Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
THE REPUBLIC, ARCHITECTURE & THE CITY: THE LEGACY OF 100 YEARS, İstanbul, Türkiye, 12 - 13 Ekim 2023, sa.322, ss.280-300
Following the foundation of the Republic and the declaration of Ankara as the new capital, the parliament accepted intense reforms rapidly under the presidency of Atatürk. Sultanate was abolished in 1922; in 1924 caliphate was also abolished, and the educational system was renewed to abolish Islamic education. In 1925, religious lodges (tekke), shrines (türbe), and spaces of fraternities (zaviye) were abolished; the alphabet was changed from Arabic to Latin in 1928. For the Republican ruling class, education has always been an important aspect of modern Turkish society. The restructuring of the educational system was not limited to primary and secondary education; the higher education system was planned to be renewed, and the higher education reform was put into action in 1933.
In the scope of the modernization of the educational system, the buildings to house this new educational system were to be designed with a modern architectural language which was the case for all governmental institutions also. Besides, many governmental institutions were transferred to the new capital city in this period. Faculty of Political Sciences, established in 1859 in İstanbul with the name Mekteb-i Mülkiye-i Şahane, was one of those institutions. For this, a new modern building was designed by Erns A. Egli, the chief architect at the Ankara branch of the Ministry of Education in the Republic of Turkey in 1935; education started in this new faculty building in 1936.
Faculty of Law was established in 1925 with the name of Ankara Adliye Hukuk Mektebi. Until 1936, education continued in separate and temporary buildings. At last, it was decided to construct a modern building that could meet the requirements of the Faculty. In 1936, the construction began; however, it took a long time to complete all buildings which were designed by Recai Akçay. Even so, the school moved to its new building in June 1941, the building, located next to the Faculty of Political Sciences building, was completed in 1949.
Although designed and constructed in the same period, these two faculty buildings have different architectural languages. While the Faculty of Political Sciences has a simple geometrical form with no ornamentation with a modest approach, the Faculty of Law has a monumental look with a German modern architecture language, a mainstream choice for governmental buildings at those times. Today, both buildings continue with their original function; however, there is a remarkable difference in their conservation status. While the Faculty of Political Sciences building has undergone significant transformations, Faculty of Law building has witnessed a very sensitive approach and kept its originality at a radically high level.
In this paper, the architectural designs and the transformation of these two buildings will be analyzed. In addition to the physical analysis, some oral data collected through interviews with the members of the faculties will be put forth. With this collected data, a comparison of the approaches to the buildings will be realized, and the reasons, motivations, and results of this difference in the current situation and conservation status of these two faculty buildings will be discussed.