A SCREEN IN THE URBAN VOID: OPEN AIR CINEMAS OF IZMIR FROM 1950s TO THE 1980s

Date

2024-1-15

Author

Güzel, Berfin

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This study concentrates on the open-air cinemas of Izmir from the 1950s to the 1980s with a particular focus on the open-air cinemas of the Alsancak region as a case study within the framework of the concept of heterotopia. Doing so, the analysis intends to shed light on the internal dynamics of open-air cinemas to analyze the mobile and flexible character of these spaces in relation to their neighborhoods as well as urban networks. Accordingly, the impact of these urban voids-cum-neighborhood cultural hubs on a variety of urban scales forms the core of this study. Methodologically, the study is an interdisciplinary one bringing together architectural and urban history with cinema studies. As sources, it utilizes existing documents on the history of the open air-cinemas such as maps, ticket stubs, posters, newspaper announcements, and photographs as well as oral histories and documentary films on the subject. As part of the field research, it conducts semi-structured interviews with witnesses of the period and examines the archives of the planning and urbanization directorate of the relevant municipality for the visual representation of cinemas. At the same time, the thesis dwells upon some comparisons with examples from other cultures. Doing so, this study aims to draw a framework for the general spatial characteristics of the open-air cinemas in Izmir in the period from the 50s to the 80s and open a ground for discussion of selected examples and their position in the urban context.

Subject Keywords

Izmir, Open-Air Cinemas, Heterotopia, Urban Void, Exhibition Space

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/108289

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis