Abstract
The history of high schools and developing architecture in the Ottoman Empire and the early Republic during the 19th and 20th centuries is a topic. The high school buildings planned for various regions of Anatolia during the 19th and 20th centuries need to be studied so as to comprehend the impact of the changes in the field of high school architecture that began with the educational reforms of the Empire and continued with the reforms of the early Republic. This article aims to examine how the architecture of high schools changed between the Tanzimat and early Republican periods due to socio-cultural and political influences by using high schools in Ankara Atatürk and Sivas High Schools. For the research subject, it is assumed that the objective can be achieved by obtaining detailed information from the library archives of universities in Turkey.
Keywords: Architecture, high school, Tanzimat, Early Republic.
1. Introduction
Education and the production of the physical space where these approaches were maintained in the Tanzimat and Early Republic Period. As a result of the cultural and educational policies of the Tanzimat and Early Republican Era, they were primarily addressed as among the topics covered. In this article, we will look at the education, culture and architectural understanding of the period in the context of modernization within the political, social and cultural environment of the Tanzimat and Republic Periods in High Schools. The functions of the buildings from the date of its construction to the present will be emphasized.
2. Education in the Tanzimat and Republic Period
There was the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and the developing modernity in Europe. These dynamics are structuralism and modernised in the university, from politics to economics, from identity to socio-cultural spheres. Since the main state-oriented objective of Tanzimat reforms is to build centralism, the modernisation and dissemination of instruments such as education, transportation and communication in a manner that establishes the sovereignty of the modern state is mobilised as part of the reform process. The close relationship that was to be established between the centre and the provinces was only possible through the construction of the instruments of the modern state. One of the most important of these instruments is undoubtedly education. Although the topic of "education" was not explicitly included in the principles of the Tanzimat edict read in 1839, after the Tanzimat declaration, education issues were gradually discussed and the construction of new "school buildings'' began in parallel with the reforms in education. The first examples of the First National Architectural Period coincide with the constitutional period of the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the 19th century, as a result of the great economic, industrial and scientific developments in Europe, many currents of thought emerged. Among them, the most widespread is the "nationalist nationalism" movement with its spread, which caused the disintegration of the Ottoman lands. After 1908, the presence of the Turkish people as a nation began to be felt in the empire. Istanbul and Ankara are the two major cities where the First National Architectural Movement, shaped by the ideology of a particular era, was mainly produced. Undoubtedly, Ankara offered a great opportunity to the First National Architecture Movement as a practical field of the ideology of the first years of the Republic. If we look at the architecture of the first years, we see that Ankara was shaped by the First National Movement and this practice was supported by the state. The language and expression of the new republic in Ankara is the First National Architecture, and the new city here inspires the new cities in Anatolia. The forms here were accepted as basic forms in the process of creating other republican cities. In the following years, the process of the First National Architecture, which was completed with the republican ideology's search for a new language and acceptance of new patterns of forms, retains its place as the architecture of a specific period within the city in terms of the capital's history.[1]
3. The Changing Educational Structure from the Tanzimat Ottoman Period to the Early Republican Period
The changes that emerged since the opening of the high schools continued to increase as these schools started to graduate. According to the opponents, the high school students who grew up lying on the cot and eating on separate plates at European tables preferred Western-European style lifestyles after graduation and insulted their customs and cultures.
In the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, there was also a desire to change the levels of education after primary school, but the desired results could not be achieved. With the establishment of the republic, importance was also given to this issue and these institutions, which were called gymnasium, high school and sultan schools, were also closed. In place of these institutions, institutions called secondary schools and grammar schools were created by ordinances. The main difference between these institutions and the closed educational institutions is that they are organised as institutions designed to provide mixed education. Another feature of secondary schools and grammar schools was the laws to provide scientific and practical courses for the development of the country.
