Adana Center for Arts and Culture

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Adana Center for Arts & Culture
Adana Kültür Sanat Merkezi
Adana Center for Arts and Culture - front view.jpg
Former namesMekteb-i İdadi, Adana Sultani, Adana Erkek Lisesi, Adana Kız Lisesi
Alternative namesThe Historical High School for Girls
General information
TypeState Building
Architectural style Ottoman, Ampire
Location Adana, Turkey
AddressSeyhan Street
Coordinates 36°59′04″N35°20′01″E / 36.98444°N 35.33361°E / 36.98444; 35.33361 Coordinates: 36°59′04″N35°20′01″E / 36.98444°N 35.33361°E / 36.98444; 35.33361
Current tenants Adana Metropolitan Municipality
Construction started1881
Completed1885
OwnerAdana Governorship
Technical details
Floor count3

Adana Center for Arts and Culture is a public facility for cultural events, operating at the historical state building of Adana that served as a school for most of its history. The center is located on the west bank of Seyhan River just south of the Taşköprü, on Seyhan Street.

Contents

History

During the reign of sultan Abdülhamit II, the Ottoman government decided to build a Military Middle School (Askeri Rüştiye) on the river bank close to the Vilayet Square. The construction of the building started in 1881 by the governor Abidin Paşa and was completed in 1885. The building was designed as a state building and was one of the highest buildings in Adana at the time. Although the building was constructed to be a Military Middle School, it was converted into a 5-year Military High School (Mekteb-i İdadi) at its opening in 1885 and then to an 8-year Mekteb-i İdadi. During the 1894–1895 academic year, a kitchen and a dining hall are added to the building to accommodate the boarding students.

The building was used a military depot during World War I, and after the French occupation, it became the Adana Sultani (Ottoman High School). After the foundation of the Republic, the building served as the High School for Boys for a period and in 1934, it was converted into Adana High School for Girls. Continuing this function until 1998, the building was damaged at the earthquake and vacated immediately after. The building was vacant until the start of the restorations in 2005. Restorations were completed in 2006 and the building was opened to the public as the Adana Center for Arts and Culture. It is currently hosting the events of the community organizations at its conference and exhibition halls. [1]

Architecture

View of the Center from the river Adana Art Center.jpg
View of the Center from the river
View of the Center from north ADANA - panoramio.jpg
View of the Center from north

The building was like a waterside mansion in which the backyard used to extend to the river. After its conversion into a cultural center, the walls surrounding the backyard were removed, and the backyard became part of the green area along the river. It is a 3-story plain structure building made of hewn stone. On the front side, the elevated platform with the elegant columns is built as a projection which gives a symmetry and a government building image to the building. The building has an empire style with the plain view, window frames and the moldings. Entrance platform used to be connected to the ground level with wide circular stairs, but these stairs were removed during the widening of the street and the side stairs designated to be the entrance. The basement of the building has a lower ceiling than the other floors. This is to prevent flooding of the building which is just next to the river and also to avoid the ground floor not to rise too high from the ground. The proximity of the building to the Taşköprü and being also made of hewn stone strengthens the ideas on the architectural history of Adana.

Internal design

The Center hosting Altin Koza Film Festival AKSM during Altin Koza Festival.png
The Center hosting Altın Koza Film Festival

The common character of the floors of the building, which is made up of two main floors and a basement, is that they all have rooms that open to a large hall. The hall is T-shaped at the ground and rectangular at the upper floor. These halls act as foyers, the one at the ground floor currently exhibiting plastic works of art. The wood stairs that connect the floor are lit with the windows that look to the river. At the upper floor, besides the exhibition and the meeting halls, there is also a room with a river view which is designated as a lounge for the city officials and their guests. The basement has a separate entrance from the river side. Having stone floors, the basement is designated for servicing and storage.

Function

The center acts as a place to create platform for cultural activities, and having well equipped halls, conferences, talks and movie theaters can be held. Other than the rooms that are used as administration offices on the ground floor, a room is designated as an authentic classroom in dedication to the high school for girls which occupied the building for 65 years. The room resembles an active class environment with the teacher's desk, class book, student desks and bulletin boards on the walls. On the glass bulletin boards, the pictures of the students and the teachers of the high school take one to a journey to the history. At the upper floor 150-seater conference room, the movie theater and the meeting room host several activities including the regular practices of the Turkish Arts Music Choir.

Related Research Articles

Adana Metropolitan municipality in Mediterranean, Turkey

Adana is a major city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan river, 35 km (22 mi) inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province and has a population of 1.77 million, making it the 5th most populated city in Turkey. The Adana-Mersin polycentric metropolitan area, with a population of 3 million, stretches over 70 km (43 mi) east-west and 25 km (16 mi) north-south; encompassing the cities of Mersin, Tarsus and Adana.

Seyhan District in Mediterranean, Turkey

Seyhan is a district-municipality in the Adana Province of Turkey, core of the Adana Urban Area. Seyhan is home to 35 percent of the residents of Adana Province and almost half of the residents of the city of Adana. It is the fifth most populous metropolitan district in Turkey.

Liverpool Town Hall Grade I listed seat of local government in Liverpool, United Kingdom

Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and described in the list as "one of the finest surviving 18th-century town halls". The authors of the Buildings of England series refer to its "magnificent scale", and consider it to be "probably the grandest ...suite of civic rooms in the country", and "an outstanding and complete example of late Georgian decoration".

