Education Buildings in "First National Architecture" Style in Fatih District-İstanbul
Nurcan Yazıcı Metin, Soner Şahin, Şükrü Sönmezer, Selçuk Seçkin, Nazhan AytaçThis article, the main subject is examines educational buildings in the style of the First National Architecture in Istanbul’s Fatih district (historically referred as "the Suriçi region") as its main subject and aims to evaluate the common aspects of these structures in terms of history of art architecture. The study analyzes the examples are under two headings: Ottoman period examples (1910-1922) and the Republican Era examples (1923-1940). The examples, were built between 1910-1940, and have different types of floorplans, most of them have a “U-shaped floorplan”, while a few have a rectangular or “E-shaped floorplan”. A series of buildings that seem to have been planned as a result of a standard project are encountered among the examples. This buildings have a single-storied, octagonal, multi-purpose hall along the entrance axis overlooking the back garden. These schools are distinguished from other previous U- shaped schools by the presence of this multipurpose hall. The facades of the educational buildings have pointed arches, roof consoles, wide wooden eaves, tile decorations and many ornaments, all being distinctive to the First National Architecture style. The buildings from the Early Republican Era, especially those built by the 1930s, are found the have less concentrations of Seljuk or Ottoman decorative and architectural elements. As a result, this study has revealed for the first time that the plan designs used in the examined school buildings were in parallel the Western European and American examples of the period, and that a specific type of “standard project had been” applied to the educational school buildings in Istanbul. Another important finding is that the educational building from the Republican Era are simpler examples, in terms of ornamentation, which is in line with the general tendency of the First National Architecture style.
İstanbul Fatih’te Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık Üslubundaki Eğitim Yapıları
Nurcan Yazıcı Metin, Soner Şahin, Şükrü Sönmezer, Selçuk Seçkin, Nazhan AytaçBu makalede, İstanbul’da Fatih ilçesi (tarihsel olarak “Suriçi” bölgesine karşılık gelen alan) içinde, Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık üslubunda yapılmış olan eğitim yapılarının incelenmesi; mimari ve sanat tarihi açısından bu yapıların ortak yönlerinin değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada, İstanbul’un Fatih ilçesi sınırları içerisindeki “Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık” üslubundaki eğitim yapıları, Osmanlı dönemi (1908-1923) ve Cumhuriyet dönemi (1923- ) olmak üzere iki alt başlık altında ele alınmıştır. Tespit edilen toplam 19 yapı, çeşitli plan tiplerine sahiptirler. Çoğunlukla “U” plan şemasına sahip olan yapılar arasında az sayıda dikdörtgen ve “E” planlı yapılar da yer almaktadır. Fatih Suriçi bölgesinde, Birinci Ulusal Mimari üslubundaki okullar içinde, bir “Tip proje” uygulamasının sonucu olarak planlandığı anlaşılan bir seri yapı ile de karşılaşmaktayız. Genel hatları ile “U” plana sahip olmakla birlikte, giriş aksında, arka bahçeye bakan tek katlı, sekizgen planlı, çok amaçlı bir salona sahip olan bu yapılar, daha önceki diğer “U” planlı yapılardan çok amaçlı bu mekânın varlığı ile ayrılmaktadır. İstanbul Fatih’teki eğitim yapılarının cephelerinde, içinde bulundukları Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık üslubuna özgü; sivri kemerler, çatı konsolları, geniş ahşap saçaklar, çini dekorasyon ve birçok süsleme öğesi yer almaktadır. Plan simetrisinin cephelere yansıdığı bu yapılarda, Selçuklu ya da Osmanlı bezeme ve mimari öğelerinin ise, özellikle 1930’lara kadarki ilk dönem örneklerinde yoğunlaştığı görülmektedir Sonuç olarak, incelenen okul binalarında kullanılan plan tasarımlarının dönemin Batı Avrupa ve Amerika örnekleri ile paralel düzeyde olduğu, yine bu kapsamda incelenen örneklerde uygulanan tip projenin sadece İstanbul’daki okul yapılarında görüldüğü ilk kez bu çalışmayla ortaya konulmuştur. Ayrıca üslubun genel eğilimine uygun olarak Cumhuriyet dönemi okullarının daha yalın örnekler olduğu, diğer bir önemli tespit olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır.
