A monographic study: Life and architectural practice of Ali Mukadder Çizer

Abstract

Architectural productions of the early Turkish Republic was predominantly manifested in large-scale public buildings during the late 1920s and 1930s. In large cities such as Istanbul, İzmir and Ankara, residential architecture were also shaped in accordance with fashionable European styles and norms. A quick review of the architectural publications of this period vividly illustrate significant examples of this process. In particular, magazines such as Arkitekt and Mimarlık published designs made by prominent Turkish architects, and those articles had become a valuable source for architectural historians who conducted research on the early Republican architecture. As a result, the "unknown" or "less-popular" figures of the early Republican architecture, did not attract scholarly attention. Worked as a professional with numerous well-known figures in Turkey and Switzerland between the 1930s and 1970s, Ali Mukadder Çizer was one of the architects who has produced very little material in architectural magazines and publications both in Turkey and Europe. Despite Çizer's very productive professional practice there were very limited amount of archival material available about him. Çizer contributed and designed numerous projects in Turkey and Switzerland as a construction site chief and a design architect. Çizer also worked with and educated by prominent figures of 20th century architectural practice such as Jean Tschumi, Paul Schmitthenner, Paul Bonatz and Mithat Yenen. And all those works make this "unkown" architect a valuable research topic for the history of architecture of the 20th century Turkey. While examining Çizer's life and architectural productions, this thesis also plans to focus on the professional life of an "unknown" or "less popular" figure whose publications and productions were not prominent in the Republican period. Based on the archival documents, interviews and findings from various sources, this research aims to create a monographic study focusing on Çizer's educational life, professional life and architectural productions. Not only focusing to create a retrospective research on an "unpopular" professional, but also to convey that a professional who has not left a visible trace in the field of architecture can play an important role in architectural history studies.