A Collection of Late Ottoman Imaginations, Constructions, and Experiences: Servet-i Funun

A global wave of illustrated journals emerged in the nineteenth century, transcending borders and influencing diverse regions. Unlike conventional architectural journals that primarily focused on buildings, these periodicals embraced spatial narratives interwoven with human actions, portraying vivid representations of everyday life. They transformed spaces into narratives of societal significance, cultivating shared modes of visual perception and textual consumption among readers. This article explores how one such Ottoman journal, Servet-i Fünûn, founded in 1891 in the late Ottoman Empire, played a pivotal role in popularizing intellectual, scientific, and architectural culture, fostering the perception of social space through diverse temporalities, ushering readers into a world where the past, present, and future coexisted within heterogeneous spatial environments. This article investigates how the journal employed heterochronic narratives to depict spaces nonlinearly, offering fragmented yet immersive glimpses into architectural imaginations, constructions, and experiences. These narratives created a dynamic portrayal of spaces that present a form of modernity characterized by contradictions, overlaps, and intersections. Through this exploration, the article contributes to the discourse on social spaces and their perception by readers with a lens through which to view the complexities of modernity.