Destination of the Week: Istanbul

As writer Shonquis Moreno put it, after traveling to Turkey’s most cosmopolitan city for the first annual Istanbul Design Biennial, "Istanbul is a city of chaos, improvisation, and irony, where a canon of calls-to-prayer ripples through a secular republic five times a day. Megaprojects born of an unsustainably strong economy rule the day: The city is carving a 30-mile canal—a second Bosporus—from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and a cross-continental metro tunnel, from Europe to Asia, beneath the strait." Today, a modern heart beats within its ancient walls. Here, a compilation of Dwell's favorite finds in the city that bridges—both literally and figuratively—Europe and Asia. Slideshow

Here is the view from the Galata Tower in Istanbul, looking down on the Galata bridge and some of the prettiest rooftops in town, on the edge of the fashionable Beyoglu district. Photo by Cristobal Palma.