2005
A visual study of the Silahtarağa Power Station before its transformation, Sign of Life traces the physical and emotional remnants of Istanbul’s industrial past—fragments of memory and the quiet persistence of space.
The Silahtarağa Power Station was the first urban power station in the Ottoman Empire. Built at the confluence of the Kağıthane and Alibeyköy rivers at the end of the Golden Horn, it was Istanbul’s sole electricity supplier from 1914 to 1952. Silahtarağa’s generation capacity peaked at 120,000 kilowatts in 1956 and gradually declined until the plant was closed on 18 March 1983. The site spanned 118,000 square metres and included machine rooms with turbine generators, boiler rooms, administrative buildings, workers’ quarters, and large coal yards.
Today, after undergoing significant architectural adaptation starting in 2004, the Silahtarağa Power Station stands as one of Turkey’s key industrial heritage sites, symbolizing the early electrification and modernization of Istanbul.
Çağdaş Biber 