Architect Nizamettin Dogu's Career During the Early Republican Era: In Search of Art

Abstract

This paper focuses on Nizamettin Dogu's (1909-1968) designs and professional activities dating between his graduation and the 1940's. This research considers the designs and architectural competition projects that Nizamettin Dogu-who was one of the six graduates of the Fine Arts Academy Architecture Department in 1931-worked on following the years of his graduation, in connection to the education he received and the architecture scene of the period. The design features of the Hasan Bey Apartment (Aksaray) and the Sinap Family Cemetery (Merkezefendi Cemetery), which had been designed in the early 1930's and still exist, are examined in this context. Nizamettin Dogu's critical standpoint toward the architectural scene of the period and how he tries to position himself is also examined through his written articles and the notes that he sent to Sedad Hakki Eldem on the subject of the "Houses of Ankara." A list of sport complexes that Nizamettin Dogu designed after he began working as the architect of "Beden Terbiyesi Umum Mudurlugu" is briefly presented along with the "Architectural Exhibition of Sport Fields" he organized and the "Spor Alanlari El Kitabi" (Sport Fields Handbook) he published. The research, which expands on Nizamettin Dogu's biography and considers his detected designs, aims to make a modest contribution to the historical literature of the Early Republican Era.