Gazino venues and entertainment culture date back to the years before the founding of the Republic of Turkey. However, the transformation of these venues into modern platforms for public enjoyment was largely influenced by the ideologies of the early republican era. The fact that most entertainment facilities were built and rented by the state since the 1930s indicates the critical role of these venues as schools of modernization and Westernization in the context of building a new nation-state. In this regard, it is to say that early republican gazinos were developed parallel to the reforms, modernization efforts, and founding ideologies.

The emergence of spatial practices that offer individuals the opportunity to participate in cultural activities was realized with the decision to adopt the goal of modernizing the public through the disciplines of architecture and city planning. Therefore, architects and urban planners played a significant role in realizing radical social transformations through design disciplines during the early republican period. The assignment of foreign architects and urban planners, invited to Turkey from countries such as Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland, to design public spaces and buildings with different missions, has been particularly effective in rapidly shaping the urban and architectural transformation process. In this context, both prominent foreign and Turkish professionals collaboratively participated in design projects as intellectuals appointed by the state, reflecting the ideology of being modern citizens of society through spatial exemplifications.

The Western entertainment practices brought with the designed socialization venues were effective instrumental tools in demonstrating modern life to Turkish society and offering liberating activities to women and men. During the transition to secular culture, such venues were significant in recreating the habits and attitudes of predominantly Muslim society with Western codes, especially women

Public venues including gazinos, theaters, operas, cinemas, community centers, and clubs, which became widespread in the country, especially in the 1930s and 1940s with the support of the state, were designed as unifying meeting points to bring modern Turkish women and men together and to strengthen social interaction. Although the construction of these new facilities seemed an attempt to ‘beautify’ cities, they were closely related to the political ideology of the early republic. With the spatial practices provided, these facilities were a manifestation of the dominance of the new political governance over the prior Ottoman authority: and functioned to bring about transformations in the daily life practices of the society.

As this article suggests, gazinos, one of the entertainment facility types built to provide Western-style entertainment services, served as spatial structures that shaped the practices of the society in public spaces. These structures have been crucial as they exemplified new habits for individuals, unlike the religious-centered traditions of the previous Ottoman reign.

Taksim Municipal Gazino, which is the focus of the article, has been one of the iconic examples of early-period gazinos in Turkey serving as a tool in promoting the secularization ideology of the state. In this regard, the study makes a socio-spatial analysis of Taksim Municipal Gazino, intending to reveal what the edifice tells us about the social transformation process of the early republican society. The spatial analysis examines the ‘educative’ role of the state-supported architect, Rüknettin Güney, in creating modern gazino practice through the photographs and architectural drawings of the building. The literature review, revealing the fictional and real memories of gazino visitors, highlights the contexts in which this practice has offered freedom of socialization to subjects and contributed to strengthening women’s position in society.

On the one hand, the findings show that the gazinos that opened in the early republican years played an ideological role in transforming social practices. On the other hand, it shows that architects, who assumed the role of ‘cultural leader’ with the support of the state, initiated social transformation with the designs of these spaces. The analysis of the interior and exterior spaces of the gazino, which encouraged women and men to be in the same environment, socialize, drink alcoholic beverages, and dance, allows for witnessing the emergence of new bodily practices, values, and norms.

The study argues that individuals who have experienced the gazino space have internalized, transformed, and socially reproduced the social practices required by this space over time. Although the modernization process of Turkish society is often considered a ‘top-down’ ideological project, this study discusses that Istanbulites have also produced their modern codes over time. In this respect, the edifice became one of the first early-period gazinos where the social practices offered by the state were transformed by society. In the second half of the twentieth century, this transformation in the gazino culture continued and reached new dimensions. In the 1970s, gazinos became more widespread entertainment venues, appealing to greater segments of the public. Throughout this process, gazinos served as spatial tools that strengthened the social position of female regulars in the public sphere.