THE TUNALI HİLMİ AVENUE, 1950s-1980s: THE FORMATION OF A PUBLIC PLACE IN ANKARA

THE TUNALI HİLMİ AVENUE, 1950s-1980s: THE FORMATION OF A PUBLIC PLACE IN ANKARA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ÇILGA RESULOĞLU IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE PROGRAM OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY JUNE 2011 1

Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science/Arts/Doctor of Philosophy. Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cânâ Bilsel (METU, ARCH) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut (METU, AH) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esin Boyacıoğlu (GAZİ UNIV., ARCH) Assist. Prof. Dr. Namık Erkal (METU, AH) Assist. Prof. Dr. Nuray Bayraktar (BAŞKENT UNIV., INT ARCH) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut Supervisor

I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: ÇILGA RESULOĞLU Signature: iii

ABSTRACT THE TUNALI HİLMİ AVENUE, 1950s-1980s: THE FORMATION OF A PUBLIC PLACE IN ANKARA Resuloğlu, Çılga Ph.D. Department of History of Architecture Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut June 2011, 359 pages In this study, the socio-spatial formation of a public place in Ankara, the capital city of the Turkish Republic, is analyzed between the 1950s and the 1980s. Within this framework, the focus of analysis is the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue (earlier Özdemir Street) as one of the main streets in Ankara. To understand experiences of daily life in relation to spatial constitution of a public place is vital for this study, because this opens the way for discussing the formation of a street as a public place where social forms and practices come into being in the city. Focusing on the socio-spatial experiences of people on a street as a public place, this study uses visual and written documents about the architectural and planning processes, as well as the information gathered from oral history survey about the experiences of individuals, in order to understand how public life and public place are shaped in a reciprocal manner, and how the spatial formation of a street is realized in relation to daily experiences of its inhabitants. The decades from the foundation of the Turkish Republic until the late-1950s are initially presented as the period when this part of the city transformed from iv

a suburb of vineyards into a residential area. The main period of analysis in this study is from the late 1950s to the late 1980s when the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue was formed as a significant public place in Ankara, acquiring residential as well as cultural, recreational and commercial functions to act as an urban sub-center in the city. Aiming to produce a comprehensive architectural history of the socio-spatial formation of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue as a public place, with reference to its public role in a specific period of time, this study examines this process as associated with the contemporary changes in the built environment and daily life of Ankara. From such a broad perspective, the study evaluates the unplanned formation of the Avenue as an urban sub-center not only as an urban or architectural entity but also as a social process. Key words: Ankara, Tunalı Hilmi Avenue, public place, street, daily life. v

ÖZ TUNALI HİLMİ CADDESİ, 1950 LER-1980 LER: ANKARA DA BİR KAMUSAL MEKÂNIN OLUŞUMU Resuloğlu, Çılga Doktora, Mimarlık Tarihi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut HAZİRAN 2011, 359 sayfa Bu çalışmada, Türkiye nin başkenti Ankara nın bir kamusal mekanının, 1950 lı ve 1980 lı yıllar arasındaki sosyo-mekansal oluşumu incelenmektedir. Bu çerçevede, kentin ana sokaklarından biri olan Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi çalışmanın odağını oluşturmaktadır. Kamusal bir mekanın oluşumunun günlük yaşantı deneyimleriyle ilişkisini anlamak bu çalışma için önem taşımaktadır; çünkü bu ilişki, sokak oluşumunu toplumsal biçim ve eylemlerin gerçekleştiği bir kamusal alan olarak tartışmaya olanak sağlamaktadır. İnsanların kamusal bir alan olarak sokakta yaşadıkları sosyo-mekansal deneyimlere odaklanan bu çalışma, mimarlık ve planlama süreçleriyle ilgili görsel ve yazılı kaynakların yanısıra sözlü tarih çalışmasından bireylerin deneyimleriyle ilgili elde edilen verileri de kullanılarak, kamusal hayatın ve kamusal mekanın nasıl karşılıklı etkileşim içinde oluştuğunu ve bir sokağın mekansal oluşumunun insanların günlük deneyimleriyle nasıl bir ilişkisi olduğunu anlamaya çalışmaktadır. vi

