Faculty of Architecture

Since its establishment as a capital city, the historical topography of Istanbul has witnessed significant changes, created not only by devastating earthquakes and fires, but also by the implementation of large-scale imperial projects. In the existing literature, the transformation of Istanbul’s urban area in the nineteenth century has largely explored the topics of new urban regulations, institutions and their implication after the Tanzimat (reform) decree of 1839. This article aims to explore a lesser-known dimension of nineteenth-century developments of the city: the extension of the railway into the heart of Istanbul’s historical peninsula, and the spatial change around the Sirkeci district due to the physical expansion of the terminus area. The construction of a larger terminus (inaugurated in 1890) is relatively well documented in architectural history, yet developments prior to this monumental construction have been less explored so far. Thus, this article also aims to investigate the project’s development and implementation phases in the second half of the nineteenth century, when the city witnessed continuous urban reformation processes by focusing on the intertwined relations of different agents in the urban space.

This dissertation examines the catalyst and inducer role of the Ottoman Balkan railways network in the urban architecture of the four selected cities in the late Ottoman period. These are Dedeağaç, Edirne-Karaağaç, Selanik and Manastır of the Ottoman Balkans which are explored in the context of railway actorship. On the basis of a comprehensive archival research, the study focuses on three actor positions to explain the themes of change in the architectural and urban sphere; and they are the state, the international entrepreneurs and the locals. Within this framework, the cities are considered as the stage where these actors play their roles in the transformation of their urban architecture with the arrival of the railways. Although each case presents specific ways of change, there are also some common topics in a cross-cultural perspective.

This study aims to analyze the Istanbul Hilton, the Izmir Grand Efes and the Grand Ankara Hotels, which are owned by the Pension Fund, during the 1950-1980 period that witnessed the formation process of modern tourism and tourismarchitecture in Turkey. As the first five-star hotels of their cities, these buildings provide the possibility of tracing the social transformation processes at the second half of the 20th century beyond their architectural properties that reflect and affect the zeitgeist of the period. In this manner, besides the architectural formation of the buildings, this thesis alsoaims to examine the participation of the hotels in social life and the relations of architecture with the changing city life and tourism. Moreover, this thesis offers historical perspectives about tourism architecture, about which adequate researcheshave not been provided yet. Chronologically, the first chapter formulates a general introduction. The second chapter issues the 1950s' Turkey and the Istanbul Hilton Hotel. The third chapter issues the 1960s' Turkey and the zmir Efes Hotel and the Grand Ankara Hotels. The fourth chapter examines the critique of tourism that developed in the 1970s' social and political medium, and the last chapter is a general conclusion
Keywords: 20th Century Turkish Architecture, Modern Architecture, TourismArchitecture, City Hotels, the Pension Fund

Bu çalışmada, XX. yüzyılın başından günümüze kadar Batı dillerinde Türk mimarlık tarihi üzerine yayımlanan metinlerin, bu yazıda tanımlanmış üç dönem içinde geçir¬diği gelişim sürecinin bir değerlendirilmesi yapılmaktadır. Bu değerlendirmede Batı dillerinde Türk ve yabancı yazarlar tarafından uluslararası yayınevlerince basılmış kitaplar ve uluslararası hakemli dergilerde yayımlanmış makalelerin bir kısmı ince¬lenmiştir. Bu incelemede üretilen metinlerin biçim, içerik, bağlam ve ajandasının yıllar içerisinde geçirdiği değişim ve bu değişimin etmenleri analiz edilmeye çalışıl¬mış, bu analizlerle birlikte anılan eserlerin alan için önemine ve alana yaptıkları kat¬kıya da kısaca değilmiştir. Amaç, mimarlık tarihi alanında bir asırdan uzun bir süre içinde oluşan külliyatın genel özellikleri hakkında bir soruşturma yaparken, alanın güncel pozisyonu ve Türk mimarlık tarihi üzerine olan güncel çalışmaların niteliği ile ilgili olarak da genel bir değerlendirme yapmaktır.

This article examines the construction and expansion of a less-known royal shore kiosk complex in Istanbul, namely the Shore Palace near the Cannon Gate (Topkapısı Sahil Sarayı) or Summer Harem, which was built on the outskirts of the royal palace complex in the eighteenth century, to interpret the changing features of royal residential culture and spatial practices. In this article, I aim to propose a new thematic frame based on the central role of the issue of visuality to examine the shifting cultural paradigm of eighteenth-century royal patronage. The eighteenth century witnessed the physical expansion of the complex and renovation of the furnishings several times and the official records of these activities provide us with invaluable information for the visual construction of these buildings, which were torn down after a devastating fire in 1862. Furthermore, the choice of location and all physical changes in the interiors and gardens demonstrate the spatial results of the changing codes of visual culture in the cityscape. In this respect, examination of this case enables us to discuss how the new visual culture was adopted and exercised in and around the royal palace gardens by the royal court members.

