BAHCESEHIR UNIVERSITY

ARC4021/ CONTEMPORARY TURKISH ARCHITECTURE

2020/2021
Assist. Prof. Dr. Göksun AKYÜREK ALTÜRK

ANITKABIR PROJECT COMPETITION

Omer Djan Bashtash - 1801855

Ozan Can Balcı – 1731572
omerdjan.bashtash@bahcesehir.edu.tr
ozancan.balci@bahcesehir.edu.tr

Faculty of Architecture & Design

3rd year
2020/2021

28 January 2021

0
Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations……………..........................................................................i
List of Figures…………………….........................................................................i
1. Introduction…………............................................................................….2
2. Rasattepe (Anıttepe) ………….................................................................3
3. Project Competition…………....................................................................3
3.1. Specifications…………..................................................................3
3.2. Award Winning Projects…………..................................................4
3.3. Requested Changes………………………..…………….…...……...5
4. Construction Process………….................................................................5
4.1. Peace Park……………………………………………...……………..6
4.2. Parts of the Building………………………………………...………...6
5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...8

List of Abbreviations

RT – Republic of Turkey
BC – Before Century
UPM – Undersecretary Of The Prime Ministry
AEH – Ankara Exhibition House
Prof. – Professor
Assoc. – Association
CM – Council of Ministers

1
List of Figures

1. Fig1. Winning Project………………………………………………………….4

2. Fig2. Halicarnassus mausoleum……………………………………………..6
3. Fig3. Temple of artemis Ephesus…………………………………………….6
4. Fig4. Mausoleum……………………………………………………………….6
5. Fig5. Lion motif from the Hittites…………………………………………..….7
6. Fig6. Lion Road Anitkabir…………………………………………………..….7
7. Fig7. Ceremonial Square……………………………………………..……….7
8. Fig8. Mausoleum Interior……………………………………………..……….7
9. Fig9. Hall of Honour……………………………………………..……………..7
10. Fig10. Burial Chamber……………………………………………..………….7
11. Fig11. Museum……………………………………………..………………….8
12. Fig12. Group of Sculptures of Women……………………………………….8
13. Fig13. Group of Sculptures of Men…………………………………………...8

ANITKABIR PROJECT COMPETITION

INTRODUCTION
Anıtkabir built as the Tomb of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and leader of
the RT. Anitkabir is one of the symbol places of the RT and the capital Ankara.
After Atatürk's death, the government of the period decided to build a mausoleum
for Atatürk. Atatürk's funeral was placed in the Ethnographic Museum, which
designated as a temporary grave until the mausoleum (Anıtkabir) completed. 1

2
1
Boran, Tunç (2011a). "Anıtkabir'in inşa edildiği Rasattepe'nin tespit edilme süreci ve
morfolojik değişimi"
RASATTEPE (ANITTEPE)
The commission that was created by politicians, Rasattepe was determined as
the site where Anitkabir will build. During this process, there was a debate
between Çankaya and Rasattepe for the place of Anitkabir. With the construction
of Anitkabir, Rasattepe became an important Center for the RT and the capital
Ankara. Before the construction of Anitkabir, the name of Anittepe was Rasattepe
because of the presence of an observation station. On this hill, there were tumuli
(Tomb structures) belonging to the Phrygian civilization, which established a state
in Anatolia in the twelfth century BC. After it was decided to build Anitkabir in
Rasattepe, archaeological excavations were carried out to remove these tumuli. 2

PROJECT COMPETITION
After the selection of the place of Anitkabir, it was decided to build Anıtkabir with
a competition. The commission established under the chairmanship of the Deputy
Prime Minister determined the general qualities of Anitkabir and published it in a
statement. This statement can be summarized as follows;
“Anitkabir, which will cost the works of the great man living in the heart of the
Great Turkish nation forever, should be prepared according to the following
principles.” UPM said.3

SPECIFICATIONS
- Specification will be explained in Turkish and French.
- A jury of at least 3 people will be formed and they will propose at least 3 projects
to the government for the first place, and the government will choose one of these
projects.
- The owner of the first project was given the right to control the construction and
a fee of 3% over the construction price, the remaining 2 project members were
given three thousand pounds.
- A Great Hall of Honour will be passed and will allow thousands of people to visit.
- It has to reflect Atatürk.
- It can be seen clearly from as far away as it looks up close.
- It was stated that the cost of the construction will not exceed 3 million pounds.

