Art nouveau, reflections on Pera-Galata region in Ottoman and analysis of pera palace hotel interiors

Art Nouveau, which emerged in the last years of the 18th century and lasted until the first years of the 20th century, was an art movement that swept across Europe and the USA, and managed to influence different art and design disciplines. Although Art Nouveau was an international movement, it adopted different characteristics according to the cultural structure of each country. The movement was named after "La Maison de L'Art Nouveau" opened by the art dealer Bing in Paris, and was known by different names in each country. Studies on the Art Nouveau movement, which has been the subject of many researches, have been carried out in the disciplines of architecture and interior architecture, on the actors and structures of the style, building facades, frescoes and sgraffito, tiles, glass and ceramic works, but studies on interiors have remained limited. For this respect, in this thesis, the Art Nouveau movement has been researched throughout Europe and the Ottoman Empire with its historical processes, historical turning points have been revealed and the interiors of the movement have been analyzed. Foreign period sources, books and catalogs were used to research the movement throughout Europe. In addition, support was received from international thesis studies. Since it was aimed to investigate the movement in detail throughout the Ottoman Empire and to find its roots, the Pera and Galata regions, where the effects of the movement were first seen, were examined architecturally and socioculturally. In this context, period newspapers and period books on the 19th century were taken as the main sources. Research on the movement's interiors has been conducted in European countries that have given original examples of the movement's interiors, in the Pera and Galata regions, and in the Pera Palas Hotel, a sustainable Ottoman Art Nouveau heritage that still continues to function as it was founded. The interiors of the movement were analyzed through three main categories. These categories are ceiling, wall and floor surfaces; stained glass, ornaments, ironwork and furniture. In the creation of this categorization, catalogue products listing the Art Nouveau works of the period were used. It is not possible to say that all Art Nouveau buildings have an Art Nouveau architectural design in a holistic sense. Just like in Europe, the Ottoman Art Nouveau architecture, Art Nouveau features, patterns and forms were combined with the characteristics of other styles to a certain extent and adopted an eclectic style. The first building in the Ottoman Empire that was not eclectic but designed entirely in the Art Nouveau style was the Botter Apartment Building. However there are also eclectic buildings where Art Nouveau influences began to be seen even before the Botter Apartment. For this respect, in order to observe the historical and stylistic development of the Art Nouveau buildings in the Ottoman Empire, a chart has been created in which the buildings are evaluated over the historical process. When the chart is analyzed, it is seen that the buildings built before the 19th century were mostly eclectic buildings with intense Neo-Classical influences, and with the beginning of the 19th century, eclectic buildings with Art Nouveau style were replaced by buildings belonging entirely to the Art Nouveau style, just like the Botter Apartment. At the end of the century, the number of eclectic buildings increased again. The main reason for the stylistic and stylistic diversity of the interiors analyzed in Pera and Galata is that the Art Nouveau movement is an international movement and a different style of design perception has developed in many European countries. In the period when the ArtNouveau movement started to be seen in the Ottoman Empire, foreign architects were in the majority, especially in Pera and Galata. The fact that Art Nouveau buildings were designed by foreign architects led to the emergence of stylistic differences between buildings and interiors. With the data obtained by investigating the interiors in Europe, Pera and Galata region and Pera Palas Hotel in the context of three main categories, the characteristics of the interiors were evaluated and compared. As a result, when all the analyzed interiors are considered as a whole, it is seen that Ottoman Art Nouveau interiors adopted two different attitudes. While the first attitude was the geometric-based Viennese Art Nouveau, the second attitude was the vegetal-based Italian Art Nouveau. When Pera Palas Hotel is analyzed in this context, it is seen that it is closer to the Italian Art Nouveau origin. In the fourth part of the thesis, Alexandre Vallaury, the architect of the hotel, was first analyzed in order to investigate Pera Palas in more detail; the architect's other buildings, the institutions where he received education, the architectural style he adopted and his family origin were investigated. Period newspapers and archival sources were utilized to investigate the historical process of the hotel. On-site observations and photographs were made by the author, thesis sources and period books were utilized in the examination of the interior of the hotel. At the end of the chapter, the structural changes the hotel underwent are included. The study aims to find the historical process and roots of the Art Nouveau movement in the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, it is aimed to determine the similarities and differences of the interiors in the Pera-Galata district and the Pera Palas Hotel with European examples. This thesis is completed with the aim of providing a basis for future studies on Ottoman Art Nouveau and its interiors. Key words: Art Nouveau, Ottoman, Pera-Galata Region, 19th Century, Interiors.