Cumhuriyet in kuruluşundan 1950 lerin sonuna kadar süren dönem kentin bu bölgesinin bağlık alandan konut alanına dönüştüğü bir süreç olarak öncelikle incelenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın detaylı bir şekilde araştırdığı dönem, Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi nin konut, eğlence, kültür ve ticaret işlevleriyle kentsel bir alt merkez karakteri yüklenerek Ankara nın önemli bir kamusal mekanına dönüştüğü 1950 lı yılların sonundan 1980 li yılların sonuna kadar uzanan dönemdir. Belirli bir dönemde üstlendiği kamusal role referansla Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi nin kamusal bir alan olarak toplumsal-mekansal oluşumunu kapsayıcı bir mimarlık tarih yazımı yaklaşımıyla anlatmayı hedefleyen bu çalışma, bu süreci, Ankara nın yapılı çevresi ve günlük yaşamında meydana gelen güncel değişimlerle ilişkili olarak incelemektedir. Böylesine geniş bir perspektiften bakarak, caddenin planlanmamış bir şekilde kentsel bir alt-merkez haline gelmesini, sadece kentsel ya da mimari bir oluşum olarak değil, aynı zamanda toplumsal bir süreç olarak da değerlendirmektedir. Anahtar kelimeler: Ankara, Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi, kamusal mekan, sokak, günlük yaşam. vii

To my mother, who has always had faith in me and encouraged me in writing this dissertation viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge my deepest appreciation to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut, who has enhanced my perspective in my doctorate studies and encouraged me to conduct this study. She made invaluable comments, gave scholarly advice and intellectual guidance kindly; without her support it would be impossible to find out where to begin and how to complete. I would also like to express my gratefulness to my examining committee members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cânâ Bilsel and Assist. Prof. Dr. Namık Erkal for their invaluable comments and supports. I am thankful to Assist. Prof. Dr. Nuray Bayraktar who showed a kind interest in my study and gave sincere comments. My appreciations also go to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esin Boyacıoğlu for her participation in my jury and sharing her comments on my study. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Nilgün Fehim Kennedy for her suggestions and comments throughout my study. Special thanks are due İsa Çapanoğlu for his generous help and support and to all interviewees who helped me understand the daily life of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue, which meant a lot for this dissertation. I am especially grateful to my parents, Rukiye and Mahir K. Gürçel, and my dearest sister, Tuğba Gürçel, who never let me alone throughout my study. I am deeply indebted to them for their endless love and endurance along my entire life and during my study. I owed particularly to my mother, for believing in and supporting me during my whole life. Without sincere encouragements and suggestions of my sister, I would have failed to find motivation for completing this dissertation. Lastly but most importantly, I would like to thank to my husband, Gökhan Resuloğlu, who helped me in all my studies and decisions. Whenever I felt ix

hopeless, he has always supported me to find the light and has encouraged me to continue. This study would not have been completed without his affection and confidence. I cannot imagine a life without you. x

TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM... iii ABSTRACT... iv ÖZ... vi DEDICATION... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS... xi LIST OF TABLES... xiii LIST OF FIGURES... xiv CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION... 1 1.1. Aim and Scope of the Study... 1 1.2. Method of the Study... 6 1.3. Structure of the Study... 20 2. STREET AS A PUBLIC PLACE... 28 2.1. Public Place and Urbanization... 29 2.2. Street as an Urban Sub-Center... 36 3. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TUNALI HİLMİ AVENUE (ÖZDEMİR STREET) UNTIL THE MID-1950s... 51 3.1. The Building of Ankara as a Modern Capital City... 52 3.2. From a Suburban Area of Vineyards to a Residential Area... 57 4. THE FORMATION OF THE TUNALI HİLMİ AVENUE DURING THE LATE 1950s -1980s PERIOD... 97 4.1. Planning and Architecture in the Developing Ankara... 98 4.2. Functional Characteristics of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue... 112 4.2.1. Residential Area... 113 4.2.2. Cultural and Recreational Place... 127 4.2.3. Commercial Axis... 144 4.3. The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue as an Urban Sub-Center... 164 5. CONCLUSION... 204 xi

