ON THE TRAIL OF A DESIGN: THE FIRST ISTANBUL PROJECT OF RAIMONDO D'ARONCO IN THE LIGHT OF NEW FINDINGS - ISTANBUL AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITION

Abstract

There are a limited number of studies of architecture or art history on Istanbul Agricultural and Industrial Exposition (Dersaadet Ziraat ve Sanayi Sergi-i Umumisi), which set out to be the second in the Ottoman history of expositions but was cancelled due to the great earthquake of Istanbul in 1894. Held in 1893, the exhibition gained an architect like Raimondo D'Aronco for Ottoman architecture and served as a significant attempt in cultural history with efforts to revitalize economic and social life during the reign of Abdulhamid II and its projected architectural construct modeled after the international Western expositions. Only a few drawings from the exposition project have survived. However, relevant official documents in the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives help fill in the gaps. Among these documents, reports penned by D'Aronco on the exposition project are quite important. These reports, and especially a drawing of the exposition layout in the Dolmabahce Palace Archives, complete the surviving visual data. On the other hand, the documents help us to understand the bureaucracy of architecture at the time as they reveal the architectural approach of D'Aronco as well as attitudes of the Ministry of Forestry, Mines and Agriculture and the Ottoman Palace, which organized the exposition. More importantly, they shed light on elements like the managing team of the architectural design process, construction technology, materials and stylistic tendencies in the late 19th century. Moreover, this study introduces new data on the project model of Annibale Rigotti, assistant architect of the exposition, which was reported in local and foreign press of the period but did not survive. Photographs of the model taken during their period, preserved in archives of the architect's family, show significant findings on the latest phase of exposition design in terms of architectural concept and style. This study aims at examining the background of the design process based on opinions and discoveries written by D'Aronco, interinstitutional correspondence as well as national and international press of the period and introducing contributions of Rigotti in the project.