In Pursuit of Design – A Journey Through 1960s Europe by an Architect

“In Pursuit of Design – A Journey of an Architect in 1960s Europe,” a book by Civil Engineer Architect Firuzan Baytop, which recounts his impressions and memories of his European travels in the 1960s, has been published by YEM Yayın.

Firuzan Baytop’s daughter, Binnaz Baytop Dinçer, who compiled and prepared the book for publication from the notes Baytop took in his diaries during his travels as a young and successful architect, says in the preface:
“What was it like to be a tourist, to travel in times without smartphones, the internet, or social media? To etch what you saw into your memory instead of sharing it on Instagram, perhaps keeping a diary…
What was life like in European cities amidst a Europe that was rapidly recovering after World War II, pursuing new cultural and artistic discoveries, and the tourism boom created by the people who embarked on these discoveries?
This book has been prepared based on the diaries kept by my father, Firuzan Baytop, during his European travels, which he first undertook in 1959. The notes he took during these trips offer a snapshot of Europe in the early 1960s, providing an opportunity to compare it with Turkey of those days and to evaluate the perspectives of that time and today.
The first journey, undertaken with his architect friend Prof. Muhteşem Giray as a cultural and architectural exploration, paved the way for other trips in subsequent years, and my father embarked on an adventure to European cities almost every summer holiday starting from 1959…
I hope you will enjoy this book, which I prepared for my father’s 100th birthday, and these journeys as much as he did…”

Firuzan Baytop describes Vienna, the starting point of his travels, and the Viennese people in his unique style:
“Vienna was our first direct contact with Europe, meaning for us, it was Europe itself. People who could only stay in Vienna for two days, unable to form close friendships and relationships with the city’s inhabitants, certainly cannot claim to have fully known the city. We too could only know Vienna to that extent. Austrians are clean people. Their cities are as pristine as they are. We used to think Germans were blonde, but it turns out the real blondes are Austrians! Based on what we saw from a distance, their young women, especially, are very beautiful. With their clothes, well-groomed hair, and various perfumes, they have transformed their cities into flower gardens...
Leaving aside the beautiful stone houses, we can say that what makes Vienna Vienna are its palaces and the parks and gardens, sculptures, and churches surrounding them. Each one is magnificent and exceptionally well-maintained. They attract throngs of tourists. The surroundings of these structures, most of which are gathered around the Hofburg, are always filled with tourists with cameras in hand…”

Between 1959 and 1964, Baytop describes his impressions of numerous cities such as Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, London, Paris, Milan, Venice, Rome, San Marino, Cannes, Nice, Barcelona, Zurich, and Lausanne, after Vienna, all through the eyes of an architect. In his diaries, he blends the European cities striving to recover rapidly after World War II with their architectural features, prominent historical and modern buildings, squares, and human stories, practically taking the reader on an enjoyable journey alongside him.