Talk

Chamber Talks
The Cultivated Eye: From Arif Hikmet's Lens to Architectural Practice
M. Baha Tanman and Müjde Dila Gümüş

Share

18 December 2025 / 18:30 Geçmiş Aktivite

Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu (1893–1982) holds a significant position in the realm of architectural education and practice in early 20th-century Turkey. His life allows us to track the visual cultivation (göz terbiyesi) of an early republican architect, both through his education—which turned into an adventure due to the conditions of the period—and through the subjects he chose to photograph while developing as an architect. Arif Hikmet both designed public buildings and photographed architectural heritage in cities such as Ankara, Istanbul, Bursa, Nevşehir, and Kırşehir. While his photography archive serves as a unique resource today for the documentation of heritage structures, his own architectural projects reflect the unique relationship he established with historical forms. 

In this talk, M. Baha Tanman will discuss how Arif Hikmet viewed Ottoman architecture, which structures he selected, and the relationship between this documentation practice and his architectural formation, based on his photographs. Müjde Dila Gümüş, on the other hand, will address Arif Hikmet's architectural projects, questioning his relationship with the First National Architecture movement and examining his unique approach that did not fully fit the molds of this movement. Coming together, the two speakers will reveal the tension between Arif Hikmet's documenting eye and his architectural production, and how these two practices fed each other.

M. Baha Tanman's architectural history perspective and Müjde Dila Gümüş's focus on architectural practice will uncover the different layers of the exhibition The Photography Studio of an Adventurous Architect.

The talk will take place in the exhibition hall of the Istanbul Research Institute. Admission is free, and no reservations are required. The event will be conducted in Turkish, and simultaneous interpretation will not be provided. A recording of the talk will subsequently be published on the Istanbul Research Institute’s YouTube channel.

About Chamber Talks
Chamber Talks initiated by the Istanbul Research Institute (İAE) in 2008 to add a different dimension to Istanbul studies, aims to feature the latest research and discussions about Istanbul with its scope ranging from history to architecture, and from music to cinema.

About M. Baha Tanman
In addition to his own department, he has conducted educational activities at Trakya, Yıldız Technical, Kadir Has, and Tunisia Mannouba universities, and has given conferences and seminars at numerous universities both in Turkey and abroad. He has published extensively, primarily on Ottoman-period architecture, and participated in various research projects. He served as a scientific committee member for the restoration of many historical monuments, including the Üsküdar Mihrimah Sultan, Yıldız Hamidiye, Mahmud Paşa, Haseki, Teşvikiye, Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa, Kastamonu Nasrullah Kadı, Kadıköy Hasan Paşa, and Edirne Selimiye mosques, as well as the Haseki Bostan Hamam. He has also acted as a consultant for various exhibition and museum arrangements. He currently serves as the Chair of the Scientific Committee at the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Istanbul Research Institute. 

About Müjde Dila Gümüş
Müjde Dila Gümüş, assistant professor at Istanbul University's Art History Department, completed her doctorate at the same department in 2018. Conducting her post-doctoral studies at Harvard University's Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture in 2019-2020, Gümüş's publications focus on late Ottoman architecture, working conditions of architects of this period, and close readings of their works. She is the editor of the book Istanbul Art Nouveau (Albaraka Publications, 2023) and the author of The Palace Architect of the Second Constitutional Period: M. Vedad [Tek] Bey (2024) published by IAE.