2020 – ongoing
Client: National Palaces Restoration Department, Istanbul
Exhibition Design: Guicciardini & Magni Architects
Lighting Design: Arch. Massimo Iarussi

Inside the Topkapi Complex in Istanbul, once the residence of the sultan and administrative center ofthe Ottoman empire, the new Porcelain Museum is being set up, which will house precious collections of European and Asian origin, as well as Ottoman.
The Museum is housed in a recently restored building, originally used as an establishment of the Imperial Mint, which preserves the testimonies of its ancient destination: hoists, crucibles, ovens; in some rooms the channels to convey and cool the rivulets of molten metal are still visible on the floor.
The exhibition project aims to intervene on two different registers, to enhance both the building and the collections on display. For the building, a very warm light has been adopted, with effects that evoke the incandescent glows of its original function. In some rooms, where it was not possible to hide the luminaires, these were placed in custom made housings, with rudimentary geometries that recall the industrial equipment present, mixing with them.
The precious porcelain works, mainly exhibited in showcases, are illuminated instead by combining punctual light and diffused light, with miniaturized luminaires hidden from view.