In this direction, duality in educational institutions was abolished and the concept of "national education" based on secularism was introduced. In addition to the regulations making primary education compulsory for all citizens of the Republic of Turkey, the principle was introduced that the state is responsible for the education of Muslim and non-Muslim citizens and that this education is free for all.[2] Considering the design and architectural style of school buildings in the founding years of the Republic, there are differences between cities and rural areas. In the centres and towns, schools were built by the state and the expenses were covered by taxes collected from the population. In the villages, the expenses and construction were borne by the people living there. But all designs were made by the state. In the 1920s, school projects were implemented as typical projects due to the small number of trained architects and the fact that there were no architects in all provinces. For this reason, school buildings built as typical projects generally have the same characteristics, except for some differences. Generally, the entrance axes are in the middle of the building and the corner axes were raised, thus symmetrical buildings. Community centres, people's rooms, village institutes, technical education and vocational schools, which are important components of the Republic's modernity project and the goal of achieving the ideal of the nation-state, have not only shaped the social structure but also the built environment with educational complexes such as the Military Academy, the Leyli Law School, the Music Teachers' School. A new set of building and design approaches began to take shape.[3]
3.1. The Concept of Idadi in the Tanzimat Period
The word “idadi” which derives from the Arabic root “idad” meaning “to prepare”, “to develop”, expresses the name of a place with the meaning of “preparation place”.[4] The term Idadi got its actual meaning in the 1869 Education Ordinance, which was the first step of modern education in the Ottoman Empire and was considered an independent stage of secondary education.[5]
The regulation defines high school as the place where Muslim and non-Muslim children who have graduated from high school study together.[6] In this way, young people of different religions and nationalities would intermingle and form the basis of the “Ottoman nation” as citizens sharing the same sentiments. In effect, the government’s high school program sought to train students for both the colleges and the higher levels of the state.
3.2. The Effect of the Dardanelles War on Educational Institutions
When considering the results of the Dardanelles War, it is not enough to focus only on the military and political dimensions of the war. Details such as the social and economic dimensions of the war, its impact on the Turkish people, its effect on social life behind the front lines, and its impact on health, education, and training should also be considered.
Because thousands of martyrs, injured and sick in this war mean the loss of individuals who will develop the country, the lack of these cadres who will develop the country after the “Milli Mucadele” has always been felt. All the youth, from high school graduates to university and madrasa students, rushed to the front as if they were competing with each other, and these young people who were supposed to build the future of the Turkish nation have slipped away from. Since most of the students went to the military, most of the schools were emptied and used in various services such as hospitals and headquarters. There were no graduates between 1916-1917 and 1917-1918.
4. The Reasons and Results of Change in High School Architecture in the Early Republican Period
As for the change in high school architecture, there are numerous reasons and consequences, which include the implementation of new revolutions and the enforcement of laws, as well as the westernisation of the Republic. With the "Encouragement in Industry Law" enacted in 1927 in accordance with the new building programme under the statistical economic policy, it became a state policy to benefit from foreign experts in the fields of art, architecture and engineering. Thus, first-hand access to the scientific and technical field of the West, in order to achieve the desired level of "contemporary civilisation", is realised through foreign experts. [7]
The conceptual debates on modern architecture in Turkey in the 1930s, German-speaking or earlier avant-garde architects and urban planners in Germany gained a new dimension with their arrival in our country. Moreover, the second quarter of the 20th century marks a time of radical change and radical innovation for the architectural paradigm for Turkey, which is in transition to a new nation state. In this transition, the arrival in our country of some German-speaking architects, the subject of this article, is an important turning point.[8] The first reason for the aforementioned foreign architects to come to Turkey is that these concepts completely overlap, namely the paradigm of modern architecture and the idea of modernism, as well as the basic thinking principles of the republican regime. Another reason, however, is the political situation in Germany in those same years. Because when National Socialism came to power in Germany in 1933, many professors and architects had to leave their countries and emigrate to other countries. In the same year, a university reform was carried out in Turkey that has a historical equivalent.[9] This reform enabled new professors to hire new professors at the universities who were in line with the progressive and contemporary principles of the Republic, and many professors came from abroad, especially from Germany, to work here.
