Back






At the Ottoman Bank Museum The Loss of Historic Buildings in Istanbul


Prof. Baha Tanman, Chair of the Turkish and Islamic Art Program of the Department of Archeology and Art History at Istanbul University will be joining us at the Voyvoda Street Istanbul Lectures this month with a presentation on "The Loss of Historic Buildings in Istanbul". The lecture will be held at the Museum on Wednesday, March 9, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Baha Tanman will discuss the loss of historic buildings that has occured in Istanbul over the centuries and address its causes, from natural catastrophes like earthquakes and fires, to aggressive urbanization and changing lifestyles and values. The lecture will focus in particular on the attempts to "modernize" the city, initiated under Mahmud II and carried on into the present, which have led to the destruction of Istanbul's unique historic fabric.

PROF. BAHA TANMAN
Born in 1952, in Istanbul, Baha Tanman finished high school at the Saint Joseph French Lycée and then graduated in 1975 from the School of Architecture at the State Academy of Fine Arts. He started his Ph.D. at the Faculty of Literature in September 1975 and the following year started working as a teaching assistant at the Turkish and Islamic Art Program of the same faculty. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 with a dissertation on "The Architectural and Decorative Characteristics of Istanbul Dervish Lodges," under the supervisiom of Professors Oktay Aslanapa and Semavi Eyice. He was appointed associate professor in 1991 and full professor in 1997. He is presently teaching at the Turkish and Islamic Art Program of the Department Archeology and Art History at Istanbul University, and is a member of the Istanbul Chamber of Architects, the History Foundation, the Foundation for the Preservation of Turkish Monuments and Environment, and the Association of Art History. He has submitted papers at a great number of symposia and colloquia and published several articles on architectural history.