Browsing by Author "Uz, Funda"

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After Istanbul Hilton: Turkey's Local-Global Dichotomy in the 1950s Interiors of Divan Hotel and Cinar Hotel
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2022) Atmaca, Hande; Uz, Funda; Tuna Ultav, Zeynep
This study analyzes the socio-spatial qualities of hotel interiors built in Turkey after the opening of the Istanbul Hilton Hotel in 1955. It aims to reveal the construction of the modern interior in Turkey and its effects on social life at the Divan Hotel (1956) and Cinar Hotel (1958), which were Turkey's first modern hotels built with local capital and local architects. As Turkey's first modern hotel, Istanbul Hilton was regarded as a model for subsequent tourism buildings. Cinar and Divan Hotels hotels were usually compared with the Hilton's aesthetics, and seen as reminiscent of the Hilton, particularly the outer shell and building formation. However, their interiors have been completely overlooked. This is an important omission, because, contrary to its modernist outer shell, the Istanbul Hilton Hotel interiors were designed with a contrasting orientalist approach. This study therefore investigates how this dichotomy influenced the interiors of the Divan Cinar Hotels. Drawing on the theory of transculturation by Ortiz, this study challenges the view that these hotels were mere host sites, embodying and copying modern architecture without any filtering. A complete interior atmosphere was analyzed in terms of the hotels' materiality, such as furniture and art objects, but moreover, the social meaning of the space and transformation of social habits are examined to discuss local-global dichotomies. Information for the analysis was gathered through a literature review, observations, and an analysis of images obtained from personal archives and databases. This data was supported with oral interviews with architects, interior designers, craftsmen, tourism professionals, and contemporary witnesses. The findings show that the Divan Hotel and Cinar Hotel were both spatially and socially influenced by the Istanbul Hilton Hotel. However, they also sought a modernity of their own by carefully selecting and blending western influences, both spatially and socially. Most importantly, since the Divan Cinar Hotels refrained from the image difference between the modern and connotations of the orient, these spaces can be read as interpretations of an internalized modernity.
Citation - WoS: 2
Citation - Scopus: 2
Reflections of the Istanbul Hilton Hotel on Mid-Century Hotel Buildings in Turkey
(Istanbul Univ, Research Inst Turkology, Dept Art History, 2019) Atmaca, Hande; Ultav, Zeynep Tuna; Uz, Funda
The 1950s indicate a period of America's influence on the world economy and culture with its post-war power. Mobility increased with developing transportation networks and emerging consumer culture, so the number and importance of hotels increased as a result of this socio-political, economic and architectural condition of the period. In the 1950s, American chain hotels emerged, and soon spread overseas, following the dominant aesthetics of the country, a version of the International Style termed as American Modernism. The spread of International Style through modern hotels was most prominent in Hilton Hotels. The first modern hotel to arrive in Turkey was the Istanbul Hilton Hotel which influenced other hotel buildings in the 1950s to follow the International Style. The Hilton Hotel was frequently accepted as a model behind the tourism discussions and the initiatives that followed were compared with it, although the spread of its architectural language created a debate in architectural circles. For this reason, the focal point of this study is the hotel buildings designed in the International Style between 1950 and 1960, which possess architectural similarities with the Hilton Hotel. The influence of the Hilton Hotel on other hotel buildings in the 1950s is investigated along with the period's tourism discussions to have a wider perspective of the Hilton Hotel's influence on tourism. The hotels selected for the study are ones that carry the aesthetical principles of the Hilton Hotel, and were built or started construction in 1950s; Buyukada Anadolu Club Hotel, Cinar Hotel, Eskisehir Porsuk Hotel, Grand Efes Hotel, and Grand Tarabya Hotel. These examples illustrate the effects of the Hilton Hotel on the development of modern tourism architecture.