Reading the practices of modern architecture of the Republican Era on housing in Antakya (1950-1970)

Human beings have needed shelters since their existence. From caves to tents, from few floors to multi-floor residences, housing has been in change and transformation all the time. The change in the residential building, which is the dominant architectural product in the urban space, is also a concrete expression of the change in social, economic and political life of the society. Antakya, where this study was conducted, is the central district of Hatay province. Hatay has hosted many civilizations since the 3rd century BC. People of different dynamics still live together in Antakya. Antakya has been ruled by the Ottoman Empire for 402 years and then it has been under the authority of the French Mandate Administration for twenty years. Hatay State was established in 1938. In 1939 Hatay State joined the Republic of Turkey. The cultural richness in the city has produced a unique housing stock in the region. Although there are many studies on the Ottoman and French period Antakya house buildings in the literature, the number of studies on residential buildings in Antakya produced, after Hatay's joining the republic of turkey is not enough. Since the Republican Period Architecture is out of the protection scope, especially early period housing examples are rapidly disappearing. To protect and to document the modern housing of the Republican Period and to transfer it to the future is important in terms of social memory and revealing the socio-cultural and economic characteristics of the city in this period. The main aim of this study is to determine housing buildings reflecting modern architecture practices of the Republican era produced between the years 1950-1970 in Antakya, and to put forward their position in the architectural literature in Turkey.