Date

1976

Author

Yıldırım, Yavuz

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Nationalism as an ideal is known to be the result of social and political developments within the European community, during the course of the 19th century. This ideal, which caused the heart-lifting events of the past century in the western world, was also responsible, in a certain way, for the gradual disintegration and the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Greek war of independence and the establishment of the modern Greek State in 1830, set the example for a series of similar revolutions, mainly in the Balkan provinces of the Empire. By the end of the First World War, they all had successfully reached their goals of national independence. It was after another four years of internal strife that the Ottoman Dynasty was abolished and the modern Turkish State was established on the remaining lands of the Empire. Turkish Nationalism was undoubtedly an outcome of European Nationalism. It's effects on the Turkish elite who had got used to associate himself with the West throughout the 19th century, was immense. The newlv formed Ottoman middle class, educated in western terms and appreciative of it's merits, were the passionate supporters of the movement. Purification of the language and the increased volume of the press communication were of great help in disseminating the new ideas. Turcification of the old amalgamated culture was progressitıg rapidly on a western basis. European literary forms were structuring the National Literatüre. The piano was finding it's way into Turkish music as a new instrument, and the vestern style painting with local subjects became a popular art form at the state capital. In this lively atmosphere, the architecture of the decade found itself a national style under the guidance of two young Turkish archîtects: Vedat Bey and Kemalettin Bey. Their struggles were unfortunately limited to the treatment of the facades iti true Ottoman proportions. In reality their massing and plan layouts were not too different frora what was being done in the European market, and this was undobtedly due to the fortnal education they had received from foreign istructors. Hovever, their struggles to revive the graundeur of 16tb century Ottoman architecture thıough the use of the classical Ottoman arcbitectural elements, fortned the peak of Ottoman Eclecticism , in parallel to European Eclectic Revivalism. A critical analyais of Kemalettin Bey's buildings built during the last decade of the Ottomans, reveals to us that, behind the glittering main façades of these pretentious edifices, one can witness the last struggles of an Empire, trying to hold on in a world of international intrigue and economic imperialism. New dimensions in business interactions, and International commerce uhich had developed the capital town out of it's walled-in confinement, was drastically altering the cultural heritage and the historical entity. Important religious and ethic values were altnost totally forgotten, and the last religious edifices of the Empire became so insignificant that they had no chance of comparison with their counterparts in the new business world. Uhat was really achieved by this set of pompous buildings, which drained the last resources of the Empire on material imports and technical assistance, was a nostalgic view of the past glories on the brink of extinction.

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http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/1976/cilt02/sayi_1/9-34.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/51366

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Department of Architecture, Article