Türkiye'de avangart modernizmin bir örneği olarakTercüman Gazetesi binası
As an example of avantgarde modernizm in Turkey:Tercüman Building
Yazar: SÜMEYYE KAYMAK
Danışman: PROF. DR. MEHMET MURAT GÜL
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimarlık Tarihi Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2020
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture

Özet:
Bu çalışma, 1974 yılında Zeytinburnu İlçesi, Merkezefendi Mahallesi, Mevlevihane
Sokağı'nda İstanbul'un ana arterlerinden biri D100 karayolu (E5) üzerinde Tercüman
Gazetesi tarafından inşa edilmiş olan Tercüman Binası'nı konu edinmektedir. Günay
Çilingiroğlu ve Muhlis Tunca tarafından tasarlanan, statik projesi Rasin Etiman
tarafından hazırlanan yapı, ölçeği ve formu sayesinde bağlamından farklılaşarak, E5
üzerinde bir röper noktası teşkil etmektedir. Tercüman Binası, 1960 sonrası
uluslararası modernizmden kopuşun başladığı, farklı mimari yaklaşımların
geliştirildiği bir mimarlık ortamında, diğer örneklerle karşılaştırıldığında özgün bir
yaklaşımı yansıtmaktadır. Alışılmışın dışındaki formu, temsil ettiği kimlik ve Türk
inşaat sektöründeki değerine karşın mimarlık tarihçileri ve eleştirmenleri tarafından
birkaç makalede ve genellikle 20. yüzyıl Türk mimarlığı anlatılarında kısaca yer
verilmiş olan yapı, dönemin bütün dinamikleri içinde değerlendirilmemiş, ortaya çıkış
süreci, bu süreci etkileyen ideoloji ve amaçlarla birlikte bütünsel bir yaklaşımla
incelenmemiştir. Dönemin bütün dinamikleriyle Tercüman Gazetesi Binası'nı
değerlendiren tezde, mimarların aldığı eğitimler, birikimleri ve tasarım prensipleri,
gazetenin sahibi Kemal Ilıcak, dönemin siyasi fikir ayrılıklarından kaynaklanan güç
mücadeleleri ve medyanın siyasi destekçileri, ekonomik olarak var olma stratejileri
kendisine yer edinmektedir. Araştırma, tüm yönleriyle Tercüman Gazetesi Binası'nın
değerlendirilmesini gerçekleştirebilmek için öncelikle gazetenin kurumsal yapısını ve
gelişimini ortaya koyar. Yapının mimarları Günay Çilingiroğlu ve Muhlis Tunca'nın
tasarım yaklaşımlarını analiz eder ve dünya çapındaki diğer yaklaşımlarla karşılaştırır.
Tercüman Binası'nın mimari özelliklerini, yapıldıktan sonra geçirdiği değişimleri ve
günümüzdeki halini inceler. Araştırma ortaya koyulurken, öncelikle Tercüman
Gazetesi'nin 1972-1977 yılları arasındaki yayınları taranarak, kendi söylemi üzerinden
yapıya yüklenen misyon analiz edilir. Gazetenin yapıyı kendisi ve toplum arasında
fiziksel bir ara yüz oluşturacak biçimde simgesel duruşundan nasıl yararlandığı ortaya
çıkarılmıştır. Yapının mimari özellikleri ve inşa sürecine dair detaylara Zeytinburnu
Belediyesi'ndeki proje, dilekçe ve yazışmalardan yararlanarak ulaşılmıştır.
Araştırmanın diğer başlıca kaynağını, o dönemin mimari dinamiklerine, mimarların
özel yaşamlarına ve kurumsal yapının iç yüzüne şahitlik etmiş, Günay
Çilingiroğlu'nun meslektaşı Cafer Bozkurt, Mimar Doğan Hasol, Tercüman Lisesi
İdari Müdürlüğü görevini üstlenmiş Cezmi Bayram ve eski Tercüman yazarı Burhan
Ayeri ile yapılmış kişisel görüşmeler oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma, gazetenin ideolojik
konumuyla kurumsal mimarisi arasındaki ilişkiyi sorgulanmış, Türk mimarlığında
benzerlerinin neden yapılmamış olduğu ve yazın dünyasında neden hak ettiği ölçüde
yer almamış olduğunun cevapları aranmıştır.

Abstract:
The subject of this thesis is concerned with Günay Çilingiroğlu and Muhlis Tunca's
Tercüman Newspaper Building, which was constructed as a result of a limited design
competition in 1974. Tercüman, an influential right-wing newspaper of the 1970s and
1980s, differs from other media groups in Turkey as it adopted new practices in many
aspects. Tercüman's state-of-the art building vividly represents its pioneering
character, and this study aims to provide a detailed account for this innovative building
in line with the social and political practices experienced in Turkey in the second half
of the 20th century.
Traditionally Turkish newspapers were located in Babıali in the old Istanbul and
Galata across the Golden Horn both in the late Ottoman and early Republican Turkey.
Over time many of those newspapers, however, ceased their operation or moved out
of Babıali, due to the rapidly changing social, financial and technological conditions
in the second half of the 20th century. Those changes felt in Turkish media gained pace
in the 1990s, and many newspapers moved to İkitelli and Güneşli districts on the
western fringes of Istanbul. They also combined their power with the TV broadcasting
and eventually became powerful tools in the hands of major Turkish companies in line
with neo-liberal policies dominated the 1980 and 1990s Turkey. Tercüman
Newspaper, on the other hand, took the same steps long before many other Turkish
media groups, and became the first major Turkish newspaper transferred its
headquarters from Babıali to the outside of the city walls encircling the old Istanbul in
1974.
