Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 2
    Citation - Scopus: 1
    A Close Examination of Ankara's Reinforced Concrete Buildings Designed and Constructed Between 1923 and 1938
    (Mdpi, 2023) Tunc, Gokhan; Tunc, Tanfer Emin
    The Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire. Between 1923 and 1938, the Turkish republic underwent fifteen years of rapid expansion and growth, with Ankara as its new capital and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) as its first president. During this period, reinforced concrete (RC) played a significant role in the construction of Ankara's public-use buildings. This study focuses on 57 of these structures, built either partially, or entirely, out of RC. The buildings are classified with respect to their duration, soil properties, foundation types, structural design details, construction types, materials and overall costs. In order to provide a better picture of the time period in which these buildings were designed and constructed, the technical, financial and political aspects of the projects, and the difficulties and challenges involved in their design and construction, are also discussed. Furthermore, this study outlines the impact of foreign engineers, construction workers, firms and the educational system on the development of civil engineering and use of RC in Turkey.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 1
    Citation - Scopus: 1
    Cold War Aviation: American Technology Transfer and the Construction of Turkey's First International Civilian Airport in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, 1944-1953
    (Cambridge Univ Press, 2024) Tunc, Tanfer Emin; Tunc, Gokhan
    With the economic and political support of the United States, in July 1947, Turkey signed contracts withthe Westinghouse Electric International Company and J.G. White Engineering Corporation to constructits first international civilian airport, Istanbul'sYe & scedil;ilk & ouml;y Airport. As this article will argue, the buildingof Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y (1949-53), through a partnership with two American engineering firms, is essentially anearly Cold War narrative of transnational exchange involving the multidirectional flow of technicalknowledge, expertise and resources between the United States and Turkey; the circulation of geopol-itically significant (and frequently competing) military, civilian and government actors; and thelocal and global implications of these transmissions. Yet the Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y construction narrative also illus-trates how post-war technology transfer was a highly political process of constant adaptation, modifi-cation and negotiation. Fraught with unforeseen friction and thorny challenges, Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y exemplifiesthe complicated American Cold War strategy of creating and maintaining alliances through engineeringknowledge, personnel and practices, often with unintended consequences. Moreover, as a case study,Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y opens a new window into the cautious science diplomacy that occurred along the IronCurtain, while filling a notable historiographic gap with respect to aviation in early Cold War Turkey.
  • Article
    A Factory in a Time of Turmoil: The Establishment and Engineering of the Büyükdere Match Factory in 1930s Istanbul
    (MDPI, 2025) Tunc, Gokhan; Tunc, Tanfer Emin
    The Republic of Turkey established its first match factory in Sinop in 1929 but had to relocate it even before it was in operation due to severe structural damage caused by ground settlement. In July 1930, through his US-based firm the American-Turkish Investment Corporation (ATIC), the Swedish "Match King" Ivar Kreuger signed a contract with the Republic of Turkey to build and operate a factory in B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere, Istanbul. By 1930, Kreuger had already established a match production monopoly in nearly every country in Europe and that year created a similar financial system for Turkey, gaining control of match production for 25 years. This article explains the events surrounding the establishment of his modern production facility in Turkey, with a particular focus on its engineering aspects. It details the strategically chosen location, the engineering solutions for the factory's construction, its production lines, and what the country gained and lost from it. In order to determine the establishment and production processes of the facility, the authors examined domestic and foreign archival documents, firsthand news reports from the period, articles and theses, and all other available documents. After the contract was terminated by both parties, the Turkish government and ATIC, in May 1943, the factory continued its production and storage activities until May 1989. At that point, the factory and all its equipment were integrated into another existing facility in the & Idot;neg & ouml;l district of Bursa province. Almost all the buildings of the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory were demolished, and the land was repurposed for a 450-bed regional hospital in 2012. In short, this article deploys the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory as a case study to examine what Turkey gained and lost from the establishment and production processes of a modern industrial factory, enabled by US-Turkish collaboration, and equipped with the most advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies of the time.