Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide
Ottoman Revivalism & Modernism In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, architects created a blend of European architecture alongside Turkish baroque, with some concessions to classic Ottoman style. This style has been dubbed ‘Ottoman Revivalism’ or First National Architecture. The main proponents of this style were architects Vedat Tek (1873–1942) and Kemalettin Bey (1870–1927). Tek is best known for his Central Post Office in Sirkeci (1909) and Haydarpaşa İskelesi (Haydarpaşa Ferry Dock; 1915–17). Kemalettin Bey’s Bebek Mosque (1913) and Fourth Vakıf Han (1912–26), a bank building in Eminönü that now houses the Legacy Ottoman Hotel, are his best-known works. When Atatürk proclaimed Ankara the capital of the Republic, İstanbul lost much of its glamour and investment capital. Modernism was played out on the new canvas of Ankara, while İstanbul’s dalliances went little further than the İstanbul City Hall in Fatih, designed by Nevzat Erol and built in 1953; the İstanbul Hilton Hotel, designed by SOM and Sedad Hakkı Eldem and built in 1952; the Atatürk Library in Gümüşsuyu, also by Eldem; and the much-maligned Atatürk Cultural Centre by Hayati Tabanlıoğlu, built from 1956 to 1957 and currently threatened with demolition as part of the redevelopment proposal for Gezi Park. Recent architecture in the city can hardly be called inspiring. One building of note is Kanyon, a mixed residential, office and shopping development in Levent, designed by the LA-based Jerde Partnership with local architects Tabanlıoğlu Partnership. The nearby Loft Gardens residential complex and İstanbul Sapphire tower, both by Tabanlıoğlu Partnership, are also impressive, as is the terraced plaza and underground car park in Şişhane by Şanal Architecture. Notable contemporary religious buildings are few and far between, with the only exceptions being the extraordinary Sancaklar Mosque in Büyükçekmece outside the city, which was designed by Emre Arolat; and the sleek Şakirin Mosque in Üsküdar by Hüsrev Tayla and Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu.
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