Nationalism gained momentum with the Second Ottoman Constitution proclaimed in 1908, inspiring the search for new concepts in architecture. A movement led by the architects Kemalettin and Vedat introduced a style of architecture called Turkish Neoclassical or the National Architectural Renaissance, which much later (in the 1970s) came to be known as the first National Architecture Movement. This sought to create a new architecture incorporating elements and motifs from classical Ottoman architecture replacing the influence of Arabic/Islamic references.
The architects of this period endeavored to revive the works of classical Turkish architecture by means of a National Architecture Renaissance, and thereby create a Turkish national style. This endeavor could be interpreted as an outcome of the growing awareness of nationhood, or the trend towards Panturkism instead of Panislamism, after the Islamic countries broke away one by one from the Ottoman Empire. This ostensibly nationalist movement attempted to apply broad eaves, domes, pointed arches, columns, projecting bays, stalactite carving, tiling and other structural elements taken primarily from historic religious buildings. The movement was manifested mainly in public buildings, with little influence on dwellings.
The Turkish nationalist movement which theoretically originated with the poet and writer Ziya Gökalp (1876-1924), and the support of the government kept the movement alive during the early years of the Republic. However, this architecture was not appropriate to the innovative and progressive character of the young, dynamic Republic, which was carrying out radical reforms in every area. The architects of this period now began to replace the Islamic-Ottoman elements of the earlier phase with Seljuk and Ottoman elements in their endeavor to create a new architecture. Two other architects with a close affinity to Kemalettin and Vedat who joined the movement were Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu and the Italian Giulio Mongeri.
Progressive ideas originating in Europe, in particular with Bauhaus and CIAM, did not take long to arrive in Turkey. Europe after World War I in an effort to break its relationship with the past focused on ending new architectural ways of creating a new identity. Under this influence, in Turkey’s only school of Architecture (Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi - today’s Mimar Sinan University) reforms were made in 1927 to the content of the educational programme. In the 1930s most Turkish architects produced examples of the new architecture based on cubism and reinforced concrete in the contemporary International Style. Ankara Exhibition Hall (Şevki Balmumcu, 1933), Istanbul University Observatory (Arif Hikmet Holtay, 1934), Florya Sea Pavilion (SeyŞ Arkan, 1934), Taksim Municipal Café, numerous Community Centers, notably the Kadıköy Community Centre (Rüknettin Güney, 1938) and Yalova Spa Hotel (Sedad H. Eldem, 1935-38) are among the foremost buildings of this period. In 1940 the number of Turkish architects was 150.
Disintegration of the Second National Architecture movement began in 1948 when a rational design by S. H. Eldem and E. Onat came in the third competition for Istanbul Courts of Law; and it faded away entirely with the competition for Istanbul Municipal Offices in 1952.
The 1950s were a universalist and rationalist era for Turkish architecture, in which foreign publications and influences prevailed over technological, economic, social and environmental concerns. Visually Modern architecture had arrived in Turkey, but the technological infrastructure was as yet absent.
The 1960s were a period of departure from rationalism, lassitude, and fragmentary searches for form.
Postmodernism spread widely in Europe in the 1970s, and between 1980 and 1990 became popular in Turkey. Architects designed buildings in the style of such European movements as Late Modernism, Postmodernism and Deconstructivism.
On the whole, despite many successful buildings taken singly, due to economic and social upheaval, contemporary Turkish architecture has been adversely affected by the disorganized and rapid development of society, and the cultural disintegration which has resulted. A delayed industrial revolution and excessive population growth have brought uncontrolled, unplanned, intensive and anarchic urbanization. The serious housing shortage which resulted, and the failure to take the necessary economic and administrative precautions, led to housing designed and built by non-professionals, often without building permission, and the rise of shanty towns, in addition to a new, anarchic and anonymous architecture. The debasement of urban land use by political concessions and land speculation made it impossible to protect environmental values, urban integrity, and any chance of regulating relations between buildings. In this way the appearance of Turkish cities was determined by anarchic building without character or identity, while individual examples of good design were overshadowed by the chaotic appearance and texture of their surroundings.
In recent years, under the adverse affects of early globalization, in Turkey as in other countries, ethical values have become eroded, leading to a mayhem in which everything is tried without discrimination, above all in tourism, but also in many other areas. The cultural level of building owners is a major factor in this inconsistency, and
where large projects ranging from residential estates to commercial centers are concerned, owners and employers have begun to give preference to foreign architects, frequently being undistinguished, as well as being unaware of Turkey and its culture. On the whole the cultural degeneration that has become widespread throughout the country is the foremost obstacle preventing Turkish architecture from making its presence felt.
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