This article investigates the architectural understanding of an early Turkish Republican era modernist architect, Seyfi Arkan, who was one of the most influential architects between the years of 1930-40. Some documents on Arkan’s private life, the journals entitled Mimar /Arkitekt published in 1931 onwards and other sources that shed light on the era and Arkan’s buildings have been investigated in some detail. Arkan went to Berlin as a graduate student on a scholarship awarded due to his outstanding success as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in İstanbul. In Berlin, he became a student of Professor Hans Poelzig, who influenced and partially shaped his architectural understanding and practice when he also worked in his office. Upon Atatürk’s invitation Arkan built Çankaya Presidential Residence in the new capital city of the Turkish Republic, Ankara. On his accomplishment he was appointed to build many other official and governmental buildings in Ankara. This made him the brightest and the most influential state architect of the era. Arkan tragically lost the support of the State and his popularity after Atatürk’s death. Nevertheless, he still continued his modernist architectural designs and buildings without any compromise, even though he encountered various difficulties in his career afterwards. Modern architecture entered Turkey with the designs of foreign architects in 1927. These architects had been selected by the State to construct the prestige buildings in Ankara and to turn the city to a modern capital. Additionally, it became better well-known as a result of a series of publications in professional journals, Mimar/Arkitekt starting from 1931 on. However, modern architecture did not naturally come into picture with its essence that resulted from some economic, socio-cultural, and aesthetic concerns; but rather as the Zeitgeist of the era and as a by-product of the modern revolution and its ideology. In 1930’s, there was a radical change in the architectural paradigm in Turkey. Modern avant-garde movements in the early 20th Century in the West, namely movements before Bauhaus, were never influential and never exercised in the Turkish architectural practice. The main concern was to construct Ankara, the capital city of the new Nation-State, as a prestige project rather than constructing residential buildings. Since a modern capital was essential for the new republic, modern architecture was preferred. The problems of Turkish architecture in that era were numerous: Preference of foreign architects to conduct the prestige project, thus demoting Turkish architects’ status to a secondary position, lack of autonomy in the context of architecture, the existence of economic and technical problems were among these problems. Arkan’s architecture is not like other modernist architects of the era abroad. Arkan’s architecture differed from others in the sense that it did not consist of a national identity characteristic which can be detected at first glance. For example, unlike in the case of Arkan, Aalto’s architecture contains influences from both his Finnish background and modernism, and Barragan’s architecture reflects both his Mexican origin and modernist tradition. Arkan preferred universal architectural principles over local ones although he had a few architectural works, in which he synthesized universal and local architectural features. Arkan’s buildings are representatives of various interpretations from International style, to classicist characteristics, local and authentic variations, as well as Deco aesthetic, and modernist styles. Arkan’s attitude was that of an architect’s who softened the canonical components of the orthodox modern architecture, combining them with already existing conditions and Deco aesthetic interpretations through his professional experience and empathy. Arkan was an architect who was well aware of the fact that modernism was a project which attempted to grasp the spirit of the era. Yet, it is difficult to understand the intellectual background of his architectural designs. The most important factor that gives his designs their spirit was his commitment to the idea of total design. Arkan reflected this attitude in his designs from the smallest artifacts to the larger scale designs like the building itself. This can be observed in nearly all of his modernist buildings. Arkan’s projects, which might appear to be stereotypical in the context of the Western architecture, are not at all stereotypical in Turkish architecture. In fact, Arkan’s attempts are considered to be more valuable than solely reducing modern architecture to principles and replicating one building after another. Keywords: Seyfı Arkan, modernism, modern architecture: 1930-40. Bu makalede Erken Cumhuriyet döneminin modernist mimarı olan ve 1930-40 yılları arasındaki yapılarıyla döneme imzasını atmış olan Seyfi Arkan’ın bu aralıktaki yaşamı, eğitimi ve mimarlık anlayışı ele alınacaktır. Arkan’ın özel yaşamına ilişkin çeşitli dökümanlar ile 1931’den itibaren dö-neme ışık tutan Mimar / Arkitekt dergileri, diğer kaynaklar ve Arkan’ın yapıları incelenmiştir. Ar-kan’ın profesyonel kariyeri ve özel yaşamı oldukça trajiktir. Yabancı mimarların Türkiye’deki pro-jeler kapsamında çok gözde olduğu bir devirde Arkan’ın şansı, diğer Türk mimarlarının tersine devlet tarafından görevlendirilmesi olmuştur. Atatürk’ün ölümü sonrası resmi desteğin azalmasıyla yapı etkinliği de azalmaya başlamıştır. Yine de, modernist çizgisini ve yapı etkinliğini sıkıntılarla da olsa ödünsüz sürdürmüştür. Türkiye’de modern mimari Batı’daki gelişiminden daha farklı bir biçimde gelişmiştir. Batı’nın 1930’lar öncesi yaşadığı avangard dönemini Türkiye yaşamamıştır. Modern mimari, Batı’dakinin tersine Türkiye’ye bir devlet politikası olarak tepeden inme biçimde girmiştir. Bu bağlamda Türkiye’de her alanda ağırlığı hissedilen 1930-40’lı yıllar arası modern mimariye sadece Batı’nın geçirdiği evreler açısından bakmak Türk mimarisi için tek açıklayıcı ölçüt olamaz. Arkan’ın mimarlık anlayışı, bazı yapılarında uluslararası üslubun tasarım ilkeleri doğrultusunda geliştirildiyse de bazı yapılarının biçimlenişinde klasisist, yerel ve Deco estetik tavırlar görülür. Bu bağlamda Arkan mimarlığı uzlaşmacı ve yumuşatılmış bir modernizmdir. Batı modern mimarisi ile kıyaslanırsa, belki stereotipik gibi görünen Seyfi Arkan’ın projeleri Türk mimarisi özelinde stereotipik değildir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Seyfi Arkan, modernizm,1930-40 yıllarında modern mimarlık
