A tribute to İstanbul’s Tercüman building

I heard the news that this building will be demolished. Its architectural style was unique in İstanbul. I would admire it when I was a child. It was futuristic when it was first built. I had been inside once when it was used as a private high school building. But it was first used as the headquarters of the legendary center-right newspaper Tercüman.  The photo I use below is an old one. High-floor residences already surround it and I hear that it will be demolished now…

49-year-old famous Tercüman building demolished

Here is what Google Bard says about the image above:

The architectural style used in the image you sent is brutalism. Brutalism is a style of architecture that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s and is characterized by its use of raw concrete, bold geometric shapes, and a rejection of ornamentation. Brutalism is often associated with social housing and government buildings, but it has also been used in a variety of other contexts, such as schools, libraries, and museums.

The Tercüman building in Istanbul, which is shown in the image you sent, is a particularly good example of brutalist architecture. The building was designed by the Turkish architects Günay Çilingiroğlu and Muhlis Tunca and was completed in 1974. It is a large, seven-story concrete structure with a distinctive stepped form. The building’s raw concrete surfaces, exposed structural elements, and lack of ornamentation are all typical features of brutalist architecture.

The Tercüman building was once a prominent landmark in Istanbul, but it was demolished in 2023 to make way for a new development. The demolition of the building has been controversial, with some people arguing that it was an important example of brutalist architecture that should have been preserved.

Here are some other examples of brutalist architecture:

• The Barbican Centre in London, England

• The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.

• The Trellick Tower in London, England

• The Unité d’Habitation in Marseille, France