A Triumph of Design and Patience: The CSO Concert Hall in Ankara, Turkiye Becomes a Cultural Landmark
Turkiye’s newest landmark is an architectural triumph highlighting the Monolithic Dome’s versatility.
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Ankara is a city where structures of antiquity and modernity meet. In the background at right, rising above the dome is Ankara Castle, which can trace its roots to the 8th century B.C.
Turkiye’s1 new Presidential Symphony Orchestra (or CSO from the Turkish: Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası) Concert Hall in Ankara, Turkiye, officially opened in 2021 and has since hosted hundreds of performances by artists from every artistic genre and every corner of the world. It features two Monolithic Domes and has become a symbol of Turkiye’s rich and ever-evolving cultural landscape and is the country’s artistic epicenter.
The 14-acre campus, often referred to as the CSO Ada Ankara, was completed in 2020, but because of the pandemic, there was about a year’s delay between the official opening night and when the country’s premiere orchestra began regularly performing in their new home. However, a year of waiting was nothing compared to the almost 30 years between the project’s inception and completion.
When Monolithic arrived in Turkiye in 2013, they found that the footings for both domes were already in place. The ferris wheel of the former Wonderland Eurasia is seen in the background.
Decades in the Making
The odyssey began in May of 1992 with a design contest in which 45 design firms submitted plans for a national cultural complex. The first prize went to Uygur Architects, a Turkish architecture firm founded by a husband and wife team, Semra Uygur and Özcan Uygur. When they won the prize, Uygur Architects was a relatively new firm, just five years old. The young couple undoubtedly designed the concert hall with the future in mind. Still, no one could have foreseen that they would have to wait nearly three decades before being able to attend a concert at the national landmark they had designed so long ago.
The massive Airform for the 2,023-seat main concert hall, named the Ziraat Bank Main Hall, is being prepared to be shipped to Ankara from Monolithic’s fabric architecture manufacturing facility in Texas.
Metropolis Magazine published an article online in 2021 that stated that in the years between the contest and completion of the project, “[Turkiye] has been through five presidents, ten prime ministers, and twenty ministers of culture.”
In 2013, here at the Monolithic Dome Research Park, we were oblivious to the work and planning happening for a project in Turkiye that would include two large domes and result in a world-class cultural campus and concert venue. So, when Gary Clark began fielding phone calls requesting pricing for Airforms and construction consulting for a project in Turkiye called the “Presidential Symphony Concert Hall,” he was unsure if the project was real or not. He was surprised when he began receiving emails with photos of a job site with massive circular and elliptical footings already in place.
Gary Clark, VP of Monolithic, tours the underground facilities at the construction site of Turkiye’s Presidential Symphony’s new home.
Members of Monolithic’s crew traveled to Turkiye and toured the site. While in Ankara, Clark and Monolithic’s founder, David B. South, discovered the engineering plans had already been drawn up. They had been completed by a firm familiar with single-curvature arch design, not concrete thin-shell engineering. As a result, the domes were over-engineered and called for much more rebar and concrete than what would typically have been used in a Monolithic Dome. The engineering aside, Monolithic built the Airforms and consulted closely with the Turkish contractors who built the two domes. ↩︎
The glass pyramid that bridges the two domes draws inspiration from and pays respect to important Turkish landmarks and monuments close by.
A Timeless Design
The CSO Concert Hall has a timeless design. The Uygur Architecture website reports that the judges for the 1992 nationwide contest said, “The building reveals a symbolic architecture that will not wear out over time, rather than a design language that can be valid for a certain period of time.” The site says, “The triangular prism that joins the two domes reflects and pays homage to other important Turkish landmarks and monuments nearby. The striking cultural campus sits between Ankara Castle and Anitkabir, a mausoleum complex and the resting place of Modern Turkiye’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.” The Uygurs felt the new concert hall should not interrupt the views from or to either existing monument. To accomplish this, the buildings extend 42.5 feet below ground.
Clark and South were impressed by the four-story cavern, which had already been carved out below the footings of the soon-to-be-constructed Monolithic Domes when they initially toured the site in 2013. ↩︎
A Landmark and Cultural Island
In a story for the Hürriyet Daily News in October 2021, Haberin Devami interviewed the Presidential Symphony’s conductor, Cemi'i Can Deliorman, who reported that the landmark cultural center offers residents of Ankara the chance to “listen to different music genres and many local and foreign ensembles” in both of its concert halls—the 2,023-seat Main Hall and the 500-seat Blue Hall.
The reflecting pool can be lit at night with any color by spotlights mounted to the perimeter of the Monolithic Dome’s base.
Deliorman said that the grounds of the venue are extensive and that it has “become the central point of our cultural life with its open-air areas, [Presidential Symphony Orchestra] museum, foyer areas, cafeterias and restaurants.” He went on to call the campus a “unique island of art.” He emphasized the variety of performances anticipated to unfold there, citing plans to host concerts ranging from “jazz to ethnic music to concerts of traditional ensembles and choirs, especially the concerts of the CSO.”
