Teaching Architectural History in Turkey and Greece: The Burden of the Mosque and the

Temple
Author(s): Gülsüm Baydar
Source: The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 62, No. 1, (Mar., 2003),
pp. 84-91
Published by: Society of Architectural Historians
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3655085
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Teaching Architectural History
in Turkey and Greece: The
and the Temple
GULSUM BAYDAR
Bilkent University, Ankara
Turkey and Greece occupy very different positions in
relation to the standardized canon of architectural his-
tory. While ancient Greece provides the foundation of
the monumental classical tradition of the West, Turkey's
Ottoman empire is relegated to a marginalized position
having no impact on the West. This fact is most apparent
in Sir Banister Fletcher's A Historyof Architectureon the
ComparativeMethodfor the Student, Craftsmanand Ama-
teur, the earliest survey of architecture that included
regions outside the West.1 Fletcher'sfamous frontispiece,
Tree of Architecture,has a solid upright trunk that is
inscribedwith the names of Europeanstyles. Greek archi-
tecture appearsfirst on the trunk. Non-Western styles-
Persian, Mexican, Egyptian, Assyrian, Indian, Chinese,
and Japanese styles-branch out from the trunk and do
not grow beyond the seventh-century mark. Ottoman
architecture does not even appearon Fletcher's diagram.
Despite their different historical impacts on the
canon, Turkey and Greece shared a history under the
Ottoman empire for three centuries until 1833, when
Greece became an independent nation state. Interest-
ingly, the Greek lands lost their privileged rank in the
historiography of Ottoman architecture, which is cen-
tered on the monuments of the capital city of Istanbul.2
To my knowledge, the first survey of world architecture
that includes a significant section on Ottoman architec-
ture is Spiro Kostof's A History of Architecture:Settings
and Rituals,which provides a comparative perspective on
Venice and Istanbul.3 The postindependence architec-
tures of Turkey and Greece, by contrast, have never been
included in the grand narrative of architectural history.
Even as separate fields of specialization, they have
attracted attention outside their native borders only
recently.
In preparingthis text, my primaryquestion has been:
To what extent do the roles of Turkey and Greece in rela-
tion to the canon affect the teaching of architecturalhis-
tory in those countries today? As details of the
architectural history curricula show, issues of national
identity and modernization result in striking similarities
between the approachesused in Turkey and Greece.
84 JSAH / 62:1, MARCH 2003
Burden of the Mosque
The Institutional Setting
In both Ottoman Turkeyand Greece, architecturaleduca-
tion was institutionalized in the nineteenth century. The
earliest architecturedepartmentsin the Ottoman empire
were in Istanbul.They were based on the engineering tra-
dition and their curriculawere technically oriented. The
first departmentwas founded in 1847 after the reorganiza-
tion of the Royal School of Military Engineering, which
had been founded in 1795. It offered courses in drawing,
shipbuilding, construction of roads, bridges, and canals,
topography,physics, chemistry,dynamics,and French and
Western civilization.4 The second was the Civil Service
School of Engineering, which incorporated a sufficiently
broad range of courses that graduatescould choose archi-
tecture as their field of expertise.An independentarchitec-
ture departmentwas foundedin 1937 basedon the German
model of the technical school of higher education. The
school's name was changed in 1944 to Istanbul Technical
University,and today it has one of the largest architecture
departmentsin the country,with a strong architecturalhis-
tory curriculum.
The third architecture school, established under the
School of Fine Arts in 1883, was based on the Beaux-Arts
model and was the first to include art history in its curricu-
lum.5History of architecturewas includedin a coursecalled
"Science of Architecture," which covered the Western
world from antiquity to the Renaissanceand Islamic civi-
lization. It consisted of the study of individualcomponents
of historicalbuildingsandwas directlyrelatedto the design
curriculum.In 1937, the school was renamedthe Academy
of Fine Arts, and it becamethe firstmodernistinstitutionof
architecturaleducationin Turkeyafter the founding of the
TurkishRepublicin 1923. The culturalmodernizationpro-
ject of the new republic was intricately integrated with
architecturalmodernization.This phenomenon had a sig-
nificant impact on architectural education, as explained
below.
