Young Turk

Antalya , Turkey ’s hottest beach getaway, has a refreshingly low-key vibe.

By Karim Rashid

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For my second real vacation in six years – meaning no laptop, cellphone or communication with the outside world – and with the agenda to accomplish about 100 sketches for a science fiction animation movie (okay, I still have to work), I chose to go to the beachside paradise of Antalya, Turkey. This ancient city has a population of 600,000 yet had 6 million tourists in 2005. Evidence of the first human habitation dates back 200,000 years here – the perfect inspiration for a sci-fi film?

I checked into Hillside Su, a design hotel, and took a suite facing the Mediterranean and the 50-metre-long pool. The enormous colour-changing lobby has huge disco balls and trance playing constantly. The rest of the refrigerator-white hotel and rooms reminded me of the work of 1970s New York interior designer Joe D’Urso (who designed Calvin Klein’s loft, among others). The minimalism leaves you really free to think, to create, to be inspired and to Zen out.

The best shopping bargains are for Turkey’s famously inexpensive and beautiful leather coats and bags. Many of the designs look like they’re stuck in the 1980s or ’70s – which, I must admit, was a great time for fashion – with amazing colours from fuchsia to lime. This is also the place to buy jewel­lery. Instead of traditional pieces, I saw un­usu­al contemporary jewellery that I have never seen before. The only other place that comes close to the wild designs is Brazil.

In the old town, Kaleici, the landmark Hadrian’s Gate and an ancient minaret stand, as well as a 600-year-old mosque. The winding streets hide romantic tucked-away tea rooms, carpet shops and pensions. As I walked around the quiet streets, I came across the Sefa Turkish bath, an example of 13th-century Seljuk architecture, still heated by firewood. Then I dined at the Antalya Marina, with views of antiquated boats and the darkest, bluest Mediterranean.

Antalya ’s new architectural structures are quite interesting, including the Glass Pyramid and Talya Convention Centre and the Minicity – a faceted deconstruction that merges into the terrain. The miniature park houses small versions of architectural icons, such as the Colosseum in Rome and the Greek Acropolis. I did not get all my sketches done, but now I’m tanned and ready to work for another six years!

Globalove,

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