Haluk Baysal - Melih Birsel Rationalism

Haluk Baysal and Melih Birsel are prominent figures of the 1950s and 60s modernism in Turkish architecture and the founders of Baysal-Birsel Architecture Office, one of the country's first architectural partnerships as a newly organized professional practice. They were actively engaged in architectural practice during a period when the traditionalist architectural approach, which had gained momentum within the framework of the Second National Architecture movement in the 1940s, was waning. In the 1950s and 60s, within the socio-economic and political context of the time, they were pioneering figures of an approach that turned towards international contemporary architecture and regenerated rationalist perspectives. They are two important names who not only participated in this transformation in architecture but also triggered it, succeeding without promoting themselves as figures through various means such as architectural media, schools, or organizations. In their 26-year professional partnership from 1952 to 1978, they produced high-quality works, if not quantitative, including approximately 20 buildings, 5 urban planning projects, and 21 competition projects entered either together or with different teams. Their most significant work in architectural literature is the Lawyers' Site (Hukukçular Sitesi) in Mecidiyeköy, Istanbul, where they introduced a unique and experimental approach to high-rise residential design. Other quality works such as the Vakko Factory, Hami Çon Villa, Jak Kamhi Apartment, Birkan Apartments, Pegasus House, and the Moda Mass Housing and Tourism Facilities project, which are important from various perspectives in the context of their time, are relatively less known.

During the 2012-2014 period of the Chamber of Architects Commemoration Programs, Haluk Baysal and Melih Birsel were brought to the forefront, and a comprehensive update was made. This book, a product of the program, also aims to bring Baysal and Birsel to the recognition they deserve by updating the Haluk Baysal - Melih Birsel monograph published in 2007 within the Chamber of Architects Publications' monograph series, which examines the lives, personalities, and works of important architects who contributed to the development of modern Turkish architecture within the context of their place and role in the architectural environment.