, 2005

Sarkuysan Building / Frej Apartment,
Şişhane Square

The territory on which İstanbul is located consists of different geological layers from different ages; the Paleozoic Age was 600 to 230 million years ago, the Eocene Age was 60 million years ago, the Neogene Age was 26-2.5 million years ago, the Pleistocene Age was 2.5 million to 20,000 years ago.

You have the chance to choose between the different ages of the earth in İstanbul!

İstanbul's builders have chosen a lithological entity which has existed since the very first day: biocalcarenite.

Biocalcarenite is a stone that began to come into being when seas were raised and transformed into pieces of land. It contains seashells from 60 million years ago. It is 60 million years old. I don't know what the old Architect Kyriakidis was thinking when he built the Frej Apartment, but he chose 60 million year old biocalcarenite. Sarkuysan bought the Frej Apartment in 1983. While I was doing its restoration in 1988-89, I used the 60 million year old biocalcarenite. I was 30.

Frej Apartment / Sarkuysan Building stands on the northwest of the Golden Horn, on Şişhane Boulvard, in Galata. There is something unique about that area, including Pera! It is the only geological area within the city boundaries of İstanbul that came into being during the period of carboniferous formation.

What does this mean? Carboniferous was the oldest of the 5th era, among the 11 geological ages that the world has passed through. In this era, continents grew closer to each other, the climate got warmer, giant forest flora evolved and this caused the mermerization of coal. Reptiles were seen for the first time, mountains formed, volcanoes emerged, mammals showed great development, all living beings adapted to icy environments, equatorial rain, dry earth or warmth.

Well, while this was happening in the northwestern area of the Golden Horn, in Galata, Pera, Karaköy, other parts of İstanbul were still under water.

We just walk over it today. We pass in front of it, we look around it!

I put 150 magnifying glasses on the front side of the Frej Apartment. So that you can see all the memories and the experiences of these stones. You will join this shared memory while looking through those magnifying glasses.

Handan Börüteçene
August 2005 - Pera, İstanbul