USAGE OF TILE IN THE ISTANBUL BUILDING FACADES OF THE LATE OTTOMAN-EARLY REPUBLICAN PERIOD

Authors : Miskine Akar, Sema Kizilelma

Pages : 1-29

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Publication Date : 2023-03-25

Article Type : Research Article

Abstract :Tile decoration is one of the main ornamental elements used indoors and outdoors in Turkish-Islamic art. In the Islamic geography, there are examples of tile decoration beginning with Iran, from Anatolia to the Balkans. It is accepted that the most mature stage of tile which entered Anatolia with the Seljuks, was completed in the workshops of Anatolia. In the Anatolian Seljuks, various and successful tile samples were implemented. In the classical age of Ottoman, previous techniques were developed, new ones were added and competent examples which had a different appearance were given. It is possible to trace this process through tile examples from the central Ottoman provinces. The most beautiful examples of this period are seen in cities Iznik, Bursa, Edirne Istanbul etc. In the early Republican period, the reflections of the efforts to create a national identity in architecture manifested themselves in the historicist-revivalist approach called the First National Architecture. In this approach, architectural elements-ornamentations taken from religious architecture belonging to earlier periods such as Ottoman and Seljuk periods were mostly used on the facades. Leading architects of that period such as Vedat Tek, Mimar Kemaleddin, Ali Talat Bey used tile ornamentation extensively in the various public buildings they designed. The aim of this study is to make an architectural evaluation of the tile decoration used on the facades of buildings in Istanbul which was shaped especially by the influence of the First National Architecture in the late Ottoman-Early Republican period. In this context, twenty examples selected from Istanbul were photographed, documenting their current condition, and the tile decorations on their facades were examined. As seen in the architectural examples in Istanbul, it can be said that in the early of 20th-century tile was considered as an element that strengthened the national character and in this context it continued the Turkish-Islamic architectural decoration features/traditions with its main lines.
Keywords : Istanbul, Late Ottoman-Early Repablican Period, early 20th-century, First National Arhitectural, Tile.