Devami reported that Deliorman emphasized the importance of the new Turkish landmark, saying, “Culture and art metropolises of the world are known for their orchestras and concert halls. As we see in countless examples, such as Berlin, Sydney, New York, Los Angeles and Hamburg, cities …are recognized [for] their orchestras and iconic concert halls. The Symphony Orchestras, which represent the peak points of cultural and artistic production, are the most important part of the cultural memory of these metropolises and the strongest object of their promotional showcase at the same time. From this perspective, the [Presidential Symphony Concert Hall] will become a strong part of the international culture and art network as a [symbol] not only for Ankara but also for Turkiye.” ↩︎
Presidential Speech at Inaugural Concert
The inaugural concert for the new 673,250-square-foot Turkish landmark was held on December 4, 2020, with Turkiye’s President Erdoğan giving the opening remarks. In the rousing speech, President Erdoğan expressed his regrets about limiting attendance to the event because of the pandemic. However, he felt it was essential to move ahead with the celebration because of the importance of the new cultural center to the Turkish people.
Much effort was spent ensuring the acoustics of the concert halls at the CSO Ada Ankara were perfect for any seat in the house.
He spoke about feeling proud of Turkiye’s new home for the CSO—a concert venue grand enough to compete on the world stage—not only because of its impressive modern architecture but also because of the technical aspects of the undertaking. He called the venue “…a special building,” with both the small and the large concert halls’ acoustics having been expertly designed.
Erdoğan expressed his hope that the Symphony Hall would host many performances by private musical groups and the country’s symphonies and opera and ballet companies. He said he hoped the building would be a haven for artists and art and that the public would have the opportunity to listen to the voices “of all the world [and] from different languages” and that the beauty from those voices would be “reflected [in] the musical notes in this building.”
President Erdoğan’s speech crescendoed with his wishes that “symphonies of peace will be heard in the venue” and that the concert hall would reflect “the rich culture of Turkiye.”
Inside the great triangular prism is a beautiful lobby leading to the concert halls, practice rooms, museum and gift shop.
He congratulated the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the designers, architects, construction workers and contractors. He said, “On behalf of myself and on behalf of my nation, I would like to congratulate each one of them who contributed to the [creation] of this building.”
Erdoğan spoke about poetry, art and music originating from every part of the world and coming together in Turkiye. He said that art from the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic lands, the “Asian areas and Western culture,” from the home of Buddhism to the Middle East and “all the way to Egypt” flows like water from springs and collects nearby to listen to history. He said, “The Bosphorus [Bay] has embraced the blue flow of the Euphrates and our sounds of joy and passions and victories. Yes, Turkish music is the reflection of such great accumulation and harmony. It is the summary of our 1,000 years of civilization.” ↩︎
This beautiful auditorium reaches deep underground.
Concerts and Performances
Over the last four years, according to the venue’s Instagram, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall has hosted many concerts by Turkish opera and ballet companies, the CSO and smaller groups from within the symphony, such as a cello quartet. Children’s musicals have been staged, and Turkiye’s Multi-Voice Choir has given epic performances.
The landmark cultural center has played host to international symphonies like the Budapest Festival Orchestra and many solo and group artists from around the world, like the pianist Islam Manafov from Azerbaijan. In addition, an international flair can be found in many of the concerts given by the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, such as multiple performances dedicated to Elvis and an entire night devoted to ABBA!
JamBase.com lists upcoming concerts at the Presidential Symphony Concert Hall in Ankara. Notable acts in November of 2024 include performances by MaNga, who represented Turkiye at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo with the song “We Could Be The Same,” and Sibel Can, a much-loved singer, dancer, actor and TV host. ↩︎
1Monolithic has adopted Turkey’s preferred spelling of the country’s name, Turkiye, pronounced tur-key-yay. ↩︎
A view from the lobby of the CSO Ada Ankara.
An entrance to the museum and gift shop.
The upper-level walkway is replete with architectural details and a confluence of forms.
The Airform for the main auditorium was heavy, so Monolithic brought the crane inside to help prepare it for shipping—business as usual in the busy textile manufacturing plant.
One Airform has been rolled up and is ready to be added to the shipping container.
David B. South poses for a picture to give scale to the rebar ready to be tied into one of the domes’ structural steel.
The two sides of the central pyramid were already in place when Monolithic arrived in Ankara. Zoom in on the workers in the basket under the arch to get a better idea of the scale of this project.
The Airform for the main concert hall is in place and ready to be inflated.
Inflation of the Airform, which will eventually become the larger of two Monolithic Dome concert halls, is well underway.
Both Airforms are inflated for the new CSO Ada Ankara symphonic auditoriums in Turkiye.
The CSO’s conductor, Cemi'i Can Deliorman, called the new campus a “unique island of art” in a 2021 interview. Ankara Castle is in the background at center and the minarets of Aslanhane Mosque, built in the 13th century, and Ankara’s Kursunlu Mosque, from the 16th century, are at right.
The CSO Cultural Center provides a place where all types of art can be enjoyed. Several visual art installations dot the campus grounds.
Entrances to the Main Concert Hall on the upper level of the building.
The contrast of a right angle and a curve creates beautiful visual interest at the apex of the lobby.
A crescent moon over the CSO Ada Ankara echoes the Turkish flag.
A couple strolling the grounds at night stops to inspect a sculpture.
Artwork displayed at the campus of the CSO Ada Ankara—the artistic heart of Turkiye.
The timeless design of the new Turkish landmark offers a mix of rectangular, triangular and dome shapes, which is visually interesting from every vantage point.