A hundred years of typomorphological transformation of urban pattern: Samples from historical Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Abstract

The urban pattern is a product of a society in which the inhabitants shape their living spaces in terms of their culture, traditions, and use of public and private spaces. Through the changes in society, the urban pattern is in a continuous transformation, changing by socioeconomic and political dynamics. Urban morphology is the study area particularly focusing on the composition and evolution process from different perspectives. The Italian school of morphology underlines the significance of history in reading the formation of the urban pattern to interpret the current structure. While the typomorphological approach of the Italian school analyses the typologies, it also concentrates on the representation of the urban form elements through types. Hence, the typomorphology of the pattern is classified into three main elements poles, routes and fabrics: the building and its open space. This study aims to investigate the morphological transformation of the urban pattern through the typomorphological approach of the Italian school. Therefore, the study area is selected among the historical cores of Istanbul, which are enriched by social, cultural, and economic diversity. The historical Beyoğlu, as the study area that emerged around the poles and matrix routes, comprises different pattern typologies, enabling the comparison between typological changes. Accordingly, the study emphasises the typomorphological transformation in historical Beyoğlu within the hundred years of the Republican period from 1923 to 2024. Along with the typomorphological analyses, the methodology is established from the readings of historical background, searching for the formation process of the pattern and finally investigating the pattern topology and typology. Thus, the change in the urban morphology is put forward, starting from the pattern scale to building and street scales. Beyoğlu in Istanbul has witnessed a great transformation through the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods, reflecting on the diversity of the culture and society in shaping the urban pattern. The historical core emerged around the poles of Galatasaray High School and Old Armory that generates matrix and building routes surrounding the fabric. The urban pattern consists of different characteristics of pattern typologies, both organically developed and planned. Therefore, the four sub-study areas, Ağahamamı, Tophane, Bereketzade and Karaköy, provide a diversity in the pattern typology while these areas are similar in urban topology. Hence, the commonalities between different urban patterns are investigated further in the typomorphological analyses on street and building scales. Three distinct periods in the Republican Era between 1927, 1950, 1995 and 2024 create a base to observe the transformation of the physical environment through the changes in socioeconomic structure. Accordingly, the typomorphological analyses represent the change in the urban pattern concerning the conjuncture of the period. The typomorphological transformation of the study areas analyses the street pattern by the hierarchy, design of the street section and the relation of the street with the building and in the building pattern in terms of building size, number of floors, relation with the open space, architectural features and functions. Although urban development between 1923 and 1950 was relatively slow due to government policies and social changes caused by migration, the construction density in the area increased while the street pattern was preserved. On the other hand, the study area witnessed a greater transformation between 1950 and 1995 due to the demolishment of the pattern, construction of new buildings due to increasing population, decay in the pattern, and land use changes. After 1995, the transformation of the urban was relatively stable due to the declaration of the area as an urban conservation site. However, the restoration of the decayed buildings and rehabilitation of public spaces increased the attraction of the area following urban policies prioritising tourism activities. The housing dominant urban character of the study area has changed into a commercial centre over a hundred years, mostly including economic activities and accommodation for tourists and locals. With the help of the typomorphological approach in revealing the transformation of the urban pattern, the integration between the upper-scale analyses and lower-scale covers of buildings and streets provides a comprehensive perspective. Although the study areas have faced the same challenges over a period, they react differently against the triggers of urban development. On the contrary, the different characteristics of periods had various impacts on an urban pattern.