6. REFERENCES... 218 7. APPENDICES... 235 A. Interviewee Profile... 235 B. Questionnaire Form (English and Turkish)... 237 C. Interviews... 240 D. Turkish Summary... 341 E. Cirruculum Vitae... 357 xii

LIST OF TABLES TABLES Table 1 Group and Gender Distribution... 16 Table 2 Interviewed by Age... 17 Table 3 Interviewed by Level of Education... 18 Table 4 Year of Settlement in Ankara... 18 Table 5 Year of Settlement / Working in Tunalı Hilmi Avenue or Its Close Environment... 19 Table 6 The Most Remembered Public Places in Ankara between the 1950s and the 1980s... 166 Table 7 Beginning and Ending Nodes (Boundaries) of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue... 168 Table 8 The Most Remembered (Key) Places on the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue or Its Close Environment between the 1950s and the 1980s... 169 Table 9 The Most Remembered Restaurants/Patisseries/Markets on the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue between the 1950s and the 1980s... 171 xiii

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES Figure 1 The study area (google earth)... 27 Figure 2 1924 Lörcher Plan (Cengizkan, 2004: 47)... 78 Figure 3 Jansen Plan (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009)... 79 Figure 4a. Jansen Plan (Günay, 2005: 73)... 80 Figure 4b. The general principles in Lörcher Plan which were applied in Jansen Plan (www.acikarsiv.gazi.edu.tr, retrieved in 2008)... 80 Figure 5a Jansen s proposal for Kavaklıdere (METU-Faculty of Architecture Archive)... 81 Figure 5b Author s juxtaposition of Jansen s proposal for Kavaklıdere on the plan of the 1960s (the base plan showing the 1960s of Ankara is from İnönü Encylopedia)... 82 Figure 6 1930s Map of Ankara (Ankara Tapu Kadastro Arşivi-Land Registry Office Archive)... 83 Figure 7a 1930s Map of Ankara, main nodes marked by the author (Ankara Tapu Kadastro Arşivi-Land Registry Office Archive)... 84 Figure 7b View from the 1930s Tunalı Hilmi Avenue (İlhami Atayolu s photograph)... 85 Figure 7c View from the 1940s of Kavaklıdere -today s Poland Embassy (Füsun Eker s photo)... 85 Figure 8a Çankaya Köşkü (President s Palace) (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009: 214)... 86 Figure 8b Çankaya Köşkü (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009: 215)... 86 Figure 9a Semahat Bolevin with her friends near Kavaklıdere İlköğretim Okulu (Primary School) (Semahat Bolevin Archive, 2008)... 87 Figure 9b. Semahat Bolevin s house in Büklüm Street -close to the Kavaklıdere İlköğretim Okulu (Semahat Bolevin Archive, 2008)... 87 Figure 10a Site plan of 14 Mayıs Evleri (May 14 Houses) (Belli and Boyacıoğlu, 2007: 719)... 88 xiv

Figure 10b Type 2-Ground Floor Plan -Example of 14 Mayıs Evleri- Arjantin Street in Kavaklıdere (Belli and Boyacıoğlu, 2007: 722, 723)... 88 Figure 10c View from 14 Mayıs Evleri (Belli and Boyacıoğlu, 2007)... 88 Figure 11 1930s Map of Ankara, main nodes marked by the author (Ankara Tapu Kadastro Arşivi-Land Registry Office Archive)... 89 Figure 12a The entrance of the vineyards of Kavaklıdere Şarap Fabrikası (http://www.kavaklidere.com/tarihce.aspx, retrieved in 2009)... 90 Figure 12b The vineyards of Kavaklıdere Şarap Fabrikası... 90 (http://www.kavaklidere.com/tarihce.aspx, retrieved in 2009) Figure 12c The vintagers in Kavaklıdere Şarap Fabrikası... 91 (http://www.kavaklidere.com/tarihce.aspx, retrieved in 2009) Figure 12d Interior view, Kavaklıdere Şarap Fabrikası... 91 (http://www.kavaklidere.com/tarihce.aspx, retrieved in 2009) Figure 13a Exterior view, And Evi (http://arkiv.arkitera.com/p6217-cenap-andevi.html, retrieved in 2008)... 92 Figure 13b Entrance, And Evi (Mimarlık Müzesi, 2010)... 92 Figure 13c Interior view, And Evi (Mimarlık Müzesi, 2010)... 93 Figure 14 Building from the 1950s -Amerikan Narkotik Bürosu (American Narcotics Bureau) (author s archive, 2009)... 93 Figure 15a Atatürk Bulvarı (earlier Çankaya Caddesi) (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009: 187)... 94 Figure 15b Atatürk Bulvarı -view looking from the Kızılay Genel Müdürlük Binası (Head Office Building) through Ulus (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009: 184 )... 94 Figure 15c Güven Park and Kızılay Meydanı (Square) on Atatürk Bulvarı (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009: 199)... 95 Figure 15d Strolling on Atatürk Bulvarı from Bakanlıklar to the Kavaklıdere (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009: 209)... 95 Figure 15e Kızılay Meydanı on Atatürk Bulvarı (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009: 186)... 96 xv

