engineering

Istanbul Sapphire

Istanbul Sapphire is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Istanbul Sapphire rather than just read about it. In short: Istanbul Sapphire, or Sapphire, is a residential skyscraper located in the central business district of Levent in Istanbul, Turkey. It was Istanbul's and Turkey's tallest skyscraper between 2010 and 2016, and the 4th tallest building in Europe when its construction was completed in 2010.

Key takeaways

Istanbul Sapphire belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Istanbul Sapphire to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Istanbul Sapphire from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Istanbul Sapphire, or Sapphire, is a residential skyscraper located in the central business district of Levent in Istanbul, Turkey. It was Istanbul's and Turkey's tallest skyscraper between 2010 and 2016, and the 4th tallest building in Europe when its construction was completed in 2010. Sapphire rises 54 floors above ground level, and has an above-ground roof height of 238 meters: the building has an overall structural height of 261 meters including its spire, which is part of the design and not a radio antenna. Designed by Tabanlıoğlu Architects, it is a shopping and luxury residence mixed-use development managed by Kiler GYO. It is also the country's first ecological skyscraper. As of 2020, Istanbul Sapphire is the 4th tallest skyscraper in Istanbul and Turkey, behind the 284-meter-tall twin towers of Skyland İstanbul located adjacent to Türk Telekom Stadium in the Seyrantepe quarter of the Sarıyer district, on the European side, and the 280-meter-tall Metropol Istanbul Tower in the Ataşehir district on the Asian side of the city.

History and architecture

Istanbul Sapphire was designed by Tabanlıoğlu Architects as a high-tech structure which consists of 64 floors (54 above-ground and 10 basement floors), communal living floors, extensive parking spaces, a large shopping mall, and 47 floors for residential use. There are special floors with private gardens between every 3 floors, and every 9 floors are separated from each other by a communal living area or mechanical floors. Design of the gardens are proposed with a number of alternatives and the consistency of garden maintenance is under the residence management company's responsibility.

Turkey's deepest excavated construction pit The foundation pit excavated for the project – 42.5 meters deep – is the deepest foundation pit excavated for any structure in Turkey.

Construction work Construction of the project began in 2006 and was completed in 2010. The building's official opening ceremony took place on 4 March 2011. The project is built on a land plot of 11,339 m2 (122,050 sq ft) and has an overall total construction area of 157,800 m2 (1,699,000 sq ft), which includes a 35,000 m2 (380,000 sq ft) shopping mall.

Companies The companies involved in the development and construction of the project have included thus far:

Kiler GYO (investor and developer) Güney Turizm (Mustafa Tatlıcı, owner of the plot) Biskon Yapı (construction subsidiary of Kiler Holding and the project's main construction company) Demsar İnşaat (project's sub-contractor for the structural construction of the skyscraper) Tabanlıoğlu Architects (the project's architectural design firm) Ruscheweyh Consult GmbH (consulting firm with expertise in wind loads on buildings and structures)

Gallery

See also List of tallest buildings in Istanbul List of tallest buildings in Turkey List of tallest buildings in Europe

References

External links

Istanbul Sapphire (official website) Archived 2009-08-18 at the Wayback Machine Pictures of Istanbul Sapphire

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Istanbul Sapphire

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Istanbul Sapphire claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Istanbul Sapphire before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Istanbul Sapphire ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Istanbul Sapphire

In research: Istanbul Sapphire appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Istanbul Sapphire in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Istanbul Sapphire is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century architecture in Turkey, Buildings and structures completed in 2009, Buildings and structures in Istanbul, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Istanbul Sapphire outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Istanbul Sapphire in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Istanbul Sapphire means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Istanbul Sapphire out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Istanbul Sapphire in simple terms?

Why does Istanbul Sapphire matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Istanbul Sapphire?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Istanbul Sapphire.