Research Information System
Metu Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, vol.38, no.2, pp.21-46, 2021 (AHCI)
© 2021,Metu Journal of the Faculty of Architecture. All Rights Reserved.In the colonial period, Cyprus experienced the phenomenon of modernization and modern architecture for the first time. During the postcolonial period, the modernist attitude in architectural atmosphere was maintained albeit any sort of ruptures. In this study, regarding the architectural milieu in the postcolonial period on the island, a partial view is presented through housing design and specifically Ertoğrul Güven house in Nicosia, designed by Turkish Cypriot architect Abdullah Onar. Onar is hardly discussed in the architectural historiography of the island. According to the archival research, Onar produced 640 projects throughout his professional life, which are now situated at both South and North sides. Therefore, this practice makes Onar an important figure to urge upon in the architectural context of the island. Within the scope of this article, after covering the colonial period briefly and depicting the beginnings of the post-independence period in general, Onar’s design characteristics are unveiled throughout his housing projects in the capital city Nicosia and in the provinces like Ağırdağ and his own village, Kaleburnu. The projects, mentioned in the text, can be seen as remarkable specimens for the critical approaches towards modern architecture, where he is assumed to build a modern life for his clients. Abdullah Onar’s own archive, interviews with his daughter, and some local architects of the period became the primary sources to trace Onar’s design activity. On the other hand, the printed memoirs of the local architects, the books and the research articles on the colonial and postcolonial period including both regions of the island are utilized to comprehend the general atmosphere of the related periods.