Architecture and the Turkish City: An Urban History of Istanbul since the Ottomans

Description

Architecture and urban planning have always been used by political regimes to stamp their ideologies upon cities, and this is especially the case in the modern Turkish Republic. By exploring Istanbul’s modern architectural and urban history, Murat Gul highlights the dynamics of political and social change in Turkey from the late-Ottoman period until today. Looking beyond pure architectural styles or the physical manifestations of Istanbul’s cultural landscape, he offers critical insight into how Turkish attempts to modernise have affected both the city and its population. Charting the diverse forces evident in Istanbul’s urban fabric, the book examines late Ottoman reforms, the Turkish Republic’s turn westward for inspiration, Cold War alliances and the AK Party’s reaffirmation of cultural ties with the Middle East and the Balkans. Telltale signs of these moments - revivalist architecture drawing on Ottoman and Seljuk styles, 1930s Art Deco, post-war International Style buildings and the proliferation of shopping malls, luxurious gated residences and high-rise towers, for example - are analysed and illustrated in extensive detail. Connecting this rich history to present-day Istanbul, whose urban development is characterised anew by intense social stratification, the book will appeal to researchers of Turkey, its architecture and urban planning. Cover Author bio Endorsement Title page Copyright information Table of contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Modern Istanbul: a mirror of Turkish political history 1 Late Ottoman Istanbul: early modernity, nationalism and the end of an empire Changing architectural tastes and new building types The Balyans: the apostles of architectural change Search for a new Ottoman architecture The Hamidian era: Istanbul between modernisation and absolutism Alexandre Vallaury: a gifted Levantine Art Nouveau: a prized style The Ottoman dream: a brand-new Istanbul Young Turks and the Second Constitutional Era: from Oriental to Ottoman Revival architecture The end of Ottoman Istanbul 2 Republican Istanbul: secularisation of the old city Architecture in the early Republican years Modernising Istanbul: Prostian years The 1930s: Istanbul’s ‘apartmentisation’ Art Deco: a prized architectural style in 1930s Istanbul Return to nationalistic tendencies Emergence of the Second National Style of Architecture Postwar Istanbul Architecture in transition 3 1950s Istanbul: postwar dynamics and change Istanbul in the early Democrat years Istanbul reshaped: Menderes’ redevelopment programme 1956–60 The new fashion: International Style Residential architecture Opera house: a decades-long dream The end of the DP era 4 Istanbul between two coups: many plans, many failures Planned economy Emerging popular subculture New hopes: plans guiding Istanbul Istanbul’s architecture post-1960 The first skyscrapers Bridging the Bosphorus Trailblazing architects of the 1970s Istanbul in the troubled years ‘Apartmentisation’ continued 5 The 1980s: Istanbul encounters neo-liberalism Dalan’s Istanbul Three squares, three urban design competitions The architecture of the 1980s New hotels, new tall buildings Gated community housing: a new model for the urban rich 6 The 1990s: political instability, financial crises and architecture adrift Sözen’s Istanbul More shopping malls, more high-rise buildings The end of the Sözen era New media architecture The inclination to look to the past The aftermath of the 1999 earthquake 7 From 2000: marching towards a global city Istanbul during the AK Party years Projects to create the image of a global city Waterfront reshaped The ‘Crazy Projects’ A real estate heaven Urban Renewal: great hopes, unbearable hurdles Shopping malls: the cathedrals of consumerism in global Istanbul A new skyline dominated by high-rise Taksim and Gezi Park: an ideological battleground Epilogue From Gezi to the ‘spirit of Yenikapi’ What is next? Notes Bibliography Index