‘City Panels’ project records architectural memory

Art historian Nurtaç Buluç brings together ceramic, relief and mosaic panels found in architectural structures between 1950 and 1990 in the database "City Panels" to shed light on the cultural memory of the period.

Buluç explained that the idea of creating a database arose from her interest in ceramics and mosaics, adding that architecture and the arts are an integral part of life.

"We tried to document the structures that we think reflect the cultural memory of their periods. In addition to digital archiving, we turn these panels into stories and present them on social media," Buluç said.

Noting that they also make academic publications, she said: "For this reason, I can say that we have a multi-layered project. Our purpose is to publish our data on the website for researchers and to prevent these works from being forgotten even if they are physically lost."

Buluç stated that the idea for the "City Panels" project came up as an online archive of artworks found on architectural structures in 18 of the country's 81 provinces, particularly from 1950 to 1990. She explained that the database was created using newspaper archives, sources from architecture magazines, and photos of the panels taken and submitted by art lovers.

Stating that they did start working professionally while carrying out the project and that they aimed to present the data to researchers through the most basic website, Buluç said: "For instance, we focused on the late 1940s and early 1950s, the years when many artists such as Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Füreya Koral and Sadi Rıfat Diren created works. Of course, very few of these works made in the 1950s survived, as many of them have been destroyed. We can start documenting from the 1960s onward. We personally go to...