Figure 15f View from Atatürk Bulvarı through Kavaklıdere (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009:196 )... 96 Figure 16 Plan showing the boundaries of Ankara, Lörcher Plan, Jansen Plan and squatter settlement (Alaeddin Kıral Basımevi, 1967, İstanbul)... 173 Figure 17a Uybadin-Yücel Plan -Building Development Plan (2009, Metu- Architecture Faculty Archive)... 174 Figure 17b Uydabin-Yücel Plan (Ankara Nazım Plan Şeması Raporu, 1977)... 175 Figure 18 Municipality of Ankara allowed the buildings in this region to be maximum seven storey high (Kat Nizam Planı, Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi Arşivi, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Archive)... 176 Figure 19a Location, Üniversite Apartmanı (Çankaya Belediyesi Arşivi, 2009)... 177 Figure 19b Üniversite Apartmanı (author s archive)... 177 Figure 19c Üniversite Apartmanı (author s archive)... 177 Figure 20a Location, İlbank Evleri (drawing by A.A. Aydınöz during the interview)... 178 Figure 20b Exterior view, İlbank Evleri (Çapanoğlu, 2007)... 179 Figure 20c. Floor plan, İlbank Evleri (Çapanoğlu, 2007)... 179 Figure 20d Exterior view, İlbank Evleri (Çapanoğlu, 2007)... 179 Figure 21a Site plan of Hayat Apartmanı (Candan, 2010)... 180 Figure 21b Cover of Hayat Mecmuası (Candan, 2010)... 180 Figure 21c Floor Plan of Hayat Apartmanı (Candan, 2010)... 181 Figure 21d View from Hayat Apartmanı (Candan, 2010)... 181 Figure 22 The 1950s (ground floor) land use plan (the former functions shown on contemporary plan by the author)... 182 Figure 23 Map showing the 1940s and the 1950s of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue and its environs (drawn by an old inhabitant of Kavaklıdere -İlhami Atayolu) (www.kavaklıderem.org, retrieved in 2010)... 183 Figure 24a Akün Sineması/Sahnesi (Çankaya Municipality Archive)... 184 xvi

