Municipality Defends Golden Horn Bridge To Unesco Reps As Criticisms Build

In a meeting with UNESCO representatives, the İstanbul municipality said the Haliç metro bridge across the Golden Horn will not negatively affect the silhouette of the historical peninsula, the Taraf daily reported on Thursday.



UNESCO representatives are in Turkey for meetings that began on Tuesday with İstanbul officials as well as civil society organizations on the subject of large-scale projects such as the Taksim project and urban renewals being conducted in historical areas of İstanbul. Municipality officials informed the representatives of updates to plans on the Haliç metro bridge, which would include special lightings systems and colors which would make the bridge less apparent to the eye and reduce its affect on the silhouette of the historical peninsula.



The Haliç metro bridge project has come under increasing criticism from experts. Earlier concerns were that UNESCO would consider putting İstanbul on its list of "world heritage in danger" due to the effect of the bridge on the city's skyline, although UNESCO approved the construction in 2011.



Speaking to the Taraf daily, however, Yegan Kahta, an associate professor working at the Turkish branch of the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), argued that the lighting solution would do little to prevent obstruction of the historical view of the Golden Horn and said another solution would be necessary.



Eyüp Muhcu, the president of the İstanbul branch of the Chamber of Architects, said damage to the heritage of the Golden Horn is unpreventable with the addition of the bridge. Architect Barış Altan, a member of the nongovernmental group S.O.S. İstanbul, echoed that one need not be an architect or engineer to estimate the harm the bridge will cause to the silhouette of the historical peninsula.



(Cihan/Today's Zaman)