An Innovative Residential Building of the Early Turkish Republican Period: İkinci Evkaf Apartmanı (Second Apartment Building of Foundations Directorate)

Abstract

Kemaleddin Bey, who served as an architect in important positions for state institutions, is mostly renowned for his public building designs. However, residential buildings are also important in Architect Kemalettin's career. During the heyday of the First National Architecture Movement, architects who embraced the trend followed certain rules in their designs so that an indigenous national style could be created and maintained. Nevertheless, these nationalist architects were still able to behave more flexibly when designing residential buildings in comparison to public buildings. This study focuses on how Architect Kemaleddin designed the İkinci Evkaf Apartmanı, one of the residential buildings where he could afford more flexibility and freedom in terms of design principles and architectural style, as well as structure, facade, and plan typology. Also known as the Little Theatre, İkinci Evkaf Apartmanı (Second Foundations Apartment Building) is one of the most important buildings designed by Architect Kemaleddin at a time when he was focused on Ankara projects and when general interest in First Architectural Movement was changing to acquire a critical tone. The İkinci Evkaf Apartmanı, which has its unique place among his residential building projects owing to its plan typology and construction techniques, proposed an unusual housing culture compared to the traditional residential architecture of Ankara in the 1920s. The building was designed to welcome a very social lifestyle with the various common areas it incorporated. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that Kemalettin Bey chose to realize this rather uncommon residential project for Ankara, at a time when there was a heavy emphasis bestowed upon virtues of traditional residential architecture by Turkish nationalist circles to which Kemaleddin Bey also belonged, a discourse also manifested in various publications. This study aims to examine Architect Kemaleddin's approach to residential architecture, which is an everlasting concern for all segments of society, with a focus on his design for the İkinci Evkaf Apartmanı.