Modern architecture or the use of the new (contemporary) architecture at this time, by the person who knows architects, especially from the German-speaking countries, to implement and personally teach and urban planners are invited. However, it will be possible for the capital city of Ankara to acquire a western look with a planned development.[10] Although Taut, like Wagner, was in exile during his working period in Turkey, he left behind a three-year stay in Japan, and this experience was formative for Taut's professional life. During his years of exile in the Soviet Union and Japan, he was concerned with the question of how to design in accordance with the conditions of each place. In his opinion, the place of residence and the culture of that place are closely related.[11] He believes that an architect from another culture cannot design in this direction without properly investigating the conditions. Rather than playing a stylistic role like Holzmeister and Egli, Taut has revealed an understanding that is distinctly different from the traditional concept of style and post- 1930 modernism. "All good architecture is also national, but all national architecture is bad." With these words, Taut openly declared that he did not consider the tendencies of the states towards national architecture to be correct. In a letter he wrote to Walter Gropius in 1938, he emphasised the need to reconstruct the architectural lineage in Turkey and opposed the "superficial modernism" he called "cubism". In the Early Republic Period High School buildings that were inspired by European schools differ from European examples in terms of their construction styles, decorations, and spaces required by Islamic culture.[12]
4.1. Ataturk High School (Ankara)
Jansen, in his "Ankara Zoning Plan Explanation Report", states Necatibey Street, which will later provide access to Atatürk High School and joins Atatürk Boulevard, as "one of the second-degree navigation streets". Jansen states that streets of this nature in Ankara "take the navigation from the first-degree streets and distribute it to the neighbourhoods" and "constitute the main connecting veins among them".[13] In other words, Atatürk High School was placed at an important focal point among the transportation areas of the city, where transportation is easily provided from anywhere in Ankara, and its contribution to the city was given importance. The building, which consists of unsymmetrical masses with different architectural features, is in a large garden surrounded by low walls. The garden, which has two entrances in the east and one in the other directions, can be accessed from the entrance in the east today.[14] These masses are not united with a symmetrical order, but with an asymmetrical composition in a functionalist understanding. With this feature, it can be thought that the large-scale structure is divided into units compatible with the environment and moved away from the heavy mass effect to some extent.
In the Atatürk High School building, Bruno Taut, as in his other designs in Turkey, used the fragmented and staggered mass concept required by the project based on function.[15] The building was designed in a functionalist and rational architectural style, in line with Taut's idea that "function is what gives the building all the qualities that make it pleasant and refreshing to use". The idea that "a building can cover everything", which is the result of the Japanese experience, should be effective in the inclusive design approach of Atatürk High School. Atatürk High School, like other public buildings, should not be evaluated in the neoclassical style representing the state authority of the period, but as the product of Taut's search for new solutions.
4.2. Sivas High School
In this period, there were military and civil secondary schools and a two-class teacher's school in Sivas province centre as a secondary school, and these three schools were giving education in a three-storey building. Although the building was large, it was not enough to house three schools.[16] Considering that no one would agree to the construction due to the size of the building designed to be built, it was deemed appropriate to do this by the state.[17] The idea of preventing possible corruption and creating a structure that is as durable as possible in accordance with the construction rules was influential in the assembly’s decision.
The land on which the building will be built was partly a marshland, which had been the scene of many historical events since the Romans whose ruins were found. The adoption of such a land can be explained by the urbanism philosophy of the Tanzimat bureaucrats and governors.[18] It can be said that two basic ideas prevailed in the construction of the Sivas High School on this land, on the one hand, making some kind of landscaping by draining the swamp in question, and on the other hand, the desire to expand the city settlement, which was stuck within the walls.