This article examines building of the Seyhan Dam (1953–1956) in Turkey. Both Turkish and American agents played significant roles for planning and implementation of the project during the Cold War era. The 1950s provided necessary conditions in Turkey for the rise of new actors and developments to facilitate transition from limited modernity, which had mostly manifested in urban areas, to a more comprehensive state of modernity extended to rural areas. This extension had irrevocable impacts on the natural landscape as well. By referring to some patterns of modernization, this article posits building of the Seyhan Dam as a significant example to demonstrate how state-led modernization extended its scope by means of taming rivers and opening of plains for agriculture in the Cilician (Çukurova) region from late Ottoman to Republican periods.

This article examines the social and architectural context of an extensive building campaign in Turkey in the early twentieth century. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), one of the Second Constitutional Period's prominent political and cultural actors (1908-18), commissioned club and school buildings for social outreach operations. Influenced by their European counterparts, the Committee's protagonists believed that a social revolution could be accomplished by employing the education of the masses. Moreover, education was also essential to create a national identity for an Empire in a struggle. In this context, many clubs (for adults) and schools (for the youngsters) mushroomed in many cities simultaneously. Accordingly, the architecture of new club and school buildings reflected societal concerns and provided remarkable examples of their kinds. The education of the masses and the use of social propaganda by state agents in Republican Turkey have been scrutinized so far. Still the origins of the social engineering projects should be examined to contextualize Republican period developments. Thus, this article examines the building and impact of the clubs and schools of the CUP in the provinces and constitutes a contextual frame for their formative role in Turkish modernization.

One of the most spectacular events of the Ottoman experience of modernity was the inauguration of the Ottoman General Exposition in Istanbul in 1863. The ancient Hippodrome, which is one of the most prominent venues of the city and the setting of memorable celebrations and festivals for centuries, hosted the event and provided the visitors with the opportunity to become part of the modern regimes of gaze and spectacle. This article posits three observer roles to reveal the multilayered structure of urban spectacle in mid-century Istanbul, namely the sultanic gaze, spectacle of the ordinary citizens, and the mediated experience of the foreigner. To understand the particularities of each position, I utilize several visual and textual documents about the exhibition event. Though just a single case in Ottoman urban history, the exposition enables us to understand how the new manner of modern urban spectacle emerged during a spectacular public event in Istanbul.

In this paper we explain our experiences and observations on a blended world history course which combines classical lecture and discussion elements as well as video game sessions in which the students play strategy video games with heavy historical focus. The course, named Playing with The Past, is designed to experiment on how to integrate video games on teaching history especially in order to achieve a higher understanding of the contemporary social, political, economical, and technological context of a given era for a given nation. We ran the course four times between 2015-2018 with different video game titles having different historical models and observe the experiences and learning of students based on the quality of their written essays and articles. Our experiments and observations could be beneficial not only for the design of a general world history course, but also for a history course on specific periods, cultures, and nations.

Name of French cartographer and engineer François Kauffer (~1751-1801) is well known due to his detailed and accurate maps of Istanbul and the Straits. Closely associated with Count Choiseul-Gouffier, the last French Royal ambassador to the Sublime Porte, Kauffer advanced quickly at Ottoman service and became one of Selim III most prominent cartographers. As an engineer, Kauffer was involved in planning and construction of numerous projects, including fortifications. Despite brilliant career, Kauffer was and remained loyal to the French Royalist cause. Apparently this ideological motivation influenced his decision to establish secret contacts with the Russians, when a rapprochement between Turkey and Revolutionary France looked very probable. Napoleon's landing in Egypt brought Russia and Turkey to an unexpected alliance, forcing two empires to begin an information exchange. This allowed Kauffer to partially legalize his relations with the Russians. His knowledge made him a desirable source of information. As a result of these previously unknown Kauffer's secret contacts an important collection of his cartographic works and materials was formed. This valuable collection, which includes diaries and observations, as well as notes of the first ever conducted triangulation of the Bosphorus and Istanbul, is situated in Moscow. Letters of Russian ambassador in Istanbul, Vasiliy Tomara, together with Kauffer's manuscript cartographic materials, which can be traced in the Russian archives, allow revealing of missing parts of Kauffer's puzzled biography.