In Greece, architecturaleducationwas firstintroduced
at the Technical School, which was founded in 1836.6The
founding decree mentioned the importanceof architectural
education, considering "the influence which architecture
has on political life in general."7Until the 1860s, architec-
ture courses were taught as part of the curriculumof the
School of Civil Engineering. In the following years, grad-
ual changesincludeda new emphasison the classicalorders
and Renaissance morphology; the intention was to aid
architecturaldesign rather than to encourage intellectual
growth. An independent school of architecturewithin the
Technical School was establishedin 1917. The curriculum
was, naturally,influenced by the school'spracticalorienta-
tion, as well as by contemporaryGermanandViennese pro-
grams and the Beaux-Arts tradition. Courses included
"BuildingTechnology,""PlasticArts,""UrbanPlanning,"
"Painting,"and "ArchitecturalForm and Orders."Mod-
ernist interests in advancedtechnical knowledge and func-
tionalism were integrated into the offerings in the late
1940s.It remainedthe sole institutionfor architecturaledu-
cation until the late 1950s, when Greece'ssecond school of
architecturewas founded, in Thessaloniki. After adminis-
trative changes in the 1970s, the architecture school in
Athens became part of the National Technical University
in that city, which is now considered "a pioneer in the
higher education of Greek architects."8
There are strikingsimilaritiesbetween the beginnings
of architecturaleducation in Turkeyand Greece, and they
have ongoing repercussionstoday.First,in both cases there
is a markeddivide between architectureas engineering and
architectureas art. Second, both the Academyof Fine Arts
in Istanbul and the School of Architecture in Athens
embraced modernism to reform their Beaux-Arts-influ-
enced programs.As such, their historiesparallelmany other
Westerncurriculain EuropeandNorth America.However,
the most significantlikenessbetweenthe Turkishand Greek
casesis the integrationof educationalconcernswith nation-
alist sentiments and a strong emphasis on regional tradi-
tions. From its earlydays,the Ottoman curriculumfocused
on Islamic civilization.Architecturaland culturalmodern-
ization were inseparablein modern Turkey,and architec-
ture and political life were inextricablylinked in Greece.
These are significant points, since nationalist sentiments,
concern for regional traditions, and interest in develop-
ments in Western architecturehave played a fundamental
role in determining the present structure of architectural
history curriculain both countries.
Today twenty-six institutions offer architecturaledu-
cation in Turkey, and six in Greece. In Turkey, two new
majorschools of architecturewere establishedin 1942 and
1956. The first was founded under the aegis of Istanbul's
Yildlz Technical University, which had developed from a
technical school based on the model of the French Ecole
de Conducteur. The second was part of Ankara'sMiddle
East Technical University,which was based on the North
Americanmodel and offerseducationin English.In Greece,
in addition to the two schools in Athens and Thessaloniki,
three new institutionswere establishedin the 1990s, at the
Universityof Thessalia,Volos;the Universityof Patras;and
the University of Thrace, Xanthi.
After the 1960s, with changes in Turkey'slegal codes,
private schools of architecture proliferated in the major
cities. Todaydepartmentsof architecturefall into three dis-
tinct categories: departmentsof major public universities
with relatively generous resources, departments of well-
funded privateuniversities,and those of public universities
in the provinces with limited resources for curriculum
development. The architecturalhistory curricula largely
reflect the status of the schools. Well-established public
schools like IstanbulTechnicalUniversity,Yildlz Technical
University,and the Middle East TechnicalUniversity offer
a broad range of graduate and undergraduatecourses. In
the majorityof the others, architecturalhistory is limited
to a four-semester survey. Although all universities in
Greece are public, their architecturalhistory curriculadis-
playconsiderabledifferencesin the approachandvarietyof
courses offered.
Teaching the Canon
The architecturalhistorysurveycourseis the standardcom-
ponent of most architecturalprograms,in which students
are introduced to the canonicalpremises of the discipline.
In the last three decades,some of the leading schools in the
West have restructuredtheir survey course in a conscious
attemptto questionthe canon, that is, to challengeits Euro-
centricpremises,its emphasison form and style, and its pre-
occupation with master architects.In Turkey and Greece,
such critical approaches are mostly implemented outside
the surveycourse. However, the most significantdifference
from the West is the remarkableemphasison native histo-
ries. The history of Ottoman/Turkisharchitecturein Turk-
ish schools and of Greek architecturein Greek schools is
one of the largestcomponents of the survey.Equal empha-
sis is placedon modern Western architecturein both coun-
tries, while other historicalperiods play a considerablyless
significant role. The length of the survey course ranges
from two to five semestersdependingon the breadthof the
architecturalhistory curriculum.
