An international symposium organised by the Department of Architecture at the University of Westminster in \u00a0conjunction with SOAS Seminars on Turkey<\/p>\n
The making of modern Ankara is a momentous yet oft-neglected episode in twentieth-century history. The transformation of this ancient Anatolian town into the capital of the Turkish Republic captured the world\u2019s attention during the interwar period, when Ankara became a laboratory of modernism and nation building. Largely designed by European architects, the new capital embodied the reformist ethos of a secular state firmly projected towards the West. Today, as this sprawling city of over four millions seeks to reinvent its identity, its modern development is the subject of growing scholarship and public interest. The half-day symposium brings together a panel of scholars from architecture, planning, art history, heritage, and Turkish studies to revisit the making of modern Ankara in a cross-disciplinary perspective, while also debating its legacy on the eve of the Republic\u2019s 90th anniversary.
\nThe event will be followed by the launch of Building Identities, an exhibition about Ankara\u2019s Republican architecture curated by the Turkish Chamber of Architects, Ankara Chapter.<\/p>\n
When<\/strong>: Friday 23rd November, 2012, 2-7PM (followed by exhibition opening and reception)<\/p>\n Where<\/strong>: Room MG014, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS, United Kingdom<\/p>\n