Figure 24b Interior view, Akün Sineması (www.tiyatronline.com/sahankakun, retrieved in 2010)... 184 Figure 24c Exterior view, Akün Sineması(http://arkiv.arkitera.com, retrieved in 2010)... 184 Figure 24d Interior view, Akün Sineması (www.tiyatronline.com/sahankakun, retrieved in 2010)... 184 Figure 25a Ticket Booth, Akün Sineması (Evren and Karadoğan, 2008)... 185 Figure 25b Poster, Ulus Sineması (Evren and Karadoğan, 2008... 185 Figure 25c Büyük Sinema (Evren and Karadoğan, 2008)... 185 Figure 26a. Plan and section, Kavaklıdere Sineması (Çankaya Municipality Archive)... 186 Figure 26b Front facade, Kavaklıdere Sineması... 186 Figure 26c Entrance, Kavaklıdere Sineması... 187 (www.tumgazeteler.com/haberleri/kavaklidere-sinemasi, retrieved in 2010) Figure 26d Entrance, Kavaklıdere Sineması... 187 (www.tumgazeteler.com/haberleri/kavaklidere-sinemasi, retrieved in 2010) Figure 26e Interior view, Kavaklıdere Sineması... 187 (www.tumgazeteler.com/haberleri/kavaklidere-sinemasi, retrieved in 2010) Figure 26f Interior view, Kavaklıdere Sineması... 188 (www.tumgazeteler.com/haberleri/kavaklidere-sinemasi, retrieved in 2010) Figure 26g Interior view, Kavaklıdere Sineması... 188 (www.tumgazeteler.com/haberleri/kavaklidere-sinemasi, retrieved in 2010) Figure 26h Advertisement, Kavaklıdere Sineması (Evren and Karadoğan, 2008)... 189 Figure 27a 1960s, Kuğulu Park (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009)... 190 Figure 27b 1970s, Kuğulu Park (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009)... 190 Figure 27c 1970s, Kuğulu Park (Koleksiyoncular Derneği, 2009)... 190 Figure 27d 1990s, Kuğulu Park (24 Saat Kavaklıdere Magazin, 2006)... 191 Figure 27e 1990s, Kuğulu Park (24 Saat Kavaklıdere Magazin, 2006)... 191 Figure 28 The 1960s and the 1970s (ground floor) land-use plan (the former functions shown on contemporary plan by the author)... 192 xvii

Figure 29a Basement Plan, Tunalı Oteli (Çankaya Municipality Archive). 193 Figure 29b Ground Floor Plan, Tunalı Oteli (Çankaya Municipality Archive)... 193 Figure 29c Floor Plan, Tunalı Oteli (Çankaya Municipality Archive)... 193 Figure 29d Front facade, Tunalı Oteli (author s archive, 2009)... 194 Figure 29e Exterior view, Tunalı Oteli (author s archive, 2009)... 194 Figure 30a The first building in the place of today s Kuğulu Pasajı (İtez, 2008)... 195 Figure 30b Plan, Mobil Benzin İstasyonu in the place of today s Kuğulu Pasajı (İtez, 2008)... 195 Figure 30c Elevation, Mobil Benzin İstasyonu in the place of today s Kuğulu Pasajı (İtez, 2008)... 196 Figure 30d Plan, Kuğulu Pasajı (Em-Ar Architects-author s archive)... 196 Figure 30e Elevation, Kuğulu Pasajı (İtez, 2008)... 197 Figure 30f Exterior view, Kuğulu Pasajı (author s archive)... 197 Figure 30g Exterior view, Kuğulu Pasajı (author s archive)... 198 Figure 31 İmar Planı (Building Scheme)-The development plan showing the building regulations on the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue and its environs (Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi Arşivi)... 199 Figure 32 The 1980s and the 1990s (ground floor) land-use plan (the former functions shown on contemporary plan by the author)... 200 Figure 33 Demirdöğen Pasajı (author s archive)... 201 Figure 34 Seğmenler Pasajı (author s archive)... 201 Figure 35 Ertuğ Pasajı (author s archive)... 201 Figure 36 Gümüşsoy Pasajı (author s archive)... 201 Figure 37 Aynalı Pasajı (author s archive)... 202 Figure 38 Çelikler Pasajı (author s archive)... 202 Figure 39 Tunalı Pasajı (author s archive)... 202 Figure 40 Yetkin Pasajı (author s archive)... 202 Figure 41 The building from the 1970s -Flamingo Pastanesi (author s archive, 2009)... 203 xviii