In the case of Turkey, one of the primary aims is to
incorporateOttoman/Turkishhistory into the chronologi-
cal grand narrative of Western architecture. Therefore
Seljuk and Ottoman architectureare often taught in con-
junction with Western Renaissance, Mannerist, and
TEACHING THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 85
Baroqueperiods. Modern Turkisharchitectureis included to those of the Ottoman empire. Greek programs are
in the final semester of the sequence, which is otherwise markedby similarefforts. Studytripsto canonicalexamples
dedicated to the post-Enlightenment West. The curricu- of European modernism are a significant feature at the
lum at the Middle East TechnicalUniversityis typical,with National Technical University of Athens. A recent tour
a surveyspanning three semesters.The first semester cov- called "Le Corbusierin Diagonalis"exposedstudentsto Le
ers ancientandmedievalhistory,the second focuseson early Corbusier's major works from La Chaux de Fonds to
Islamic, Seljuk, and Ottoman styles and the Renaissance, Roquebrune-Cap Martin. In both Turkey and Greece,
Mannerist, and Baroque eras, and the last covers the emphasison local traditionsand the Western canon is fur-
Enlightenment to the present, with a section on "current ther marked by instances where students are required to
debates in Western and Turkish architecture."In many construct models and make drawings of representative
other schools, Ottoman/Turkisharchitectureoccupies an buildings.
entire semester as a separatesection of the survey.At the Despite a predominantlyconservativeapproachto the
IstanbulTechnicalUniversity,for example,the four-semes- canon, in both Turkey and Greece there is scattered evi-
ter course is structuredas follows: ancient and Byzantine dence that instructorsare reconsideringthe chronological
architecture,Turkisharchitecture,European architecture, sequence of the grand narrativewithin the survey course.
and contemporaryarchitecture. For the most part,this shift is occurringin relativelyyoung
In Greece, there is less emphasis on contemporary universitieswhere there is no rooted tradition of teaching
Greek architecturethan on the country'sancient past.This the canon. IstanbulKultiirUniversityand the Universityof
is hardlysurprising,as ancient Greece plays such a signifi- Thessaly, both founded in the 1990s, are exemplaryin this
cant role in Western historiography.It is a potent source respect. In the former, twentieth-century architecture is
for reinforcinga sense of culturaland architecturalidentity, taught as an introductory course before the standardhis-
and hence is heavily emphasized in architecturalhistory tory.At Thessaly, students are introducedto the history of
curricula.At the National TechnicalUniversity of Athens, architecture from prehistory to the present in their first
for instance, the chronological survey is taught in five year. They then take two courses on the chronological
semesters.The firstthree coverprehistoricand earlyGreek, developmentof Western architecture.At the AristotleUni-
Mediterranean, Minoan, and Mycenaean architecture; versity of Thessaloniki, by contrast, the first-yearcurricu-
Greek and Roman antiquity;and the Byzantine, Western lum includes both required and elective courses on the
medieval,and Ottoman periods.The last two focus on the history of modern art and architecture. The priority of
Westernworld from the Renaissanceto the 1950s.While in Western architectureover native historiesremainsunques-
Turkey there is a deliberate attempt to incorporate tioned in both Turkishand Greek curricula.For both sides
Ottoman/Turkish architectureinto the canon, in Greece the aim is to set a curriculumthat is on par with those of
pre-modernGreek architecturecarriesequalweight. A glo- internationalarchitectureschools.9Ironically,in both cases,
rifiedpast is an unmistakableideologicalcomponent of his- non-Western architecturalcultures remain largely outside
tory teaching in both countries. the scope of history. Internationalistclaims are limited to
In both countries,the emphasison Western and native the inclusion of North American and Western European
architectural traditions is further manifested in student architecturaltraditions.
