Learning from L’Architecture d’aujord’hui: A way of designing a modern for the 1950s’ Ankara
Bancı, Selda
Department of Architecture, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Turkey.
Abstract:
Revivalist attitudes in architecture began to be outdated in Turkey from the end of the 1940s, and modern approaches were becoming the ongoing architectural trend during the 1950s.In a period, when the country was open to political, economic and cultural reforms from the impetus gained by the developments of being part of the West since the end of the Second World War, Turkish architects were strongly influenced by the International Style, and they simultaneously gave iconic examples of Turkish modernism of the 1950s. In this context, this study aims to discuss the reasons for the widening impact of the International Style then in Turkey, and Turkish architects’ sources of inspiration. Having analyzed the current literature, this paper examines the mediation, which an international magazine (i.e. L’Architecture d’Aujord’hui) establishes in the dissemination of modern language in architecture, through one of the early works of Turkish architect Nejat Ersin (1924-2010).
Keywords: Post-war Modernism; Modern Architecture in Turkey; 20th century Turkish Architecture; L’Architecture d’Aujord’hui; Cinnah 19; Nejat Ersin.