İşgal İstanbul’unun kentsel dönüşümünü Beyaz Ruslar üzerinden okumak

The occupation years of Istanbul under allied forces (from November 13, 1918 to October 6, 1923) did not involve intense construction activities and thus has not attracted much attention as a subject for architectural history research. However, as the capital of the recently defeated Ottoman Empire, the city, which became severely crowded, presented an enormous need for new spaces in order to fulfill a great variety of new functions to serve allied forces, soldiers, and immigrants coming from all over the empire. Due to the poor economic conditions of the defeated Ottoman state, these new demands were fulfilled by the functional transformation of existing buildings instead of new construction. Allied forces acquired the spaces they needed through the same methods of seizing and refunctioning since the occupation never lost its temporary classification. Along with massive internal immigration to Istanbul, refugees fleeing from the Bolshevik Revolution also greatly increased the population of the city. This study aims to examine functional transformations in the urban and architectural environment of occupied Istanbul by White Russian refugees. First, spaces providing basic needs are examined, such as shelters, orphanages, hospitals, and soup kitchens. Second, the influence of refugees from Russia on the social life of the city is examined based on the functional transformation process of available buildings, focusing especially on spaces used for entertainment and sports activities that have come to show permanent effects extending to later periods.