assignmentsand field trips that are organizedeither as part The centrality of the Western world in architectural
of the coursesor as extracurricularactivities.At the Middle historiographyhas furtherimplicationsfor the teaching of
East TechnicalUniversity,a summerelective called "Archi- history in both Turkeyand Greece. The global dominance
tecture in Situ" consists of field trips to Anatolia and/or of the English languagehas serious consequencesin terms
Europe. Depending on the programthey choose, the stu- of the accessibility of scholarly publications for students
dents are exposed either to Seljukand Ottoman settings or educatedin their nativelanguages.Most students,especially
to selected examples from the Western canon. Their at the undergraduatelevel, rely on translationsof standard
researchand documentationare exhibitedin the following texts. Such important sources as Vitruvius'sTenBookson
fall semester for all members of the entire departmentto Architectureand Leonardo Benevolo'sModernArchitecture
view. IstanbulTechnicalUniversityorganizesfaculty-spon- are availablein Turkish, and Kenneth Frampton'sModern
sored field trips to sites both within and outside Istanbulas Architectureand David Watkin'sHistoryof WesternArchitec-
part of the architectural history curriculum. Students thus ture have been translated into Greek. In addition, native
receive broad exposure to differenthistorical architectural scholarsin both countries have written standardarchitec-
culturesin Turkey,rangingfrom ancient Greek and Roman tural history textbooks. In Greece, the teaching is exclu-

86 JSAH / 62:1, MARCH 2003

sivelyin Greek,but at the Middle EastTechnicalUniversity
and all privateuniversitiesin Turkeyeducationis offeredin
English. However, for all but a privilegedminority of stu-
dents who have acquiredlanguage skills during their pre-
university years, language remains a major problem in
architecturalhistoryeducation.In Turkishuniversitiesout-
side major cities like Ankara,Istanbul,and Izmir, students
rely exclusivelyon lecturenotes. Hence the backgroundand
approachof the individualinstructoroften becomesthe sole
determinantof the students'understandingof architectural
history.
History and Theory
With few exceptions, the integration of architecturalhis-
tory and theory are mostly confined to upper-levelelective
and graduatecoursesin both Turkishand Greekprograms.
Although there are scatteredexampleswhere the standard
history surveyis called "History and Theory of Architec-
ture," the content of the theoretical component varies
tremendously,ranging from the history of theory to con-
temporaryphilosophy.
In Turkishuniversities,historyandtheoryaregenerally
kept separate.Such figures as Vitruviusand Leon Battista
Albertiare mentioned in the surveycourseswithout an in-
depth examinationof their ideas. This is mostly explained
by the lack of sufficient time in the curriculum,the pre-
sumednecessity of learningbasichistoricalmaterialbefore
abstracttheoreticalprinciples,and students'lack of enthu-
siasm for extensive reading. However, in the majority of
schools where the chronologicalsurveycovers contempo-
rary Western architecture, students learn about such
currentphilosophicalnotions as neorationalism,postmod-
ernism, and deconstructivism.This exposure is primarily
due to the efforts of individual instructors rather than
explicitlystated curricularaims.
In general,the attemptto integratehistory and theory
is much more prominent in Greek curricula. At the
National Technical University of Athens, the history of
architecturaltheory is systematicallylinked to the history
of architecture,particularlyfrom the Renaissance to the
present. The invention of theory in the Renaissance,the
discovery of history and language during the Enlighten-
ment, and the meaning of modern and currenttheoretical
debates are addressedas part of the survey course. At the
Universityof Thessaly,the combinationof historyand the-
ory is statedas one of the fundamentalpremisesof the cur-
riculum.Theory enters the picture as design abstractions,
whereby students are exposed to such notions as type,
model, metaphor,analogy,and symbol. These terms form
Figure 1 Students from the NationalTechnicalUniversityof Athens
at Le Corbusier'sCabanonat Cap Martin,France, duringtheir field
trip, "Le Corbusierin Diagonalis,"1999
the key elements of the vocabulary of the standard chrono-
logical survey.
In both Turkey and Greece, undergraduate students
are occasionally presented with contemporary debates in
separate theory courses. Examples of such courses are
"Special Topics in Architectural Theory" and "Gender and
Space" (National Technical University of Athens); "History
of Architecture, 1945-2000: From Construction to Decon-
struction" (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki); "Think-
ing, Reading, Writing on Architecture" (Middle East
Technical University, Ankara); "Theories of Art and Archi-
tecture" (Istanbul Technical University); and "Contempo-
rary Topics in Architecture" (Beykent University, Istanbul).