Marycrest College Historic District United States historic place

Marycrest College Historic District is located on a bluff overlooking the West End of Davenport, Iowa, United States. The district encompasses the campus of Marycrest College, which was a small, private collegiate institution. The school became Teikyo Marycrest University and finally Marycrest International University after affiliating with a private educational consortium during the 1990s. The school closed in 2002 because of financial shortcomings. The campus has been listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004. At the time of its nomination, the historic district consisted of 13 resources, including six contributing buildings and five non-contributing buildings. Two of the buildings were already individually listed on the National Register.

Taşköprü (Adana) bridge

Taşköprü is a Roman bridge spanning the Seyhan River in Adana that was probably built in the first half of the second century AD. The bridge was a key link in ancient trade routes from the Mediterranean Sea to Anatolia and Persia. Until its closure in 2007, it was one of the oldest bridges in the world open to motorized vehicles. Since 2007 it has only carried foot traffic, and now hosts social and cultural events.

Sydney Town Hall city hall

The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings and functions. It is located at 483 George Street, in the Sydney central business district opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral. Sited above the Town Hall station and between the city shopping and entertainment precincts, the steps of the Town Hall are a popular meeting place.

Emu Plains railway station railway station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The Emu Plains railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Western line in the western Sydney suburb of Emu Plains in the City of Penrith local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the New South Wales Government Railways and built from 1884 to 1907 by M. Reed, et. al. It is also known as Emu Plains Railway Station group. The property is owned by RailCorp, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The station is served by Sydney Trains T1 Western line services and NSW TrainLink Blue Mountains line services.

Princess Ljubicas Residence

Princess Ljubica's Residence is a palace located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Because of its cultural and architectural importance the residence has been designated a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance.

Thaw Hall United States historic place

Thaw Hall is a historic academic building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh that is a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District and has been named a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark. The five story building of stone, brick, and terra cotta was completed in 1910 in the Neoclassical Beaux-Arts style by architect Henry Hornbostel and today serves as space for a variety of academic classrooms, labs, offices, and centers. It is located between, and connected to, the university's Old Engineering Hall and Space Research Coordination Center (SRCC) along O'Hara Street in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Tepebağ Neighborhood in Seyhan, Adana, Turkey

Tepebağ is a historical neighborhood in the old town of Adana. It is situated on a hill overlooking the Seyhan River on the west, steps away from the Taşköprü, and reflects the traditional housing architecture of the city. Tumulus at Tepebağ is the area of the first settlements in Adana.

Ramazanoğlu Hall

Ramazanoğlu Hall is the old government residence of the Ramadanids located in Adana. Currently used as a cultural center, it is one of the oldest examples of a mansion in Turkey. Located southeast of the Ulu Camii, it was the Harem of the Ramadanid family and besides being a fine expression of modesty of the emirate, it is also an important work resembling the Mamluk mansions of Egypt.

Atatürk Museum (Adana)

Atatürk Museum exhibits War of Independence and the first years of Republic at the mansion, Atatürk stayed during his trips to Adana. Overlooking to the Seyhan River, the museum is located on Seyhan Street and it is open to public every day except Mondays. Atatürk's visit to Adana is officially celebrated in this building every year on 15 March.

Adana railway station railway station in Seyhan, Adana, Turkey

Adana station is a railway station in Adana and one of the major railway hubs in Turkey. The station is located at the İstasyon Square, in Kurtuluş, Seyhan.

South Brisbane Town Hall

The Old South Brisbane Town Hall is the heritage-listed town hall of the Borough of South Brisbane, later the City of South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located at 263 Vulture Street, South Brisbane, adjacent to Cumbooquepa, the residence of William Stephens, the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland and mayor of Borough of South Brisbane.

Vefa High School Boarding school in Istanbul, Fatih, Turkey

Vefa High School, is one of the oldest and internationally renowned high school of Turkey. The first mülkiye lisesi training in Turkish language was Vefa Lisesi which forming and specializing as İdadi lessons and classes in Mekteb-i Mülkiye. Vefa S.K. was formed in this institution with initial players all being members of the school. It is located in Vefa at Fatih, Istanbul.

Umeå Town Hall Townhall of Umeå, Sweden

Umeå Town Hall was built after the fire in 1888 that burnt the city to the ground. It was erected on the site where the previous town hall had been located and was completed in 1890. The architect was Fredrik Olaus Lindström from Stockholm. In the new urban area development plan Lindström gave the town hall a prominent location next to the river bank, with the main facade facing south over the harbour on the Ume River.

St Georges Masonic Centre, Warwick Heritage listed church building in Queensland, Australia

St George's Masonic Centre is a heritage-listed masonic lodge at 50A Guy Street, Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William Wallace and built from 1886 to 1887. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

Soldiers Memorial Hall, Ipswich

Soldiers' Memorial Hall is a heritage-listed community hall at 63 Nicholas Street, Ipswich, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George Brockwell Gill and built by F.J. Lye from 1920 to 1921. It is also known as Memorial Hall. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

Sinop Archaeological Museum Archaeology museum in Okullar Cad. , Sinop

Sinop Archaeological Museum, or Sinop Museum, is a national museum in Sinop, Turkey, exhibiting archaeological artifacts found in and around the city.

107-109 Bathurst Street, Sydney

107-109 Bathurst Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed former bank building and now KFC fast food restaurant located at 107-109 Bathurst Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

References

  1. "Adana Kız Lisesi Binası(Turkish)". Mimdap. Retrieved February 28, 2008.