2 Boran, Tunç (2011b). Mekân ve Siyaset İlişkisi Bağlamında Anıtkabir (1938- 3

1973) (Doktora tezi). Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü. pn.
93-94
3 Dilek, Öztürk, 10 Kasım 2009, ARKITERA
- Properties of other building sections to be made around the construction are
specified:
1-visitors will enter from the entrance of Honour.
2-a lounge that can accommodate too many people was requested.
3-the structure of the Hall of Honour, where the sarcophagus will be located,
shown as the centre and spirit of the Anitkabir, as well as the hall where the
sarcophagus is located, 6 arrows, which are the program and symbol of Turkey,
were asked to symbolize.
- A Museum of Atatürk was requested to display Atatürk's valuables
It was requested that services consisting of two wards for the guards and
employees who remained there permanently, and two rooms for the military unit
of 15 people be located inside the building.
- It was said that other buildings and structures to be built outside of Anitkabir
should not spoil the splendour of Anitkabir.4

The competition generated more interest than hoped. Total of 49 projects from
all over the world participated in the competition. AEH was allocated for jury work.
The jury selected 3 works that it found “worthy for the award”. On May 7, 1942, it
was decided to apply the works of Turkish artists. The communique announcing
this decision, published by the government on 9 June 1942, contained in
summary the following considerations:

AWARD WINNING PROJECTS

1. Of the three projects awarded by the jury panel
examining the Anitkabir project for eternal Chief
Atatürk;
a. Prof. Emin Onat and Assoc. Orhan Arda's
project was chosen as the first.
Fig1
b. The second count of both projects belonging to German professor J.
Kruger and Italian professor A. Moschino.
2. None of these three projects is directly conducive to implementation and
changes are needed, and the first selected project will be implemented after
making the changes seen in the jury's report.

4
4 Dilek, Öztürk, 10 Kasım 2009, ARKITERA
3. It was decided that the proposed change would be made to a panel of experts,
including the project owner who won the first place in the Anitkabir Project
competition.5

REQUESTED CHANGES
A new commission was established on 28 October 1943 to make the changes
stipulated in the jury's report. In the project, the castle axis and the rooms around
the Hall of Honour were the subjects of criticism because the building lost its
monumental nature. The changes envisaged in the project included
improvements to these sections. On April October 7, 1943, Emin Onat and Orhan
Arda completed their work, which they started on April 5, 1943, and handed it
over to the commission. According to the specification, the rights to implement
and control the project that won the competition belonged to the owner of the
work. For this purpose, the commission took a decision containing its thoughts
on its relationship with the Ankara city zoning plan and granted these rights to
Emin Onat and Orhan Arda on November 18, 1943. The report, projects and
models prepared by the commission were examined at the meeting of the CM
and the implementation of the project was decided on 18 November 1943. 6

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
Anitkabir has the characteristics of the second national architectural movement.
This architectural movement is based on describing simple architecture, giving
importance to symmetry, using stone-clad facades. Ottoman and Islamic
architectures were not consciously preferred. The architects took the
Halicarnassus mausoleum as an example to draw attention to the Ancient
Origins. Halicarnassus is considered one of the 7 Wonders of the world. It is a
tomb resembling Greek architecture with its columns and Egyptian architecture
with its pyramid roof. In other words, some structures, monuments and temples
found in old Anatolia were taken as examples when Anitkabir was built. Some
researchers have written that when the roof was removed, a simple, columnar
main building resembling the ‘Hellenic’ temples on top of the acropolis appeared.
Some carpet motifs used in Seljuk and Ottoman architecture were used in the
interior decoration of Anitkabir. The octagonal plan used in the burial chamber is

5 Boran, Tunç (2011a). "Anıtkabir'in inşa edildiği Rasattepe'nin tespit edilme süreci ve 5
morfolojik değişimi"
6 Dilek, Öztürk, 10 Kasım 2009, ARKITERA
the same as the architecture of the mausoleum used in the Ottoman period. As
a result, Emin Onat's words for architecture were;

"The Ottoman era was a very honourable era, but it was an introverted era,
many civilizations lived in the past of our country, civilizations from Central
Asia to Europe, starting with the Sumerians and the Hittite, lived here."

Atatürk taught us to know these civilizations and to enjoy their history, he brought
us out of the introversion of the Ottoman times, so we have revealed a building
that can take a style from every nation that is worthy of Ataturk and reflects his
thoughts, Emin Onat said.7

Fig2 Fig3 Fig4

Anitkabir covers an area of 750,000 m2 and consists of 2 main parts.

