Kayseri School Buildings in the Early Republican Period (1923-1945)

Abstract

The city of Kayseri provides us with the survived examples of the schools dating from all periods of the Republican educational history. This study explores fifteen examples of educational buildings which were built in Kayseri between 1923 - 1945. Nine of these buildings are located in villages and reflect different design features. In terms of spatial layout there is a variety of different scales ranging from examples containing single classroom to six classrooms. Amongst these the School located in the village of Nize contains a single classroom. It is the product of a competition project applied through the regulations of the period. It involves a class where the graduates of the village institute could study, an iron workshop and an accommodation unit. The Safa School and the primary school of the village of Cin Ahmet consist of two classrooms and an administrative room which are located behind a corridor paralleling the entrance. Bünyan Vocational School of Medicine (the former primary school of Namık Kemal) and the primary school of the Artmak village, which involve three classrooms and an administrative room were constructed according to a typical Project. The primary schools of Yeşilkent, Akkışla Cumhuriyet, Kaynar and the Village Institute of Pazarören were designed according to an "H" plan layout and their entrance façades were accentuated by timber porticoes with triangular pediments. Girls' Vocational School and Boys' Art Institute, which were built during the early 1940s, represent modern construction technology of reinforced concrete. With its mature dimensions, developed stone masonry craftsmanship and monumental entrance portico, the Develi High School is the only example carrying the artist's (Süleyman Unutulmaz) signature. Excluding a single example (Zile High School) all the schools, which were analyzed by this study, are constructed by stone. The high school of Zile was constructed by mudbrick technique with timber lintels. These schools aimed to hand down the foundational philosophy and ideology of the Republic into successive generations. In other words, they were architectural tools for "building a nation". In this respect, these schools, which have survived until today, can be regarded as Republican monuments erected in most of the villages.