While the Tercüman Newspaper Building showed significant architectural design and
construction practices, its existence in Turkish architectural literature is very limited.
Atilla Yücel's article "Tercüman Newspaper Building: On Form, Symbol and
Function" published in Mimarlık in 1985 and Şevki Vanlı's "A Few Side of Turkish
Architecture in the Last 30 Years" in Yapı are the only primary sources that can be
found in the literature. Furthermore, Şevki Vanlı, in his book "Unwanted to Know 20th
Century Turkish Architecture", interprets Tercüman Newspaper Building as an
example of "individual design initiatives" and describes Günay Çilingiroğlu and
Muhlis Tunca among the architects who interpreted the rationalism gained by
modernism with sensitivity and put it in the whole of design. In his book "Architecture
and the Turkish City: Istanbul's Urban History since the Ottomans" published in 2017,
Murat Gül describes Tercüman Newspaper building as one of the few ''trailblazing''
projects in Istanbul in the 1970s and saw the building as a significant indicator of
progressiveness of socialy conservative circles in Turkey.
The brief evaluations mentioned above give some clues about the building and its
architects. However, the true meaning Tercüman Building in modern Turkish
architecture can only be understood after a detailed analysis of the newspaper's
institutional objectives in line with the political and economic atmosphere of the period. Furthermore, the aspiration and vision of the employer, the design tendencies
of the architects and the construction technologies used in the building are the other
significant aspects that can help a comprehensive understanding of Tercüman
Newspaper Building's place in modern Turkish architecture. In addition to the
unprecedented architectural features of the building, the question of the ideological
factors effective in determining these architectural approaches forms the starting point
of the thesis. How does the building used as an interface between the newspaper's
vision and society? How has it been possible for the newspaper, which has a
conservative and nationalist ideological line, to adopt such an avant-garde, modernist,
contemporary architectural style?
Considering the questions above the first major part of this study focuses on
Tercüman's institutional history and its transformation that played a vital role in its
building's architectural character. Therefore, the social and political structure of
Turkey after the Second World War has been examined in this part. In particular, the
ideological base of the newspaper, its connection with Turkish society and the tasks it
imposes on itself are all considered as significant factors that are closely related to the
formation of the architectural expression of the building. The changes and
transformation in the Turkish press after 1960 in line with the political, economic and
social developments are also discussed in the first part of the thesis. In the formation
of the political environment that helped the emergence of pluralism in the press, the
political parties and their ideological tendencies established during this period have
been surveyed. In this perspective, the emergence of the Tercüman Newspaper, its
ideological tendencies, its development strategies and the factors that increase its
spatial needs have been discussed.
The second part of the thesis starts with a survey of the architectural production and
approaches of Günay Çilingiroğlu and Muhlis Tunca. Some other buildings designed
by those architects including Erzurum Municipality (1967), Istanbul Advertising
Agency (1972), SSK Kızılay Building (1973), Karaköy Trade Center (1978),
Altunizade Calligraphy School (1996) and Ortaköy Esma Sultan Complexes Touristic
Facilities have been briefly examined to understand their architectural tendencies.
Then, a detailed and chronological description of the design and construction process,
architectural features such as the location, spatial organization, structure, facade
features of the Tercüman Building have been analyzed. In particular, a critical question
how the reflections of the symbolism created by the architecture in the ideological
sense played such an important role in the building's corporate identity is examined. A
detailed reading of both external composition and interior arrangement of the building
can help to understand how the architects' used symbolism as a powerful design tool
in this significant project. The later sections of the second part focus on the change of
use and related physical alterations applied to the building after 1986. The building
was first converted into a Private Tercüman High School, and this alteration required
significant changes on the building's external mass where new blocks were
constructed adjacent to the principal building. The financial difficulties that Tercüman
had to face with in the 1990s draws a turning point in the history of the building.
Finally, current status of the building has been portrayed and compared with the initial
motivation and aims drafted by the owners in the 1970s. The conclusion section sums
the finding of the thesis and provides answers for some important questions regarding
the relationship between the conservative character of the newspaper and the avantgarde building representing some unprecedented features both architecturally and
construction methodologies. And the question about the lack of interests that exists in
Turkish architectural literature about Tercüman Building is answered. The primary source for the research in this thesis is archives of the various newspapers
including Tercüman, Milliyet and İstanbul Bayram which have been deposited at
Atatürk Library and the Press Museum. Detailed readings have been conducted
through the articles published in those newspapers to understand the relationship
between the Tercüman's vision, political aims, relevant ideological objectives and the
building. Architectural and structural project applications, correspondence, petitions
and minutes in the Zeytinburnu Municipality and Istanbul Second Renewal Area
Conservation Board archives have been carefully searched. Various interviews have
been conducted with Cezmi Bayram, who was the Director of Private Tercüman High
School, and Burhan Ayeri, a former Tercüman writer. In order to understand the design
approaches of Günay Çilingiroğlu and Muhlis Tunca, interviews were also made with
Doğan Hasol and Cafer Bozkurt, who were close colleagues of Çilingiroğlu and Tunca.