Tell us a bit about yourself and about Bose International.
I am a design architect with 25 years of professional experience. My background is quite international. I got my master’s degree in the United States, then worked at an international architectural office Hellmuth, Obata and Kasabaum (HOK) in Dallas for about 16 years and later, as the Vice President and Design Director in Europe.
In 2001 I founded Bose International Planning and Architecture with my partner and friend Oru Bose. The company has an international reach; we design projects in India, in several countries of the Middle East, in Europe and most recently in China. We have been fortunate to design major mixed-use, retail, offices and residential projects around the world.
Is the retail sector your main focus?
Retail and mixed-use projects are interesting because they involve the knowledge of different types. A very good example of a project which for us is the essence of that type is the Eurovea Shopping Center in Bratislava. Eurovea includes luxury residential, an internal covered high street, entertainment areas and office functions all together in one comprehensive component.
We try to have a positive influence on the urban environment by providing mixed-use projects, since they are more lively, more diversified and people have more reasons to be there: to be entertained, to work, to shop, to live there and so on. That’s how our cities are built, so we take very seriously the opportunity to design this type of projects.
Another project which is a very good example is Palladium in the heart of Prague. Even though there were preservation issues involved in its development, we managed to design a mixed-use scheme with offices and multi-level retail very well embedded in the historical fabric of that beautiful city.
Do you see sustainability as a rising trend?
I believe sustainability will stop being just a trend, something fashionable. We just have to care about our environment on many levels, not only how we produce but also how we live, how we use materials and what we will leave to our grandchildren. In the architecture or the urban planning field, this becomes more and more important. There are obviously many structured ways to do it.
We just completed a design for a 16-story class-A office building in Warsaw under very strict rules to achieve LEED certification. BREAM and LEED certifications govern a lot of projects and clients ask for them for a good reason, because it obviously helps their business, but at the same time it’s a proper way to address environmental issues.
Do you believe sustainability is more popular in the office sector rather than in retail?
Yes, retail is complicated in that sense because it’s a much ‘bigger machine’; it involves tenants, inventories, services, deliveries. Usually the share size of the shopping components is substantial so it’s not that easy but we also have clients who are asking for involvement and there are regulations for enough proper relation to the green space.
What do you think about the Turkish market? Do you think there is space for more development?
Absolutely–to a certain extent, Turkey reminds me of Poland in terms of the level of current development, as well as the fact that it’s facing similar issues and has the same advantages.
I think what is very positive in Turkey is that there is a very strong component of local brands, which balances the international mix of tenancy. In addition, the Turkish airway connections are very good, people are very professional, English speaking, and it’s very easy to communicate, which is quite important.
I travel quite a lot and it’s truly exciting for me to be in Istanbul. Being in the design business for so many years I tend to pay attention not only to design but also social and psychological aspects. Istanbul is a really vibrant and exciting city.
I would like to work in Turkey and to bring my expertise from other countries to this market. I’m making interesting connections with people here and I feel very positive about the country so far.