Since the Crimean War (1853-56), the Ottomans encountered with the problem of settling the Muslim immigrants and it was initially resolved by establishing new towns and villages on vast arable plains in the Balkans and Anatolia. However, it became a necessity to let the immigrants settle in the cities after the massive influx of refugees in 1877-78, when available agricultural lands to assign remained limited in the empire. With the consent of the Sultan, a new urban typology emerged at the outskirts of the cities, which were called immigrant (muhajir) neighbourhoods. This article aims to explore the spatial development of these settlements by the close examination of two cases based on archival materials. Mecidiye, which was established after the Crimean War, stands as an archetypal example and acted as an experimental laboratory. The success of Mecidiye case encouraged the Ottoman bureaucrats for further in post-1878 period. Hence, immigrant neighbourhood in Üsküb demonstrates us how the experience of Mecidiye was disseminated in the empire to establish a new planned settlement at the edges of an existing city. The close examination of Üsküb case provides us with the necessary tools to understand how the resettlement of refugees had cross-geographical spatial patterns.

This article examines building of the Seyhan Dam (1953-1956) in Turkey. Both Turkish and American agents played significant roles for planning and implementation of the project during the Cold War era. The 1950s provided necessary conditions in Turkey for the rise of new actors and developments to facilitate transition from limited modernity, which had mostly manifested in urban areas, to a more comprehensive state of modernity extended to rural areas. This extension had irrevocable impacts on the natural landscape as well. By referring to some patterns of modernization, this article posits building of the Seyhan Dam as a significant example to demonstrate how state-led modernization extended its scope by means of taming rivers and opening of plains for agriculture in the Cilician (Çukurova) region from late Ottoman to Republican periods.

This article examines the social and architectural context of an extensive building campaign in Turkey in the early twentieth century. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), one of the Second Constitutional Period's prominent political and cultural actors (1908-18), commissioned club and school buildings for social outreach operations. Influenced by their European counterparts, the Committee's protagonists believed that a social revolution could be accomplished by employing the education of the masses. Moreover, education was also essential to create a national identity for an Empire in a struggle. In this context, many clubs (for adults) and schools (for the youngsters) mushroomed in many cities simultaneously. Accordingly, the architecture of new club and school buildings reflected societal concerns and provided remarkable examples of their kinds. The education of the masses and the use of social propaganda by state agents in Republican Turkey have been scrutinized so far. Still the origins of the social engineering projects should be examined to contextualize Republican period developments. Thus, this article examines the building and impact of the clubs and schools of the CUP in the provinces and constitutes a contextual frame for their formative role in Turkish modernization.

One of the most spectacular events of the Ottoman experience of modernity was the inauguration of the Ottoman General Exposition in Istanbul in 1863. The ancient Hippodrome, which is one of the most prominent venues of the city and the setting of memorable celebrations and festivals for centuries, hosted the event and provided the visitors with the opportunity to become part of the modern regimes of gaze and spectacle. This article posits three observer roles to reveal the multilayered structure of urban spectacle in mid-century Istanbul, namely the sultanic gaze, spectacle of the ordinary citizens, and the mediated experience of the foreigner. To understand the particularities of each position, I utilize several visual and textual documents about the exhibition event. Though just a single case in Ottoman urban history, the exposition enables us to understand how the new manner of modern urban spectacle emerged during a spectacular public event in Istanbul.

This article applies a critical approach to rethinking the relationship between nationalism and Ottoman architectural historiography by examining the intellectual medium during the late Ottoman period. More precisely, it examines how the history and theory of Ottoman architecture were initially established by Tanzimat (Reform) intelligentsia with the publication of Usûl-i Mimâri-i Osmani (Fundamentals of Ottoman Architecture) (1873). It addresses how the text was later comprehended and criticized by their successors, who utilized it to constitute their own vision of Turkish national architecture. By detailing the rise of the Turkish nationalist movement and the transition from Ottomanism to Turkism as the dominant identity, this article highlights the demand for the materialization of a national architecture as a component of the cultural construction of a national architectural style and the role of new public buildings as the site of nationalizing endeavors at the beginning of the twentieth century. Finally, this article problematizes the extent to which these new constructions can be deemed "national" by investigating the works of a pioneer figure of architecture, Kemaleddin Bey's writings and the design and construction of his dormitory building, the Fifth Vakıf Han, in Istanbul.

This chapter is about the authors' experiences and observations on a blended world history course that combines classical lecture and discussion components of teaching with video game sessions. The students play strategy video games with a heavy historical focus. The course, named Playing with The Past, is designed to experiment on how to integrate video games on teaching history, especially in order to achieve a higher understanding of the contemporary social, political, economic, and technological context of a given era for different cultures and civilizations. This chapter presents the utilization of Crusader Kings, a renowned grand strategy game series, to teach medieval history, which constitutes an integral part of our course. It also examines how the game provides advantages for an immersive learning environment and how it fails to model medieval history at specific points. Our experiments and observations may be beneficial for designing a general world history course and any history course on specific periods, cultures, and nations that aims to utilize alternative tools to deliver a course.