The situation changes considerably in graduate programs,
where a broad range of specialized courses that combine
architectural history and theory is available.
In Turkey, the Middle East Technical University and
Istanbul Technical University are the most prominent insti-
tutions with graduate programs in architectural history.
That of the former is known for its theoretical focus and
that of the latter for its emphasis on the history of
Ottoman/Turkish architecture. Although the range of grad-
uate courses varies each academic year, such offerings as
"Theories of History" and "Cosmological Thought and
Architecture in the Middle East" (Middle East Technical
University) and "New Approaches in Ottoman Architec-
tural History" (Istanbul Technical University) are exem-
plary in their combination of historical and theoretical
interests. In the isolated case of Karadeniz Technical Uni-
TEACHING THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 87

versity,the history of architecturaltheory and contempo-
rary theories are treated in two separate courses. At the
National TechnicalUniversityof Athens,in a uniqueinter-
departmental postgraduate program in architecture and
space planning, the history and theory of architectureis
introducedas a separatefield. It includescriticaltopics like
the "modern"issue in Greek architecture,and philosophy
in architecturaltheoryandpractice,which havehistoricalas
well as theoreticalcomponents.
To summarize,whereas history and theory are con-
nected somewhatsporadicallyin the Turkishprograms,they
are self-consciously linked in the curriculaof the leading
Greekuniversities.In general,theoryis incorporatedin two
ways:via the historyof architecturalmovementsandvia the
relationshipbetween architectureand such contemporary
theoriesaspostmodernism,deconstructivism,andfeminism.
The firstapproachis typicalof the surveycourses.The sec-
ond is more popularandis givenconsiderableweightin elec-
tive andgraduatecourses.There aretwo possiblereasonsfor
the popularityof the latter.First,leadinguniversitiesin both
Turkeyand Greece seek to create programsthat are com-
petitiveinternationally,especiallywith North America.Sec-
ond, the proliferationof criticaltheoreticalpublicationsin
the last few decadeshas had far-reachingeffectsin architec-
ture schools. In additionto scholarlypublications,the work
of such well-publicizedarchitectsas Peter Eisenman,Rem
Koolhaas,and BernardTschumi,who integratetheory into
their design practice,has been highly influential.Contem-
porarytheoriesaremuchmore attractiveto architecturestu-
dents who may not find an immediate link between the
history of architecturaltheory and the design studio.
88 JSAH / 62:1, MARCH 2003
Figure 2 Students from the
IstanbulTechnicalUniversityat
the Bayezid Mosque in Edirne
duringa field triporganized as
partof their Turkisharchitecture
course, 1997
Teaching National/Native Histories
If the emphasison contemporaryarchitecturein both Turk-
ish and Greek curriculacan be linked to the desire to be
includedon the internationalmap, the reasonsfor the focus
on nativetraditionsarebasedon the will to asserta national
architectural identity. This is not surprising, considering
the strong histories of nationalismin both countries after
their respectivewars of independence. Moreover, in both
cases, nationalistsentiments have been consistently inter-
woven with the desire for modernity. This phenomenon
had profound architecturaland urban implications, from
the planning of the capital cities of Ankaraand Athens to
the stylistic manifestationsof modernismand regionalism.
Modern Turkish architecturalhistoriographyis the most
telling exampleof the direct effect of nationalistideologies
in architecture,as it identifiesthree successivestylisticperi-
ods: the First National movement, Internationalism,and
the Second National movement.10Architectural history
remainsa criticalfield in which issues of national and cul-
turalidentity are deeply inscribed.
The situationhas hardlychangedin the present age of
globalization.In the IstanbulTechnicalUniversitycurricu-
lum, for example,the architecturalheritage of the "Anato-
lian soil"is emphasized"toraisethe students'consciousness
about the civilizationsthat we inherit and are responsible
for."11A similartone prevailsat the NationalTechnicalUni-
versityof Athens.Accordingto the facultythere, "themain
issue that differentiatesa school of architecturein Athens
from a school of architecture in Turkey or in France is
Athens and Greece. Shouldthere be any specialization,this
shouldbe Athensand Greece. We havethe real buildingsin

situ, we have a lot of specializedprofessorsand researchers,
these buildingsmake our nationalidentity,and so naturally
we should encourageGreek studies."12In other cases, espe-
cially in smalleruniversitiesin Turkey,such objectives are
not always explicitly stated, as the curricula are adopted
directlyfrom leading universities.
