Towards a Reconciliation: Unearthing the Dialogue between Arts and Architecture in Postwar Turkey

During the postwar period, modern architecture was criticized much for its inadequacy in offering individualized solutions for different geographies. This critical approach searched for new interpretations of the ‘modern’, which was expected to suggest satisfactory and adaptable solutions for the requirements of the time. This searching process followed an intricate path that also included a re-evaluation of the dialogue with the arts, which actually constitutes the basis of this research. This article interprets the dialogue between arts and architecture within the framework of situated modernism and the issue of publicness in postwar Turkey. In fact, the main argument is that, this dialogue may be a solution for the struggle that modern architecture faced during the postwar period. The text aims to perceive the role of an artwork in such a dilemma and tries to understand the intention in the dialogue of arts and architecture, by focusing on the network between artist- architect, and artwork-architecture. It rereads contemporary discussions and the materialized works in Turkey with reference to the wider international frame of the architectural context. While this dialogue is examined through the ambivalence between the universal and the local, and its public meaning, it also creates a particular focus on the ceramic works of Füreya Koral; meaning how they operated as one of the functional elements of an architectural design; or offered diverse types of experiences to the beholders by providing different spatial perceptions.