Reading the Transformation of the City from a Parcel: The 150-Year History of Parcel 1201/20 at Kordon of Izmir

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the multi-layered structure of Izmir city center and the traces of the layers transferred to each other by tracing the 150-year history of a parcel obtained from the sea. Emerged with the construction of the İzmir quay in 1876, the parcel numbered as 1201/20, formed the basis of 3 different buildings since then. The first building in the parcel, Cinema Pallas, dated 1908, was demolished in 1933 and left its place to Tayyare Cinema building, which continued to function as a cinema building with significant architectural changes. Demolished in 1969-70, the Tayyare Cinema building was replaced with the Tayyare Apartment Building in 1970-73, keeping its name but losing its cinema function. From the upper scale, it is noteworthy that these changes follow the zoning tendencies of the city. Pallas Cinema, a structure taking its name and style from the Greek classical period in Kordon, the focus for the social and cultural activities and the entertainment places of the late Ottoman period mainly for the non-Muslim population, bore the atmosphere of its period. Tayyare Cinema, built in the period when the early republic adopted the modern architectural trend in Europe, can be described as a building that follows social developments considered together with both formal language and the mission undertaken by the Tayyare Association. Tayyare Apartment Building, which is the last structure on the parcel, is one of the representatives of the construction tendencies of 1960-70s along with many apartment buildings that rapidly replaced the old fabric following the appraisal of the urban land and high zoning conditions.

Keywords

• history of izmir
• quais; cinema pallas; cinema tayyare.