There is a second reason besides nationalism for the
emphasison nativehistoriesin Turkishand Greek curricula,
which is to include native architecturaltraditions in the
Western canon. The idea is to show that native histories fit
into a larger architecturalnarrativeon equal footing with
Westerntraditions.If nationalisticmotivationsare basedon
difference, such approachesare founded on the notion of
sameness,that there is a single grandnarrativeof architec-
ture in which every cultureplays a part.At IstanbulKiiltiir
University, for example, "Turkish/Islamicarchitecture is
discussed within the general frameworkof the history of
world architecture,"as the aim is to place the former in a
"generalhistory of art and architecture."'3A similar tone
prevails at the University of Thessaly. There, teaching is
based on an "ecumenical"approach"wherebylocal archi-
tecturaltraditionsassumetheir particularmeaning/efficacy
in the broader context of the European civilization in its
most generic definition."'4 In fact, the nationalistand inter-
nationalistperspectivesare two sides of the same coin: both
are based on the desire to secure an architecturalidentity
in relation to the canon. Critical topics of identity and
nationalismrarelyreceive theoreticalreflection.
Not surprisingly,therefore, the curricula in Turkish
and Greek universitiesreflect a predominantlyconservative
approach to native histories. In Turkey, such specialized
courseson Sinan,the classicalage of Ottoman architecture,
and architectureof nineteenth-centuryIstanbulemphasize
form, style, and building technology. At best, the cultural
and political context of the period is explainedas the for-
mative background of architectural developments. In
Greece, specialized courses in ancient and modern Greek
art and architecture are largely available.As in Turkey, a
canonicalapproachpredominatesin such coursesas "Greek
Neoclassicism"and "GreekArt since 1945."
The well-establisheddistinctionbetweenhigh style and
vernacularpersistsin both countries.Native historiesalmost
exclusivelyaddressmonumentalandsymbolicbuildings.The
topic of the vernacularhas conventionally received more
architecturalthan historicalemphasis.In vernacularstudies,
issuesof typology,form,andconstructiondominateoverhis-
torical change and historiography.Critical reflections on
regionalismandthe studyof the vernaculararelargelyabsent
from the curricula of Turkish and Greek programs, and
courseson vernaculararchitectureare scarce.
The Relationship between Art, Architecture,
and Urban History
Art historyandurbanhistoryareincludedin most programs
of Turkishand Greek universities.Undergraduatecourses
often combine art,urbanism,and architecture,althoughthe
main focus remainson architecture.
In Turkish schools, the history of the city is often
treated in a separate course within the architecture pro-
grams. Art history, however, is readily integrated into the
architecturesurvey course. Unlike Greece, where special-
ized art historical courses proliferatein architecturalpro-
grams, such offerings are confined to art history
departmentsin Turkey.This difference may be due to the
lack of art history departmentsin Greece and a relatively
weak interest in the field.15
In general, Greek schools adopt a more comprehen-
sive approach, whereby history, theory, art, architecture,
and urbanismare integratedin one programand often in a
single course. At the National Technical University of
Athens, history of architecture,historyof art, and theory of
architectureare unified under the umbrella of the design
department. Urban and regional planning is a separate
departmentwithin architecture.Recent curriculardevelop-
ments have includedcombined coursesin design and urban
planning.16 The department'sfive-partsurveycourse, "His-
tory andTheory,"providesa strikinglybroadscope of artis-
tic, architectural, and urban themes, which also include
aspects of theoretical developments. Such an approachis
presentat other universitiesas well, althoughit is not always
stated as curricularpolicy.
New Approaches
The past three decades have seen a growing interdiscipli-
nary treatment of architecturalhistory, in which issues of
style and form are addressedin relation to social, cultural,
and political contexts. Kostof's A Historyof Architectureis
the most prominent textbook setting the tone for the sur-
vey coursesin architecturalhistory.Although the canonical
emphasison architecturalform still dominatesthe majority
of programs,the teachingof architecturalhistoryis marked
by an emerging awarenessof culturalcontext. As the con-
tributorsto this article from both Turkeyand Greece have
attested, this trend is due primarilyto singular efforts by
individualinstructors.Whereasyoung universitiesaremore
receptiveto the interdisciplinaryapproach,those with long-
establishedtraditionstend to be more conservative.
