Murat Tabanlıoğlu

Carrying his legacy into the future, +MURAT TABANLIOĞLU is an international architecture and design studio led by architect Murat Tabanlıoğlu, recognized for a body of work that bridges heritage and contemporary innovation. With a practice shaped by decades of cultural, civic, residential, and large-scale urban projects across Europe, the Middle East, and beyond, the studio approaches architecture not merely as construction, but as a long-term cultural responsibility.

Murat Tabanlıoğlu is an architect whose work navigates the intersection of infrastructure, culture, and public life, exploring how architecture can carry memory into the future. Educated at the Vienna Technical University, he has developed a career that spans four continents and engages a wide spectrum of typologies, from cultural and civic landmarks to large-scale mixed-use developments, hospitality destinations, and infrastructural works. His projects extend across cities such as Istanbul, London, New York, Doha, Berlin, Astana, and Dubai, reflecting a practice deeply rooted in context yet open to experimentation and global dialogue.

Throughout his career, Tabanlıoğlu has realized significant public and civic buildings, including the Atatürk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Milas–Bodrum International Airport, the Beyazıt State Library, Istanbul Sapphire, Tersane Istanbul (Haliç Shipyard), the Galata Greek School, the Stade du Sénégal stadium in Senegal, the Doğan Media Center in Ankara, the Crystal Towers in Dubai Marina, and the Astana Media Center in Kazakhstan. In the fields of residential and hospitality design, his work includes Loft and Loft Gardens, Bodrum Loft, and a portfolio of projects along the Mediterranean and across the Middle East. These works demonstrate his enduring commitment to architecture that is socially responsive, locally grounded, and emotionally resonant.

His projects have received broad international recognition. Loft Gardens received the RIBA Award in 2011, followed by another RIBA Award in 2013 for Bodrum Airport. The Beyazıt State Library was shortlisted for both the Mies van der Rohe Award (2017) and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2019). His work has been exhibited in leading cultural institutions and biennales worldwide, including the Venice Architecture Biennale, where he curated Places of Memory in 2014, and MAS Antwerp, which hosted his exhibition Port City Talks in 2015. His installation housEmotion, presented in Milan, London, and Dubai, further illustrates his interest in the emotional and atmospheric dimensions of architectural experience.

Tabanlıoğlu contributes actively to architectural discourse as a juror, advisor, and lecturer. He has served on the juries of the World Architecture Festival (WAF), the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the RIBA International Prize, the WAN Awards, the Architizer A+ Awards, The Plan Award, and the MIPIM Asia Awards, offering insight shaped by decades of practice that connects heritage with contemporary design culture. His academic engagements include masterclasses at Istanbul Bilgi University and Kadir Has University, as well as lectures at institutions in London, Milan, Beirut, Berlin, New York, Vienna, Hong Kong, and Doha. His cross-disciplinary thinking has been documented in the books Transparency and Modernity (2014) and Stage_0 (2018), both of which articulate his evolving exploration of representation, place, and cultural memory.

Today, as the founder of +MURAT TABANLIOĞLU, he leads a studio committed to emotionally intelligent, contextually aware, and intellectually grounded architecture, a practice that connects people, place, and experience while carrying his architectural legacy decisively into the future.

Operating with a research-driven, interdisciplinary mindset, the studio focuses on emotionally intelligent and hybrid architecture, design that responds to the complexity of modern cities while maintaining a profound respect for memory, landscape, and social context. Guided by the principles of Tailoring, Trust, and Heritage, every project is conceived as a bespoke dialogue with its place: architecture is never generic; it must be crafted with intention, precision, and empathy.

+MURAT TABANLIOĞLU works through a constellation of creative collaborations and international networks, engaging partners, institutions, and craftsmen across disciplines. The studio believes in shared authorship, open collaboration, and enduring presence, building not only structures but also meaningful relationships with the communities and clients it serves.

From cultural landmarks to masterplans, from hospitality destinations to urban transformations, the studio’s work is united by a commitment to design that is locally grounded, culturally resonant, and boldly future-facing. Each project merges inherited knowledge with forward-looking experimentation, ensuring that architecture remains both a carrier of legacy and a catalyst for new narratives.