With the Poster Presentation titled "Local Expansions of Modernism in Turkish Architecture", first held in 2004, DOCOMOMO Turkey National Working Group aims to go beyond the limits of the existing literature and initiate a comprehensive and participatory documentation study that will play an active role in better understanding and preserving modern architecture.
Local Expansions of Modernism in Turkish Architecture, held at Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture on 25-26 December 2020 XVI |online in 2020, Lecturer Aslı Kırbaş made her Istanbul Koşuyolu Neighborhood Presentation.
This study, it is aimed to draw attention to the protection of this neighborhood, which is important for the modern architectural heritage and the history of Istanbul.
In the presentation, the course conducted by ITU Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Restoration Ph.D. Program, Asst. Prof. Dr. Yıldız Salman within the scope of the "Conservation of Modern Architectural Heritage". This study spread over a long period in the light of the studies carried out between 2016-2018 and supported by newly discovered original archive documents. A documentation study has been carried out. This study, it is aimed to draw attention to the protection of this neighborhood, which is important for the modern architectural heritage and the history of Istanbul. Archival research and compilation of information. It was conducted by Ph.D. students and academics Aslı Kırbaş, H. İlke Alatlı, and Yeşim Erdal, who took the specified course in different periods under the leadership of Asst. Prof. Dr.Yıldız Salman.
The text of the Koşuyolu Neighborhood Presentation in the Book of Poster Presentations and Abstracts is as follows:
Kosuyolu Neighborhood, located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, within the borders of Kadıköy district and very close to the city center, is one of the first examples of the municipality's attempts to establish cheap workers' houses, which started in 1948, to meet the increasing housing needs of Istanbul, whose population started to increase in the 1950s. It has been designed to appeal to the low- and middle-income group, including more than 400 residences of different sizes, built with black-painted construction techniques, as well as bazaars, police stations, kindergartens, schools, cinemas, parks, and social facilities.
Kosuyolu Neighborhood, which constitutes an early stage of the mass housing production works carried out to solve the housing problem of the rapidly increasing population in the city, which developed in line with the housing need of the period, Belediye Evleri (workers' houses and shipyard houses are also located in this section) and Kredi Yapı San Dağıtım, located in the east of Koşuyolu Street. The interior consists of the main design sections, known as the Houses and the Bank Houses located in the west. The project, which started to be planned in 1948, was completed in 1968 with the construction of various stages. In 1948, the planning was made by Kemal Ahmet Aru and the architectural drawings belonged to Rebii Gordon. On the other hand, more than one stage by the Municipality Houses and the contributions of important names of the period, such as Leyla Turgut, Sait Özden, and Seyfi Arkan, which are associated with this stage, are mentioned.
As a neighborhood designed for this area, which was outside the city at the time it was built, consisting of meadows and fields; Although a significant portion of the residences in the settlement has undergone both functional and formal transformations with the influence of the changing urban dynamics today, it is one of the early and important examples of the search for a housing solution similar to Levent Neighborhood on the European side of Istanbul in the late 1940s, on the Anatolian side. The building group reflects the architectural language of the Modernist movement in terms of enriching its typological approaches and a simple configuration with detailed features. In addition, its historical and social value can be mentioned because it reflects the socio-economic characteristics of the period, gives information about construction technology, and reveals changing life practices.
Lecturer Aslı Kırbaş briefly stated the following about the presentation:
“These presentations carried out by Docomomo worldwide and by Docomomo_Tr in Turkey for many years have had a significant impact on archiving many modern architectural heritage building/construction groups throughout Turkey, bringing them to the agenda and creating public opinion in terms of taking urgent measures for their protection; A huge archive and memory has been created. These meetings, which also allow the participation of academics from many universities in Turkey, are also very valuable in terms of being valuable environments where experience sharing takes place. We should encourage the participation of our students in the years to come.”
We congratulate our teacher Aslı Kırbaş and wish her continued success.
