Reading Sedad Hakkı Eldem in the context of the skein metaphor: An alternative analysis

Sedad Hakkı Eldem’s architectural contributions encompass a diverse array of built and unbuilt projects, discourses, texts, and particularly a multitude of sketches from his youth. This breadth makes it challenging to encapsulate Eldem’s architecture in a single characterization. Previous attempts in Eldem literature to define his work through selected buildings, thoughts, or texts offer a convenient shortcut but risk overlooking its full continuity. Upon closer examination of Eldem’s oeuvre, spanning from his childhood to the final years of his life, a discernible continuity emerges within this diversity. It also becomes evident that the foundations of Eldem’s architectural genre were laid in his formative years. This paper aims to offer an alternative interpretation of Eldem’s architecture by unveiling this underlying continuity and foundational elements. Instead of focusing on specific buildings selected subjectively, as is the case in existing readings on Eldem, this paper seeks to evaluate Eldem’s architectural ethos within a broader framework. Drawing inspiration from Carlo Emilio Gadda’s metaphorical notion of a “skein”, the study perceives Eldem’s architecture as intricately woven. The paper employs Italo Calvino’s insights on this metaphor to explore Eldem’s childhood and youth, which served as a nexus of intercultural influences between Europe and Istanbul. It claims that this period was pivotal in shaping the skein of his architectural vision. By exploring the interplay between the experiences and productions of Eldem’s “formative years” and those of his professional life, this paper asserts that his legacy can be traced through the diverse tapestry of his work.