1. Peace Park: Atatürk's’ magistrate in the dormitory, a magistrate in the jihad
' based on the word of many foreign countries and saplings brought from one side
of the country are located in the Peace Park.
2.a. Memorial Blog: The memorial block consists of 3 sections:

i) Lion Road: Lions located on the lion road are one of the symbols
belonging to the Hittites who lived in Anatolia in the past. Along the
way, these lions are 24 pieces, right and left, and represent 24 Oghuz
height, The Lion is a symbol of strength, and the reason they are a
couple is ‘unity and integrity'.The stones laid along the road are laid

7 Remzi, Oğuz (1934), “Anadolu Arkeologya Tarihinde Alişar Hafriyatı”, Türk Tarih,
Arkeologya ve Etnografya Dergisi, Sayı 1, 18-63.ARIK
Arda, Orhan (1961-62), Anıt Kabir, Mimarlık ve Sanat, C.1, S. 4-5 6
 ii) with 5 cm of grass space so that people who come to Atatürk’s
presence can come out with their heads tilted forward.

Fig5 Fig6

iii) Ceremonial Square: A rectangular area

with a capacity of 15,000 people. The floor
tiles were made using travertines and
Ottoman carpet motifs.

Fig7

iv) Mausoleum: On the left of the mausoleum

is Atatürk's address to youth and in the
middle is his words 'sovereignty belongs to
the nation unconditionally'.
Fig8

b. Hall Of Honor: The hall leading to the mausoleum is

the hall that state elders or visitors pass when they
come to visit the ancestor.

Fig9

c. Burial Chamber: Atatürk's body is located on the

ground floor of the mausoleum, in a grave dug directly
into the ground. The plan of the room was formed from
octagonal plans in Ottoman architecture.
Fig10

7
d. Museum: There is an area where items from the
time of liberation, Atatürk's personal belongings and a
cross-section from the war of independence are revived.

Fig11

e. Statuary: There are many sculptural motifs in the garden of the mausoleum.
Each statue symbolizes different things, some of the power in the Battle of
desiccation, some of the nationalism, some of the pain of Atatürk's death.

Fig12 Fig13

f. Towers: Towers symbolize Atatürk’s thoughts and symbolize our important

days, which are;
 Istiklal Tower
 Freedom Tower
 Mehmetçik Tower
 Mudafaa-I Law Tower
 Victory Tower
 Peace Tower8

8 T. C. Genel Kurmay Başkanlığı (2001), Anıtkabir Tarihçesi, Ankara

Aslanoğlu, İnci (2000), 1928-1946 Döneminde Ankara’da Yapılan Resmi Yapıların
Mimarisinin Değerlendirilmesi. Ayşıl Tükel Yavuz (Derleyen), Tarih İçinde Ankara,
271-286, Ankara: ODTÜ - Ankaralılar Vakfı.

8
CONCLUSION
As a result, it is very important to build Anitkabir and do it through a project
competition, because there were a democracy and election here, they used the
rights that Atatürk brought us. In the project competition, everyone was treated
equally, and we think it was better to choose the project of a Turkish contestant,
because our people got to know our leader more closely at that time, witnessed
what he did and his wishes, they knew his thoughts better, and also our region
Anatolia. Anitkabir is a national monument for Turkey and is a place where every
Turkish person enters and leaves with respect, and it will remain so.

REFERENCES
Arda, Orhan (1961-62), Anıt Kabir, Mimarlık ve Sanat, C.1, S. 4-5
Aslanoğlu, İnci (2000), 1928-1946 Döneminde Ankara’da Yapılan Resmi Yapıların Mimarisinin
Değerlendirilmesi. Ayşıl Tükel Yavuz (Derleyen), Tarih İçinde Ankara, 271-286, Ankara: ODTÜ -
Ankaralılar Vakfı.
Boran, Tunç (2011a). "Anıtkabir'in inşa edildiği Rasattepe'nin tespit edilme süreci ve morfolojik
değişimi"
Boran, Tunç (2011b). Mekân ve Siyaset İlişkisi Bağlamında Anıtkabir (1938-1973) (Doktora tezi).
Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü. pn. 93-94
Dilek, Öztürk, 10 Kasım 2009, ARKITERA
Evliyagil, Nejdet (1988), Atatürk ve Anıtkabir, Ankara.
Remzi, Oğuz (1934), “Anadolu Arkeologya Tarihinde Alişar Hafriyatı”, Türk Tarih, Arkeologya ve
Etnografya Dergisi, Sayı 1, 18-63.ARIK
T. C. Genel Kurmay Başkanlığı (2001), Anıtkabir Tarihçesi, Ankara