The symbolic $300 million glass building opened two years ago (September 2021) on the site of the previous, smaller building, purchased by IBM in 1977.
Designed by New York-based architecture firm Perkins Eastman, with the support of Turkey's Dizayn Group, the new 171-meter building towers over the neighboring United Nations Plaza, which houses the US Permanent Mission to the UN., The building at the top forms a tulip, the most revered flower in the Ottoman Empire.
It features prominent loggias on the upper floors that offer sweeping views of the East River, Long Island and downtown Manhattan.
The building design includes a passport and visa branch, common areas, meeting rooms, a multi-purpose prayer room and an auditorium.
Turkevi is also curved at the edges to represent the crescent moon on the Turkish flag.
The design of the entrance area is inspired by the roadside caravan sarais (inns) of the old Silk Road where weary travelers once stayed to rest and recuperate.
