OMM (Odunpazarı Modern Museum): Kengo Kuma Architecture and Exhibitions

Since opening its doors in September 2019 right at the entrance to the historic Odunpazarı district (founded by Eskişehir-born art collector Erol Tabanca to house his 1,000-piece collection of modern Turkish and international art), the Odunpazarı Modern Museum (OMM) has become an international architectural pilgrimage site and winner of the European Museum of the Year Special Commendation.

1. The Architecture: Why Kengo Kuma Stacked Blonde Pine Boxes

Designed by world-celebrated Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma and Associates (designers of the Tokyo National Stadium and V&A Dundee), the 4,500-square-metre building pays direct homage to both the history of Odunpazarı ("The Wood Market") and traditional Ottoman overhanging timber bay windows (cumba):

• From Urban Scale to Intimate Rooms: on the outside, dozens of stacked, cantilevered boxes made from interlocked laminated Scots pine beams step upward like a cluster of wooden townhouses, with gaps between the beams acting as natural mashrabiya sunscreens.
• The Central Skylit Atrium: step inside the ground-floor lobby and look straight up: the four stacked timber levels twist around a soaring central atrium, drawing your eye up to a skylight ceiling where daylight filters down through warm wooden ribs.

2. The Permanent Bamboo Installation & Rotating Exhibitions

Right inside the ground-floor gallery stands OMM's signature permanent site-specific work: a monumental, swirling floor-to-ceiling vortex woven entirely from strips of organic Japanese tiger bamboo without glue or nails over fifteen days on site by fourth-generation Japanese bamboo master Tanabe Chikuunsai IV and his apprentices, symbolising the four elements of wind, fire, water and earth in Anatolia. Upstairs, rotating exhibitions showcase Turkish modern masters (from Erol Akyavaş, Burhan Doğançay and Fahrelnissa Zeid to contemporary digital and textile artists).

Visiting Hours, OMM Inn & Café Tips

OMM is open Tuesday to Saturday throughout the day, and Sundays throughout the day (Closed Mondays). After touring the galleries, browse the design bookshop and enjoy vegan/vegetarian bowls, third-wave coffee and art-inspired pastries in the sunny courtyard of OMM Café (which connects directly to the 12-room boutique hotel OMM Inn).