Medi­terranean Talks II:
Kalliopi Amygdalou

Salt Galata

May 15, 2015 19.00

Urbanisme, May 1933 issue dedicated to Ernest Hébrard <i>Urbanisme</i>, Ernest Hébrard sayısı, Mayıs 1933
Urbanisme, May 1933 issue dedicated to Ernest Hébrard

SALT Galata, Workshop II-III

From Paris to Izmir and Thessaloniki through Rome: Henri Prost and Ernest Hébrard outside the metropolis



The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a fierce competition of imperial and rising national identities in the area perceived as the “Near East;” involving, among other actors, the shrinking Ottoman Empire, rivaling French and British imperialisms and rising nation-states. Territorial claims overlapped with, fueled and drew legitimization from varying perceptions and explorations of the ancient and modern built environment; local and foreign archaeologists and architects met in the ancient sites, each looking for different kinds of origins and credentials.

In order to explore this fluid ideological landscape, this presentation will follow the steps of Henri Prost and Ernest Hébrard, two Beaux-Arts graduates with connections to the networks of colonial urbanism, who respectively helped shape the new urban layout of Izmir and Thessaloniki after the two cities were burnt down in the early 20th century. By looking at their travels, connections and experiences on the shores of the Mediterranean, the talk will address the continuous exchanges between the perceived “Near East” and the “metropolis.” Thereby the aim is to contribute to a stream of scholarship that underlines, rather than downplays, the complexity of the architectural and ideological discourse of the period and the multiplicity and fluidity of the definitions of the “modern” and the “oriental.”

The talk will be held in English.


Kalliopi Amygdalou holds a PhD in Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (2014). She is a lecturer at the Izmir Institute of Technology (İYTE) since January 2015. She received a Diploma in Architecture from the National Technical University of Athens in 2009 and a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics in 2010 (MSc in Culture and Society). Her doctoral studies were supported by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and the Foundation for Education and European Culture.



Mediterranean Talks is a lecture-discussion series organized by Burcu Kütükçüoğlu from Istanbul Bilgi University.
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