New educational institutions were added to the Ottoman education system throughout the Tanzimat period in the 19th century. New educational institutions continued to be opened within the borders of the Empire until the last phase; in order to modernize the human resources who would work in Türkiye’s Western-style modernization and development process. The first officials of the new Republic had also been educated in these new institutions, and they continued to build new ones. These educational buildings were mostly designed in the "First National Architecture" style, which had started in the late Ottoman period and continued into the Republican Era. This article, examines the educational buildings in Istanbul’s Fatih district (historically referred as the "Suriçi" region) that were designed in the First National Architecture style and aims to evaluate the common aspects of these structures have, in terms of architecture and art history. In addition, the study aims to determine the historical importance these structures have with regard to other educational buildings of the same period in Türkiye and in the world.
The study, analyzes these educational buildings under two headings: Ottoman period examples and Republican Era examples. Among the identified buildings, six are from the Ottoman period, with the oldest dating from 1911, while thirteen buildings are from the Republican Era, and were built between 1923-1940. The field study has examined and documented all these buildings, with the exception of two structures that did not survive to the present day but were identifiable through other sources. The article has compiled information about the buildings using detailed bibliographic and archival sources and presents them one by one in terms of their historical and architectural aspects.
The educational buildings, in Istanbul’s Fatih district built between 1910-1940 have various plan types; most of them having a “U-shaped floorplan”, though a few have a rectangular or “E- shaped floorplan”. The “U-shape layout”, in its plain form, was generally preferred in the Ottoman period examples, with Medresedü'l Kuzat (Istanbul University Rare Books Library today), Medreset'ül Mütehassin (Sultan Selim High School today), and Fethiye Madrasa (Fethiye Junior High School today), being examples of this type with some minor differences among them. The Tetimme Madrasa (it was renovated in the following period), is also in this group. The rectangular floorplan was applied to the madrasah of Zeynep Sultan Mosque and to the twin buildings of Beyazıt Primary School. At the end of the Ottoman period and the beginning of the Republic Era, two buildings were founded with the E- shaped floorplan; Şehremini Selçuk Hatun Sultanisi and Fatih Gelenbevi High School. This floorplan was known to be frequently used for school buildings both in Türkiye and in the world at that time. The “E-shaped floorplan” was also frequently applied in the educational buildings from the Republican Era, especially in Anatolia.
A series of buildings are encountered among the schools in the First National Architectural style in the Fatih district, that seem to have been planned as a result of a "standard project". Examples are; Karagümrük 27th School, Mevlanakapı 34th School, Cibali 54th School, Cerrahpaşa 24th School, and Ayvansaray 55th School, as well as the Suphi Paşa Vocational and Technical High School, and the Cağaloğlu Büyük Reşitpaşa School. They, all belong to the Republican Era, and are examples that have survived to the present day. According to the accessible documents, the Sultanahmet 44th Primary School and Yavuz Selim 15th School, are also known to have repeated this "standard project" floorplan. Although these structures generally have a “U- shaped floorplan”, they also have a single-storied and octagonal, multi-purpose hall along the entrance axis, overlooking the back garden. These schools are distinguished from other previous schools with “U- shaped floorplans” through this multipurpose hall. The first example of this floorplan is seen in the Dar' ül-Muallimat-ı Ali Building (1914) in the Çapa, neighborhood and is also included in the study. The research has concluded that schools with the same type of floorplan had been built in other districts in Istanbul besides Fatih, such as Kasımpaşa, Üsküdar, Kadıköy and Eyüp districts. This standard floorplan was observed to have only been applied in Istanbul, and never in other cities.
The facade was an important part of the building design in the studied period. The facades of the educational buildings in Istanbul’s Fatih district contain pointed arches, roof consoles, wide wooden eaves, tile decorations, and many ornaments distinctive to the First National Architecture style. Seljuk or Ottoman decoration and architectural elements are found to be concentrated in the first period examples of these whose symmetrical floorplans are reflected on their facades, especially the buildings that had been built up until the 1930s. Contrarily, the facades of the buildings that were built between 1930-1940 had been simplified, although the principles floorplans did not change much. The pointed arches were replaced by rectangular and/or flat arches, tiles were not used on the facades and decorations were rarely included. Again, the ornamentation characteristic of the First National Architecture style were included on the facade designs of the examples surveyed here, however decorative elements such as wall tiles and plaster reliefs are rarely encountered in the interior spaces. Geometric and vegetal patterned floor tiles (i.e.,“karosiman”), were used in the interior floor arrangements of the educational buildings. Limited information is available regarding the architects of the structures of the period examined period. The standard-type projects probably had been designed by the same architect or architects based on the sources and facade inscriptions on some buildings.
As a result, this study has revealed for the first time that the plan designs used in the examined educational buildings paralleled the Western European and American examples of the period, as well as the specific type of “standard project having only been” applied to the school buildings in Istanbul. Another important finding is that the schools of the Republican Era are simpler examples, in terms of ornamentation, in accordance with the general tendency of the First National Architecture style.