In a few Turkishand Greek programs,separatecourses
on sociology and culture are included in the architectural
curricula.Such topics as the philosophy and sociology of
TEACHING THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 89
art at the architecturalhistory programof IstanbulTechni- Appendix
cal University,and sociology at the National TechnicalUni- The countriescoveredin this studyareTurkeyand Greece.

versityof Athens, recastthe interpretationof space and the

arts. Students are exposed to a varietyof researchmethods Respondents
Turkey
and techniquesand broadenthe scope of their architectural AygiilAgir,ResearchAssistant,IstanbulTechnicalUniversity
knowledge as it relates to other fields. BerrinAkgiin,ResearchAssistant,BalikesirUniversity
A recent and remarkablegenerationgap has had a seri- LeylaBaydar,AssociateProfessor,Departmentof Architecture,Gazi Uni-
ous impacton a numberof Turkishand Greek architectural versity,Ankara
IhsanBilgin,AssociateProfessor,YildizTechnicalUniversity,Istanbul
history programs.The newer generationof historianswith SedatEmir,AssistantProfessor,
Facultyof Architecture,Dokuz Eyliil Uni-
Ph.D. degrees from North American,French, and British
versity,Izmir
institutions has introduced alternativecriticalperspectives ElvanErgut,AssistantProfessor,Departmentof Architecture,Middle East
to their programs.17 These scholarsarehighly awareof cur- TechnicalUniversity,Ankara
rent interdisciplinaryhistoricaland theoreticaldebates,and OrhanHacihasanoglu,Professor,Facultyof Architecture,IstanbulTechni-
cal University
their approachto architecturalhistory is informed by con-
Nuray Ozaslan,Departmentof Architecture,AnadoluUniversity,Eskisehir
temporarypostcolonial,poststructuralist,psychoanalytical, GiivenArif Sargin,AssistantProfessor,Departmentof Architecture,Mid-
and feminist theories. The Middle East TechnicalUniver- dle EastTechnicalUniversity,Ankara
sity in Ankara and the National Technical University of Ege Uluca Tuimer,ResearchAssistant,Departmentof Architecture,Istan-
Athens are the most prominent examples.In these institu- bul KiiltiirUniversity
KelesUsta, KaradenizTechnicalUniversity,Trabzon
tions, current publications are easily available, academic Glilay
SercanYldlrlm, AssociateProfessor,Departmentof Architecture,Istanbul
staff are globally mobile, and internationallyknown schol-
KiilturUniversity
arsareinvitedto lectureandparticipatein conferences.Fac-
ulty and students at these schools are equipped with the Greece
necessarylevel of languageskillsto engage intensivelywith YorgosKaradedos,AssociateProfessor,School of Architecture,Aristotle
contemporary historiographical debates. Until recently, Universityof Thessaloniki
Vilma Hastaoglou-Martinidis, AssociateProfessor,Departmentof Urban
interestin the architecturalhistoriesof post-antiqueGreece
and RegionalPlanning,AristotleUniversityof Thessaloniki
and post-OttomanTurkeyhas mostly been confinedto area
PhilipposOraiopoulos,AssociateProfessor,Facultyof Architecture,Uni-
specialists and native scholars. But in the past decade, versityof Thessalia,Thessaloniki
increasing numbers of Turkish and Greek scholars, most VassilikiPetridou,AssociateProfessor,Departmentof Architecture,Uni-
trainedexclusivelyor at least partlyin Europeanand North versityof Patras
American universities, have revised their native historio- PanayotisTournikiotis,AssistantProfessor,School of Architecture,
NationalTechnicalUniversityof Athens
graphicaltraditions.Moreover, their work has been avail-
able to not only Turkish- and Greek- but also Web Sites
English-speakingaudiences. Eleni Bast6a'sstudy of mod- Turkey
ern Athens and Sibel Bozdogan'swork on Turkisharchitec- AnadoluUniversity,www.anadolu.edu.tr
tural culture in the early Republic are two of the most BeykentUniversity,www.beyu.edu.tr
recent and prominent examples.18The long-term effects of Dokuz Eyliil University,www.deu.edu.tr
IstanbulKiiltiirUniversity,www.iku.edu.tr
such scholarship on the teaching of architecturalhistory IstanbulTechnical
University,www.itu.edu.tr
aroundthe globe are yet to be seen. IzmirInstituteof Technology,www.iyte.edu.tr
KaradenizTechnicalUniversity,www.ktu.edu.tr
Middle EastTechnicalUniversity,www.metu.edu.tr
YildizTechnicalUniversity,www.yildiz.edu.tr

Greece
NationalTechnicalUniversityof Athens,www.ntua.gr
Universityof Patras,www.upatras.gr
Universityof Thrace,www.duth.gr

90 JSAH / 62:1, MARCH 2003

Notes
I would like to thankall the respondentswho providedinformationfor this
text, especially Panayotis Tournikiotisfor his valuable knowledge of the
scope of architecturalhistoryeducationin Greece andhis patiencewith my
seeminglyendless questions.