Figure 42 The building from the 1970s (there used to be Pizza Pino) (author s archive, 2009)... 203 Figure 43 Exterior view, Karum İş ve Alışveriş Merkezi (Karum Business and Shopping Canter) (Emdem, XXI: 74)... 213 Figure 44 The (ground floor) land-use plan (the former functions shown on contemporary plan by the author)... 214 Figure 45 The 2000s (ground floor) land-use plan (the former functions shown on contemporary plan by the author)... 215 Figure 46 Plan of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue in the second half of the 1960s (Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Archive)... 216 Figure 47 Plan of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue in the second half of the 1990s (Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Archive)... 217 xix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Aim and Scope of the Study The main aim of this study is to understand the socio-spatial formation of a public place in Ankara, the capital city of the Turkish Republic, between the 1950s and the 1980s. Within this framework, the study focuses on the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue (earlier Özdemir Street) as one of the main streets in Ankara. 1 Therefore, this opens the way of discussing the street as a public place where social forms and practices come into being in the city. The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue is chosen to evaluate such socio-spatial (trans)formations from the late 1950s to the late 1980s when the Avenue was formed as a significant public place in Ankara, acquiring residential as well as cultural, recreational and commercial functions to act as an urban sub-center in the city. The evaluation of the street as a public place under the light of the main planning decisions and the practice of architecture in Ankara, facilitates to assess the street in accordance with its contributions to the city and to its public life. Therefore, this research aims to write a comprehensive architecture history of the formation of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue as a significant public place of the capital city. From a broad perspective, it intends to comprehend public place not only as an urban or architectural entity but also as a social formation. The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue has a strategically important position in Ankara in physical terms. It is located on the south side of the city center Kızılay in the 1 The name of the Özdemir Street was changed into the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue in 1964 (Erdem, 2011). 1

Kavaklıdere district. It begins with the Kuğulu Park Junction, and ends with the Ahmetler Junction. Since it has mainly developed as a commercial street, it is mostly used between the Kuğulu Park Junction and the Küçükesat Junction, because the major commercial activities have been located in this part of the Avenue (Figure 1). 2 The Atatürk Boulevard, the most important boulevard in Ankara that designates the spine of the city, is located on the western side of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue. Avenues such as Arjantin, and Cinnah are closely located to connect the Kavaklıdere district with the contemporaneously developed Çankaya, and Gaziosmanpaşa districts. Moreover, some streets that intersect the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue such as Tunus, and Bestekar extend some of the activities of the Avenue beyond its strict limits, and create an expanded effect of its life style. Also as a result of its special position in spatial terms, the Avenue has always been one of the most significant public places in Ankara, because it has been one of the busiest streets of the city, playing an important role in the daily life of its inhabitants with the different functions that it offers. This study aims to understand how and why the Avenue was formed as such an important urban public place. The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue is not just any street; it has played a vital role in the life of the Kavaklıdere district as well as of Ankara in the larger scale, because the Avenue has been one of the loci of Ankara s public/social life. There are different ways of studying the formation of a part of a city, such as studying the district as a whole and/or focusing on individual buildings. This study aims to cover the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue within the larger frame of its district as a whole. Studies of a street as a complete unit are rare in architectural history literature in Turkey. Instead of focusing exclusively on the buildings or on the larger urban context, choosing the street as an intermediate unit of study could help better analyze the formation of an urban public place in the city. This study intends to undertake such a perspective and write the architectural/urban history of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue in Ankara as a public place rather than as a collection of 2 See also Table 7 in Chapter Four (4.3). 2

single buildings, and aims to evaluate the socio-spatial formation and the ordinary life of the street for a better understanding of the city itself. The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue has witnessed changes and these changes are an essential part of an evolution. Some buildings were demolished and replaced by new ones, while some parts of the street have preserved their appearance in physical terms from the late 1950s to the present. It can be argued that the formation of the Avenue came into being gradually and continuously, incorporating transformations through the process. The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue seems to have acquired the ability to attract and bring people together from different groups of the society, hence to act as an urban sub-center. It is assumed that the diverse uses it incorporated, such as residential, recreational, cultural and commercial functions, as well as its location, were essential in its formation as an important public place in Ankara from the late 1950s onwards. Thus, this study aims to understand the formation and changes occurred in the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue by analyzing its wider context of social and spatial processes. The time frame of analysis in this study in discussing the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue as a public place focuses on the period from the late 1950s util the end of the 1980s. The period starts with the Uybadin-Yücel Plan in 1957, which transformed the urban and architectural context in Ankara, also affecting the changes in the Avenue in later decades. The end of the period of analysis is defined by the pedestrianization of the Avenue in 1990 3, which is taken as a last attempt to preserve the multi-functional urban sub-center character of the 3 In 1990, at the very end of the period under consideration in this study, the Municipality closed the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue to vehicular traffic and pedestrianized it on pronounced days and time intervals. Okulu s work (2007) is significant to understand the issue of pedestrianfriendly environment as she evaluates the potentials and the possibilities for generating a pedestrian environment in Ankara by focusing on the case of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue. Bayraktar s study (1993) is also valuable for further explanation of the pedestrianized period of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue. 3

