The influence of Mediterranean modernist movement of architecture in Lefkoşa:

The twentieth century modern architectures in Lefkosia in North Cyprus are
changing especially in residential building. This change is occurs based on the
client’s orders or because of the dilapidated condition of the buildings.
Identify the characteristics of modernist architectural movement will help in
identifying these buildings and recognize the changes applied on them. The
paper aims to reach the rationale understanding about the norms of modern
architecture in Lefkoşa in the twentieth century. The methodology is based
on analyzing the residential buildings designed by local architects and
“Ahmet Vural Bahaeddin” selected as one of the famous modernist architect
in the twentieth century in North Cyprus. Residential buildings from Milan and
Rome in Italy, as well as Baecelina in Spain selected for analysis. The paper
tries to demonstrate the presence of vernacular elements in modern
architecture in Lefkoşa. Two vernacular elements were studied, i) the patio
(outside and inside interrelation), and ii) the façade materials (exposed stone)
as vernacular elements in “Mediterranean modernist architecture”. The paper
delineated the influence of the “Mediterranean modernist movement” on
modern architecture in Lefkoşa in the 20th century. The findings show that there
is influence by Modernist movement of architecture in other Mediterranean
cities in Italy and Espain on the modern architecture in Lefkoşa. The results
contribute evidence to promote our understanding regarding the modernist
architecture in Lefkoşa.
JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS (2017) 1(1), 10-23.
https://doi.org/10.25034/1761.1(1)10-23