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The engineer who made Türkiye’s first high-rise buildings possible and became a global name in structural design, Irfan Balioglu, passed away at the age of 79 after a long struggle with FSHD, a rare muscular disease he had lived with since the age of 14.
Balioglu, founder of Balkar Engineering, was known for turning projects that exceeded local boundaries into engineering realities. His company announced his passing, noting that he had been regarded as a mentor for generations of engineers. The statement said the funeral will take place on Dec. 2 at the ITU Maslak Campus Abdulhakim Sancak Mosque.
Born in 1946 in Egin, Erzincan, he moved to Istanbul with his family and faced increasing physical challenges after being diagnosed with FSHD, a condition in which muscle cells gradually turn into fat cells over time. With almost no knowledge of the disease in Türkiye at the time, he received a poliomyelitis diagnosis first, a treatment route that further worsened his condition until the correct diagnosis was made when he reached university age.
Despite his illness, Balioglu pushed forward in structural engineering, graduating from ITU Civil Engineering in 1968. He wrote Türkiye’s first software for structural design at a time when computers were legally forbidden to be imported, bringing one into the country clandestinely to power his work.
He helped design facilities and large-scale industrial structures considered impossible to calculate manually in the pre-computer era, including Pendik Diesel Motor, Gebze AEG-ETI and Aliaga HABAS steel plants, and the UM Denizcilik shipyard, known as one of the largest in the Middle East.
Balioglu’s designs laid the foundations of Türkiye’s modern skyline. Major projects such as Akmerkez, Mersin Business Center, Isbank Headquarters, Zorlu Center, Istanbul Sapphire, Skyland Istanbul, Ege Perla, Istanbul Airport, and the Istanbul TV and Radio Tower rose thanks to his precise structural calculations.
He also represented Türkiye abroad and received the Russian State Award in 2008 for the Russian Tax Department building.
His life and professional journey were chronicled in the book "Engelli Bir Muhendisin Engel Tanimayan Yasami," edited by Pelin Dervis. The work documents both his engineering milestones and the social history he witnessed. After the news of his death, the book became harder to find.
Balioglu’s memoir includes notable recollections, such as the difficulty of securing work in certain countries. One account describes how a project for Turkmenistan’s president at the time led to a conflict over marble materials, culminating in legal action abroad and a grounded Turkmenistan aircraft in Istanbul due to an unpaid sum. The incident eventually ended when contractors collectively covered the payment.
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