Illustration Credits
Figure 1. Photograph by Dimitra Georgantopoulou, courtesy Panayotis
Tournikiotis
Figure 2. Courtesyof Zeynep Kuban,Turgut Saner,and AygiilAgir

1. Sir BanisterFletcher,A HistoryofArchitecture on the Comparative Method

for the Student, Craftsmanand Amateur, 16th ed. (London, 1954). The
regions outside the West were firstintroducedin the fourth edition of the
book, in 1901.
2. Godfrey Goodwin'sA Historyof OttomanArchitecture (London, 1971) is
a classicexampleto illustratethis point.
3. Spiro Kostof, A HistoryofArchitecture: Settingsand Rituals(New York,
1985), 454-68.
4. CagatayUlucay and Enver Kartekin, YiiksekMiihendisOkulu(Higher
school of engineering)(Istanbul1958), 41.
5. Sanayi-iNefiseMektebiTalimatname ve DersProgramlarz (The regulations
and curriculumof the School of Fine Arts)(Istanbul,1911), 12.
6. All historicalinformationaboutarchitecturaleducationin Greece comes
from the excellent introduction in E. Varouchaki,ed., M. Hatzimichali,
trans., CourseCurriculum,NationalTechnicalUniversityof Athens,Schoolof
Architecture, 2000-01 (Athens,2000).
7. Ibid., 7.
8. Ibid., 5.
9. This goal was stated by a number of respondents from Turkey and
Greece:AygiilAgir, e-mail correspondencewith the author,12 Feb. 2002;
Nuray Ozaslan,e-mail correspondencewith the author,8 Feb. 2002; and
PhilipposOraiopoulos,correspondencewith the author,17June 2002.
10. A typical account of this periodizationcan be found in RenataHolod
andAhmet Evin, eds., ModernTurkishArchitecture (Philadelphia,1984).An
informativeessay on the relationshipbetween the ancient,vernacular,and
modernist approaches in Greek architecture is Panayotis Tournikiotis
"Greece,"in R. Stephen Sennett, ed., Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century
Architecture, 3 vols. (Chicago, forthcomingin Apr.2003).
11. Agir, 12 Feb. 2002. Although Agir'snext statement clarifies that the
issue is less about identity than a sense of belonging to a place, the bound-
arybetween the two is extremelytenuous.
12. PanayotisTournikiotis,e-mail correspondencewith the author,26 Jan.
2001.
13. Ege Ulucatiimer,e-mail correspondencewith the author,7 Feb. 2002.
14. Oraiopoulos,17June 2002.
15. PanayotisTournikiotis,e-mail correspondencewith the author,25 July
2002.
16. Varouchaki,CourseCurriculum,17. The term "department"refersto a
group of coursesorganizedunder a single unit.
17. While North Americanuniversitiesare more populardestinationsfor
Turkishstudents,most GreekstudentsattendFrenchandBritishprograms.
PanayotisTournikiotis,e-mail correspondencewith the author, 12 Aug.
2002.
18. Eleni Bastea,The Creationof ModernAthens:PlanningtheMyth (Cam-
bridge, England, 2000), and Sibel Bozdogan,ModernismandNationBuild-
ing: TurkishArchitectural Culturein theEarlyRepublic(Seattle,2001).

TEACHING THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 91