They thought that if non-Muslim students who were attending missionary schools started to be educated in high schools, they would both be loyal to the state and be kept under control. Memduh Pasha wanted new and modern schools to be opened both in Anatolia and Rumeli in order to educate all the people and to strengthen the cultural ties between these two communities.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, we examined education in the Tanzimat and Republic Period that the modernist approach could be seen commonly and the vast majority of foreign architects carried weight with their thoughts of architecture in Turkey. It has been seen how they have different aspects of architectural features in High Schools between the Early Republican Architecture which gained a modernist atmosphere with the westernisation movement and the Tanzimat Architecture which was under the Islamic influence.
[1] Selda, Kızıldere. İstanbul’da Parlak, Özge. Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık Dönemi Yapı Tipolojileri ve Konya’daki Eğitim Yapılarının Analizi. 2018. 89. [2] Tülin, Selvi. Reading the Republican Modernization Process in Mersin Through an Educational Building: Mersin High School (Tevfik Sırrı Gür High School). 2016. 450. [3] Tülin, Selvi. 450. [4] Kemalettin Kuzucu. Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet'e Şehircilik, Mimari ve Eğitim Anlayışındaki Değişmeler Bağlamında Sivas Kongresi Binasının Tarihçesi. 2006. 104. [5] Kuzucu. 2006. 105. [6] Kuzucu. 2006. 105. [7] Ayşe Durukan Kopuz. 2018. Türkiye’de Erken Cumhuriyet Dönemi Yabancı Mimarların İzleri, Franz Hillinger Örneği. 364 [8] Durukan Kopuz. 364. [9] Durukan Kopuz. 364. [10] Leyla Alpagut. 2018. Üretken Bir Mimar Ve Ankara’da Modern Bir Bina: Bruno Taut ve Atatürk Lisesi. 136. [11] Alpagut. 138 [12] Kuzucu. 2006. 114. [13] Alpagut. 146. [14] Alpagut. 146. [15] Alpagut. 143. [16] Kuzucu. 2006. 106. [17] Kuzucu. 2006. 108. [18] Kuzucu. 2006. 108.
Bibliography and Furher Reading
1- Alpagut, Leyla. “ A Productive Architect and a Modern Building in Ankara: Bruno Taut and Atatürk High-School.” DergiPark, April 2018, pp. 135-161.
2- Kandeğer, Barış. “A Discussion on the Modern State From Tanzimat to Republic.” The Journal of Social Science, vol. 3, no. 3, 2019, pp. 600-612.
3- Kızıldere, Selda and Metin Sözen. “İstanbul’da Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık Dönemi Yapıları’nın kent bütünü içindeki yerinin değerlendirilmesi.” İtüdergisi/b, vol. 2, no. 1, December 2005, pp. 87-95.
4- Kopuz, Ayşe. “Tracks of Foreign Architects of the Early Republic Period in Turkey, Franz Hillinger Sample.” Megaron, vol. 13, no. 3, 2018, pp. 363-373.
5- Kuzucu, Kemalettin. “Osmanlı'dan Cumhuriyet'e Şehircilik, Mimarî ve Eğitim Anlayışındaki Değişimler Bağlamında Sivas Kongresi Binasının Tarihçesi.” Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü Atatürk Yolu Dergisi, S 37-38, May-November 2006, s. 103-125
6- Öner, Göksu. “Tanzimat’tan Cumhuriyet’e Uzanan Süreçte İnşa Edilen Eğitim Yapılarının Konya Şehri Özelinde Değerlendirilmesi.” ResearchGate, March 2019, pp. 105-123.
7- Parlak, Özge. Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık Dönemi Yapı Tipolojileri ve Konya’daki Eğitim Yapılarının Analizi. January 2018. Necmettin Erbakan U. PhD dissertation.
8- Şahin, Cemile. “Çanakkale Savaşları’nın Eğitim ve Öğretim Üzerindeki Etkisi: Karesi İdâdîsi ve Sultânîsi Örneği.” SDU Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences, no. 26, August 2012, pp.7-20.
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