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This article critically examines the transformative commitment to modernization and nation-building in Turkish Republic, focusing on the pivotal role played by spaces of knowledge. The study begins with a theoretical analysis of the complex relationship between political power, knowledge and space. The concrete analysis starts with the examination of People’s Houses, envisioned as cultural and political centers spreading Republican principles and the new national identity. The analysis extends to museums established by the new regime, demonstrating their ideological underpinnings as spaces generating a specific knowledge on the nation through the collection of memories. The article then explores theaters, cinemas, and operas, emphasizing their contribution to shaping cultural policies of the new Turkish nation state. Shifting to libraries, it traces the historical evolution culminating in the establishment of the National Library in Ankara and its role in nation-building process. Throughout, the article delves into the complexities of preserving national identity through these spaces of knowledge, offering a comprehensive understanding of Türkiye’s modernization journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representing the starting point of the modernization efforts of the Ottoman Empire, the Tanzimat Edict of the 18th century decreed that a reform modeled on Europe would become an official state policy, thus initiating a period that reshaped the structure and social fabric of the Empire. The Tanzimat Edict transformed the institutional structure in terms of legal practices, introducing a land Türownership regime and a restructuring of the national and administrative system. Further effects were to create a response in property order, city administration and construction practice in the cities and the architecture. In the Tanzimat Period, Ankara was one of the main cities where the changes in the administration of the Empire were reflected. In this context, the aim of this study is as follows: to analyze the urban fabric of Ankara related to the process that started with the Tanzimat Edict, in line with the modernization of the Ottoman Empire. This period saw transformation in many areas within spatial structures, as well as in the central administration at the upper level (political, social and economic). Changes at the local context can be seen from the maps of 1839 and 1924. These identify the processes that have instigated these changes and improvements and reveal the relationship of these processes with the Tanzimat reforms. The research concludes that the Tanzimat era practices carried out in Ankara, unlike the structural changes experienced in Istanbul and port cities, did not create major transformations, but actually created only gradual changes in the city. However, it is observed that these modernization initiatives in Ankara brought about, especially in bureaucratic and administrative organizations, social, political and cultural changes, and that these changes paved the way for the Republican Period. There is therefore no doubt that the Tanzimat era is an important time period in the story of changes in the urban fabric of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phonebooks are periodic documents that give an idea about the social life of cities. Our chattels-real estates, intangible-tangible cultural assets found above ground, underground and underwater are largely reflected in telephone directories. On the other hand, the diversity and freedom of new lifestyles that emerged with the development of trade and industry can be also followed from the guides. Neighborhoods, avenues, streets, dead ends, stairs, slopes, downhills, inns, pavilions, mansions, palaces, apartments, official buildings, piers, monumental trees, groves... and citizens who live and share these extraordinary privileges. Seen in such a perspective, this article presents phone books as also renewed inventory books of Nature, Culture and Art as well as the reports of democracy and social state. They are witnesses of integrity, continuity, and renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first examples of utopian designs in Turkish literature were produced in the 19th century, which was a period of both modernization and innovation. In the 20th century, following the proclamation of the Republic, issues were raised relating to the establishment of a new state and social order, contemporization, modernization, and the development of the individual and society. Discussions lead to idealistic notions of what the basis of this new culture would be, particularly in terms of the urban environment and use of space. The new capital, Ankara, became the stage for idealized designs that reflect notions of technology and modernization. Such notions were fed by works of literature which contained utopistic or critical works that responded to the new political and social order, while also discussing the positive and negative aspects of such an order. The aim of this article is to determine how the physical and ideational transformation of Ankara, in the process of becoming the capital city, was reflected in the fields of architecture and literature. Two different texts, Hülya Bu Ya... and Ankara, both of which provide contrasting future imaginings of Ankara, are used in the study to examine, in terms of architecture, technology, and modernization, how the contemporary version of the capital relates to conceptions of its rennovation. This examination is performed through analysis of the social, technological, urban and spatial transformations that occurred in Ankara during the implementation of the modernizing and progressive ideals of the new regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study concentrates on Sümerbank and Gima stores to examine changes in modern retailing in Ankara between the early Republican period and the 1980s. The aim is to document some spatial reflections on this process. The value of such a study is not only as a record of economic and social history, but also in the documentation of changing consumption habits over time. Furthermore, it is also significant, in terms of architectural and design history, to document how changes in political, social, and economical environment created different types of space, and how these spaces were experienced differently by their inhabitants. Considering the number of factors involved: the number of stores which appeared during the period, the variety of products offered by these stores, the audiovisual and textual materials created for the promotion of these products, the architects/interior architects who designed the stores, the architectural qualities of the stores and the spatial lifestyles they provided, one can say that the historiographical studies that focus on modern merchandising and retail design in Ankara over such an extended period are extremely limited. In order to achieve the above aims, the study initially attempts to appreciate how the changing political, social, and economic environment created different consumption habits, as well as how this environment was envisioned in an architectural form. In addition to analyzing the spatial features of these stores through architectural drawings, the oral histories created by the designer of these spaces, and the access to the documents in their personal achieves, have allowed a more in-depth spatial analysis. In addition to an examination of the architectural features of the stores, another aim of the study is to utilize the audio-visual and textual material connected with these stores. During the aforementioned time period, the stores have built up a rich collection of audio-visual and textual materials (such as newspaper advertisements, brochures, posters, announcements, product catalogs, discounts, and installment cards). Similarly, stores have been the subject of many films and literary texts. Cinema films are particularly important resources in providing a record of the interior spaces of the stores when they were built, while literary texts are particularly useful in understanding the relationship that stores establish with social and cultural life. By bringing all these materials together, the text aims to bridge the gap between space and its related experiences, and thus create a more integrated approach to the spatial transformation of these stores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]