Avenue, and the construction of the Karum Business and Shopping Center 4 in 1991, which determined its further change into a commercial axis. Although streets all have their own stories, they still take part within the urban historical processes. Streets as public places have very significant roles in strengthening the relation among people and they are one of the main loci of community interaction and social relations in cities. In this respect, the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue can be considered as one of the streets in Ankara, which plays such a significant role. By analyzing the plans of Ankara prepared during the twentieth century, i.e. Lörcher, Jansen s, and Uybadin-Yücel Plans, we can read how the Kavaklıdere district, where the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue is located, and its close environment developed. Having analyzed such plans, the formation and changes that the Avenue experienced will be evaluated because it had not been planned in these plans either as an urban sub-center or a commercial district, which it turned out to be through the years. Examining the early plans of Ankara, we can realize that only a narrow path was located in the place of the contemporary Tunalı Hilmi Avenue and it was transformed into an Avenue with special characteristics in the chronological process as a result of the necessities of the capital city. Hence, it is one of the main aims of this research to evaluate how and why the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue turned into one of the most attractive points of cultural/recreational and commercial life in Ankara although it had not been planned as such. In trying to understand the formation of a public place in Ankara between the 1950s and the 1980s, a variety of references are needed. These references can be categorized under two main headings: One is concerned with the sociospatial transformation of Ankara in general, and the Tunalı Hilmi avenue in particular, exemplifying the changes as a result of the urbanization process in the city. The other category is formed by the theoretical references necessary to create a ground for a discussion of public place, especially the street as a public 4 The complex was designed by Von Gerkan, Marg and Partners. 4

place. Definitions of public place and street as well as the urbanization of Ankara, taken in relation to the built environment of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue and the daily experiences of its inhabitants, are the concerns of the theoretical discussions of this study, framed in Chapter Two. These will help evaluate how the street - the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue - was formed in a certain time period in relation to the socio-spatial dynamics of the city. In analyzing the formation of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue as a public place with reference to the social and spatial processes, and the resultant characteristics it acquired, the initial field of focus is the city of Ankara itself. History of architecture and urban planning in Ankara has been written in various perspectives, focusing on the design and the meaning of urban space in the city 5. These studies are helpful in investigating the physical features and the social context of the Tunalı Hilmi Avenue in comparison to the similar contemporary places in Ankara. In order to understand a street as a public place in socio-spatial terms, this study tries to develop an adequate understanding of the socio-spatial development of Ankara from the late 1950s until the late 1980s. That is why, at the beginning of Chapter Three and Chapter Four, the developments in urban/architectural terms in Ankara during the period under consideration are discussed with reference to the contemporary socio-political context. In other words, the aim is to correlate the formation of a public place - Tunalı Hilmi Avenue - with the similar experience of larger context of the the city of Ankara. 5 Among these studies, significant ones for this study are as follows: Akçura (1971), Aktüre (1978; 2001), Altaban (1998), Aslanoğlu (1994), Aydın, et. al. (2005), Batur (2005), Bilsel (2008), Cengizkan (2000; 2002a, 2002b; 2004), Görmez (2004), Günay (1988), Kortan (1971), Madran (2001), Sargın (2009), Sey (ed.). (1998), Sözen (1973; 1984), Şimşir (2006), Tankut (1993; 2000; 2001), Tanyeli (2007), Tapan (1984) Tekeli (1982; 1998; 2000) Yavuz (1992; 1994), Yücel (2005). A number of theses about Ankara that concentrate on the design and the meaning of the city are: Akit (2004), Alanyalı Aral (2003), Başaran (2002), Bayraktar (1998), Devellioğlu (1995), Güler (1990), Levent (1999), Mahmud (1996), Özaloğlu (2006), Özen (2002), Şiranlı (1999), Uludağ (1998), Yaşdağ (2006). 5