ISTANBUL — Behind a yellow tarpaulin on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue workers are painstakingly restoring a 123-year-old apartment building as part of an ambitious project to revitalize the city’s vibrant architectural heritage. 

The Botter Apartmani, designed by Italian architect Raimondo D’Aronco, was the first Art Nouveau building of the Ottoman Empire when it opened at the beginning of the 20th century. In recent decades it has been neglected and allowed to slip into disrepair, its roof crumbling and its walls home to pigeons and stray cats. 

The building, also known as Casa Botter, is one of the city’s 32 major restoration schemes due to be completed next year. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality also has hundreds of other projects underway. The plan is to open these buildings to the public as arts and culture venues while also maintaining Istanbul’s heritage. 

In Beyoglu, the district that has Istiklal Avenue at its heart, respect for the neighborhood’s structural history has fallen victim to rampant commercialization. Corporations buying up fading 19th century edifices tend to overlook architectural treasures as they convert the buildings into shopping centers.