Analyzing of Giuilo Mongeri’s Early Republic Period Building Eskişehir Ziraat Bank in Scope of Cultural Heritage Management
Eskişehir Ziraat Bank Building is one of the branch buildings which was designed by Giulio Mongeri (1873-1951) in Anatolia during the Early Republican Period. The building’s design has features of the First National Architectural Movement and it is one of the symbol buildings of urban identity. According to correspondence from 1906 and 1907, Ziraat Bank (established in 1888) requested land for the new branch building in Eskişehir. Construction started in 1928, and the building was opened on the seventh anniversary of the Republic’s establishment on 29th October 1930. In 1978, the company requested to demolish the building. In 1979 it was registered as Immovable Cultural Property to be Protected since it belongs to the pre-1930 Republic Era. In 2005, it was designated as Protection Category I (one). The building underwent various interventions during the time However, it is hard to follow these because of the lack of any restitution project. The study aims to reveal the original architectural and artistic elements of the building by tracing the changes in the structure and comparing it with other buildings, according to documents, reports, drawings, and photographs received from archives. In this study we evaluate the elements of Mongeri’s Eskişehir Ziraat Bank Building’s design that reflect the movement’s features and we also consider the place it held in its era. The results of our study show that Mongeri used the features of this movement in the arrangements of the facades, and also in the entrance and customer hall using Ottoman elements such as Bursa arches, muqarnas, hatayi, and so on, and all these elements can be seen today. Although the building’s holistic value has been reduced because of changes in the entrance door as well as the non-existence of original furniture, the addition of a new interior door, and modifications related to technological improvements, the building still has the characteristics of the First National Architecture Movement.
Giulio Mongeri’nin Erken Cumhuriyet Dönemi Yapısı Eskişehir Ziraat Bankası’nın Kültürel Miras Yönetimi Kapsamında İncelenmesi
Eskişehir Ziraat Bankası Binası, Giulio Mongeri’nin (1873-1951) Erken Cumhuriyet Dönemi’nde Anadolu’da tasarladığı şubeler arasındadır. Kent kimliğinin simge yapılarından olup Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık olarak adlandırılan dönemin özelliklerini taşımaktadır. Ziraat Bankası’nın (kuruluş 1888), Eskişehir’de bir şube açmak için arazi tahsisi talebi 1906-1907’deki yazışmalardan izlenebilmektedir. Binanın yapımına 1928 yılında başlanabilmiş, açılışı Cumhuriyet’in kuruluşunun yedinci yıl dönümünde 29 Ekim 1930’da gerçekleşmiştir. 1978 yılında bu bina yıkılmak istenmiş, 1979 yılında, 1930 yılı öncesine ait Cumhuriyet Dönemi Yapısı olması nedeniyle Korunması Gerekli Taşınmaz Kültür Varlığı olarak tescillenmiştir. 2005’te Koruma Grubu I (bir) kategorisine alınmıştır. Zaman içinde çeşitli müdahaleler geçirmiştir ancak öncesinde restitüsyon araştırması yapılmaması nedeniyle değişikliklerin izlenmesi zorlaşmaktadır. Çalışma, arşivlerden derlenen belgeler, çizimler, eski fotoğraflar vb. ışığında yapıdaki değişimlerin izini sürerek ve diğer yapılarla karşılaştırarak özgün mimari ve sanatsal öğeleri ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Mongeri’nin Ziraat Bankası Eskişehir Şube Binası’nda, akımın özelliklerini yansıttığı tasarım unsurları ve dönem içindeki değeri irdelenmektedir. Bulgular, Mongeri’nin akımın özelliklerini cephe düzenlemesinde, giriş ve müşteri holü iç mekân tasarımında, Bursa kemeri, mukarnas, hatayi, rumi vb. Selçuklu-Osmanlı unsurlarını da kullanarak günümüze kadar yansıttığını göstermektedir. Giriş kapısındaki değişiklik, özgün mobilyaların günümüze ulaşamaması, iç mekânda kapı yapılması, teknoloji bağlantılı değişiklikler gibi nedenlerle bütüncül değeri azalsa da, yapı Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık akımı özelliklerini korumaktadır.
Eskişehir Ziraat Bank Building (1928-1930) is one of the branch buildings which was designed by Giulio Mongeri (1873-1951) in Anatolia for Ziraat Bank during the Early Republican Period. The building’s design has features of the later as First National Architectural called Movement and it is one of the symbol buildings of urban identity. The building began to be constructed in 1928, and the opening ceremony took place on 29 October 1930 during the celebration of the seventh anniversary of the Republic. In 1978, the company planned to demolish the building. In 1979 it was registered as an Immovable Cultural Property to be Protected since it belongs to the pre-1930 Republic Era. In 2005, it was designated as Protection Category I (one).
