Mualla Eyüboğlu’s Work in Village Institutes: A Hands-On Approach to National Architecture in 1940s Turkey

Abstract

Turkish architect Mualla Eyüboğlu’s career started at the Village Institutes, which were established in the early Republican period (1923–present) to meet Anatolian villages’ needs for modern educational development through hands-on training. As the head and instructor of the Construction Section in the Hasanoğlan Village Institute in 1942, Eyüboğlu worked all over Anatolia, thereby taking part in the construction of modern Turkey. Eyüboğlu’s role as a tutor, designer, and construction supervisor at these Village Institutes was closely linked to broader discussions of national architecture. Since records on this period’s construction processes are rare, this article considers Eyüboğlu’s pedagogical practice, vernacular approach, and criticism of national architecture in the 1940s through the use of Eyüboğlu’s diaries, professional and personal notes, and original drawings from her personal archive. We argue that, despite her position within the Turkish architectural intelligentsia, Eyüboğlu’s experiences with the difficult realities of rural sites led her to question formal training. She did this through her criticism of contemporary architectural and construction practices, which she felt were detached from the concerns and conditions of the villages. Through a hands-on approach to the construction of the Village Institutes, Eyüboğlu believed that national architecture could embrace the needs of people within their geographical and social contexts, as well as regional technological possibilities.