The Spatial Language of Modernization: Schools in Sivas Where the Cold Climate Region Typical School Project Implemented in 1940

Abstract

Modernization policies implemented in Turkiye transformed into a radical modernization policy with the founding of the Republic. The significant changes and transformations, particularly in education, brought about an intensive construction process in this area. Consequently, central planning approaches emerged nationwide. For Sivas, considered a "Republican City" where the War of Independence began, the early Republican period was one of its brightest periods, with numerous reformed and newly established educational institutions. In particular, the Pamukpınar Village Institute, established in the Yıldızeli district of Sivas, had a significant impact on both the city's educational level and the increase in educational structures in the villages. In this context, the evaluation of early Republican school buildings constructed with the "cold climate region typical project" approach in the province of Sivas is important for revealing the modernization movements of the period, specifically in terms of "educational architecture." The aim of this research is to identify the architectural characteristics of four typical project school examples identified in Sivas city center and the districts of Divriği and Yıldızeli and to demonstrate their contribution to modernization ideologies in a local context.