Over time, the building underwent various interventions. However, it is hard to follow these because of the lack of any restitution project records. During our research on the building’s interior, it was possible to investigate only the customer hall on the ground floor of the building, due to security measures. The study aims to reveal the original architectural and artistic elements of the building by tracing the changes in the structure and comparing it with other buildings. Our examination of Ziraat Bank Eskişehir Branch Building’s historical process was completed using documents, photographs, and reports from Eskişehir Region Directorate of Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board, and Municipality of Tepebaşı, Eskişehir. While the plan was analyzed, we used records from before alteration current project and from the 2013 alteration project obtained from T.C. Ziraat Bank Construction Management Department’s Archive.
The First National Architectural movement took place between ca. 1908 and 1930 very higly. The forerunners of this movement were Architect Kemaleddin, Vedat (Tek), Arif Hikmet (Koyunoğlu), and Giulio Mongeri. This movement was initiated to create an architectural identity in which the Seljuk and Ottoman styles were revived in the last period of the empire with new materials and techniques. It ended around the mid-1930s because it became impossible to reflect the young Republic’s modern characteristics and new spatial needs. Giulio Mongeri is one of the Levantine architects who had a significant role in the First Nationalist Style. Giulio Mongeri was born in Istanbul and completed his education at the Brera Fine Arts Academy in Milan, Italy. After he returned to Istanbul, he started his own business working on free architectural works from his office. Later he became one of the teachers of the Academy of Fine Arts (Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi) and worked there at intervals from 1909 to 1928. He carried out many projects mostly in Istanbul and Ankara, such as Karaköy Palace (1920), Maçka Palace (1922), Osmanlı Bank (1926), Iş Bank (1929), Ziraat Bank (1929), the Headquarter’s Building of Tekel (1928), and elsewhere.
Since he was an official architect of Ziraat Bank, he built many branch buildings in several cities such as Izmir, Aydın, Kütahya, Manisa, Adana etc.. Mongeri made a significant contribution to the history of Turkish architecture with several examples in three different styles: “Western-influenced Eclectic Style,” “First National Architectural Movement,” and “Modern Architecture.” One of the First National Architectural style buildings which express the Seljuk and Ottoman architectural elements was Ziraat Bank Eskişehir Branch Building (1928-1930). The building’s facades have classical elements of the style, such as reliefs, the shape of windows, plasters, details emphasizing the entrance, etc. The facades were not organized symmetrically because of the built-up area, except the entrance facade. The front of the building that faced the streets had more ornaments and reliefs than the rear of the building . Facades were partitioned vertically and horizontally with moldings and plasters. The form of the windows varied across floors. Vertical elements created a rhythm on the facades and thus the building is cited as an example of the effects from Renaissance style during the First National Architectural Movement. Ornaments which were placed above the windows of the first floor matched the Bursa typed arches in the customer hall. The arches which reflect the 14th and 15th Century Ottoman Architecture were assembled with muqarnas headed pillars as one of the most determinative elements of Seljuk and Ottoman Architecture. Reliefs under the arches, motives on the pillars, and the above-mentioned elements are the representatives of the movement. Vertically placed ornaments from both exterior and interior created unity in the design. The building has three floors: the basement functioned as storage, the ground floor was available for banking services, and the first floor was planned as lodging for employees of the bank. Today these lodging areas have been transformed into offices.
The changes and their effects on Ziraat Bank, as one of the symbol buildings of urban memory, are evaluated in the concluding section of this article. Except the main entrance door and the label of the bank had been changed repeatedly and some of the reliefs are not preserved, also some other few changes, the building facades still have some of the original elements. Maintenance applications conserved the roof. The building’s historical area totally changed over time and thus, it became hard to recognize the historic building in its modern surroundings. In the interior, the furniture, heating systems, and lighting systems have changed due to technological developments. These changes were made with sensitivity so as not to harm the unique elements of the building as much as possible. The columns and arches have been particularly well preserved.
The results of our research show that Mongeri used the features of First National Architectural movement in the arrangement of the facades, in the entrance hall, and in the customer hall using Bursa arches, muqarnas, hatayi, and so on, and all these elements are still intact today. Although the building’s holistic value has been reduced because of changes in the entrance door, the non-existence of original furniture, the addition of a new interior door, and modifications related to technological improvements, the building still has the characteristics of the First National Architecture Movement.
