A Tree Grows in Beyoğlu

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 22 September 2017)


       Mother Nature always has the last word.

The Botter Apartment House, an art nouveau edifice on İstiklal
Avenue in Beyoğlu, Istanbul, has been vacant for a long time.
Nevertheless, a fig tree has emerged on the top floor of the
abandoned building.  The structure was built in 1900-1901 by
Italian architect Raimondo D'Aronco and belongs to the Turkish-
Jewish Kahmi family.

Ali Hacıali, the general secretary of the Istanbul office of the
Chamber of Architects, stated that "from an architectural
standpoint we have to protect the original state of our historical
structures.  If D'Aronco were to see the state his work has fallen
into he would roll over in his grave.  The appearance of a fig tree
on the top floor is tragicomical.  We ought to recall the saying
'ocağına incir ağacı dikmişler' (meaning, to ruin a family by
planting a fig tree) for the Botter Apartment."