Abstract:

This 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.

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