An Open-Air Art Museum in Istanbul: The Mosaics of 4th Levent

The buildings in the 4th Levent neighborhood of Istanbul, a hotspot through which people pass by without even looking up, contain artistic treasures that have been overlooked for many years. Their façades are covered with the mosaics made by the most popular artists of the time, including Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu. The history of these stunning mosaics that transformed 4th Levent into an open air art museum can be traced back to the 50’s.

5 min readSep 1, 2020

The Birth of the Levent Neighborhood

After World War II, Turkey underwent an agricultural mechanization process with the financial aid recieved from USA’s Marshall Plan. The process was a success; however, many people were now unemployed because machines had took their jobs. Due to the emerging unemployment problem in farming, a significant number of people migrated to big cities like İstanbul and Ankara in order to get a job. As the population of those two cities rose exponentially, it became more difficult to provide decent housing for everyone. The government started to look for solutions to this housing crisis. Developed by Ebenezer Howard as a response to the detrimental effects of the Industrial Revolution and first applied to the city of Letchworth, the Garden City model seemed like a perfect option for the design of a new neighborhood.

What Howard wanted to achieve with his model was to give people who were getting more and more detached from nature a good life in villas surrounded by green areas. Levent was chosen to be the first modern planned district of Turkey. Now in the heart of Istanbul, back then it was a remote area without any human settlement. Financed by Emlak Kredi Bank (Emlak ve Kredi Bankası) and led by two succesful architects (Rebii Gorbon and Kemal Ahmet Arû), the project started in 1947. When it was completed in 1950, Levent contained 391 villas, a school, a health centre, a market, a mosque, a cinema hall, large parks and 30,000 trees. In line with the aim of attracting middle class families, the prices started from 14,000 liras, in a period where the average salary was around 500 liras. These affordable prices did in fact appeal to the target consumers; that’s why the architects carried on with the second, third, and fourth Levent neighborhoods.

The 4th Levent project (1958) differed from the others by the fact that it contained not only villas but also high-rise buildings. However, the most peculiar characteristic of 4th Levent buildings was that their façades were decorated with the first public artworks of the young Turkish Republic.

The Synthesis of the Arts

In the 50’s, Turkish artists began following the new developments in the West more closely. The Gesamtkunstwerk (the synthesis of the arts) approach that Le Corbusier mentioned in an article published in the Volonté magazine in 1944 sparked their interest. Popularized by Richard Wagner in the 19th century, this approach held that architects and artists should cooperate to create new works of art.

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, a talented and internationally well-known artist of that time, wrote about his adherence to that approach in an article called “About Mosaic” (Mozaik Hakkında), which was published in Cumhuriyet in 1952:

“Without the touch of an architect, a painting is doomed to live a nomadic life or rather to be buried alive or to sink into a deep sleep in dimly lit museum galleries.”

The mosaic panel at the entrance of a building in Moda, Kadıköy (by Ercüment Kalmık and Emin Onat)

In the 50’s and 60’s, many artists and architects co-created mosaics, ceramic panels and wall paintings in public places like the Divan Hotel, İMÇ and the Vakko Factory.

The Mosaics in 4th Levent

While the 4th Levent project was going on, the head architect Kemal Ahmet Arû suggested that the walls be decorated with mosaics. He proposed a competition to be held to employ the best artists for that task. Upon the refusal of the Emlak Bank officials, Arû announced that he’d quit immediately unless his demands were accepted. In the end, the officials approved his request on the condition that Arû would be responsible for the recruitment of the artists. Arû invited his friends from the university (Nurullah Berk, Sabri Berkel, Eren Eyüboğlu, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Ercüment Kalmık and Ferruh Başağa) to work on the façades.

These artists created artworks that combined the modernist tendencies of the 50’s with motifs found in traditional art forms such as miniatures, carpets, and calligraphy. Combining the universal with the local, those artworks reflected the new cultural identity of the young Turkish Republic.

The mosaics which represent the finest examples of accesible public art were neglected for a very long time. By 2012, only four out of twenty mosaics were in a good condition, whereas the others suffered from damages or were covered with advertising boards.Thanks to the attention of Contemporary Levent Association (Çağdaş Levent Derneği) and Beşiktaş Municipality, The Cultural Heritage Conservation District Board №3 issued a decree in favour of the conservation of the mosaics. So, Beşiktaş Municipality started a restoration campaign and published a brochure (“You Might Have The Piece We’re Looking For”) in which citizens were kindly asked to share the photos of the original state of the artworks.

The map showing the location of the artworks

According to an article published in the 24th issue of B+ (the arts and culture magazine of Beşiktaş Municipality), a 21th mosaic was uncovered. After the uncovering process was over, the restitution and restoration projects were prepared. However, The Cultural Heritage Conservation District Board №3 agreed to approve the restoration project only if all the flat owners gave their consent. Beşiktaş Municipality then applied to the Cultural Assets and Museums General Directorate for the cancellation of the decree in March 2015. In the end, The Directorate approved the cancellation of the decree in May 2015.

I strongly hope that the restoration project which has been carried out with the efforts of so many people since 2012 will be put back on the agenda. Then, the 4th Levent neighborhood would be an unprecented open-air art museum and the first public artworks of The Republic would gain prestige again.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

An Open-Air Art Museum in Istanbul: The Mosaics of 4th Levent

Written by Pelin Su Özdoğan