Vedat Dalokay (10 November 1927 – 21 March 1991) was a renowned Turkish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and a former mayor of

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

Early life and education

He was born in

Elazığ Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . ...

in 1927 to İbrahim Bey from Pertek. He completed his elementary and secondary education in Elazığ. Then he left for

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_ ...

where he graduated from the faculty of architecture of

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

in 1949. His lecturers there were

Clemens Holzmeister Clemens Holzmeister (27 March 1886 – 12 June 1983) was a prominent Austrian architect and stage designer of the early twentieth century. The Austrian Academy of Fine Arts listed his life's work as containing 673 projects. He was the father of ...

and Paul Bonatz. In 1950 he settled to Paris to begin post-graduate studies at the City Planning Department of the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, but then did not graduate.

Career

Following his graduation in 1949, he entered the Ministry of Works and the Post and Telecommunications Department. In the 1973 Turkish local elections, he was elected as the mayor of Ankara from the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP). In 1977 Dalokay and other CHP mayors, including İstanbul mayor Ahmet İsvan and İzmit mayor Erol Köse issued a declaration on

municipal socialism Municipal socialism is a type of socialism that uses local government to further socialist aims. It is a form of municipalism in which its explicitly socialist aims are clearly stated. In some contexts the word "municipalism" was tainted with th ...

.} Dalokay had served as mayor of Ankara until the 1977 Turkish local elections and was replaced by another CHP member, Ali Dinçer in the post.

Awards and work

Along with numerous national award-winning projects in Turkey, Dalokay has been awarded internationally for the

Islamic Development Bank The Islamic Development Bank ( ar, البنك الإسلامي للتنمية, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi ...

(1981) in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. His design for the Kocatepe Mosque in the Turkish capital,

was selected in the architectural competition in 1957 but, as a result of controversial criticism, was not built. Later, a modified design was used as a basis for the

Faisal Mosque The Faisal Mosque ( ur, , faisal masjid) is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in capital Islamabad. It is the fifth-largest mosque in the world and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills in Pakistan's ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

, Pakistan. In Pakistan, he was also the architect of two not realized buildings, then of the constricted monument Summit Minar,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

and is considered a major Turkish influence in Pakistani architecture.

Death

Vedat Dalokay passed away with his wife Ayçe Dalokay (aged 44) in a traffic accident near Kırıkkale on 21 March 1991. His son Barış Dalokay (aged 17), who was injured in the accident, also died on 27 March 1991.

References

Sources

Drawings and model photos of Vedat Dalokay's unbuilt mosque design for the Kocatepe MosqueAnimation of Vedat Dalokay's unbuilt mosque design for the Kocatepe MosqueAs, Imdat "The Kocatepe Mosque Experience, " in ''Emergent Design: Rethinking Contemporary Mosque Architecture in Light of Digital Technology,'' S.M.Arch.S. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2002. pp.24-46

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalokay, Vedat 1927 births 1991 deaths People from Elazığ Zaza Alevis Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Workers' Party of Turkey politicians Populist Party (Turkey) politicians Social Democracy Party (Turkey) politicians Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey) politicians People's Labor Party politicians Mayors of Ankara Road incident deaths in Turkey 20th-century Turkish architects Burials at Cebeci Asri Cemetery