A MODERN IN CYPRUS: ABDULLAH ONAR, DWELLING AND THE MAKING OF A MODERN LIFE/KIBRIS'TA BIR MODERN: ABDULLAH ONAR, KONUT VE MODERN BIR YASAMIN TASARIMI

In the colonial period, Cyprus experienced the phenomenon of modernization and modern architecture for the first time. During the postcolonial period, the modernist attitude in architectural atmosphere was maintained albeit any sort of ruptures. In this study, regarding the architectural milieu in the postcolonial period on the island, a partial view is presented through housing design and specifically Ertogrul Guven house in Nicosia, designed by Turkish Cypriot architect Abdullah Onar. Onar is hardly discussed in the architectural historiography of the island. According to the archival research, Onar produced 640 projects throughout his professional life, which are now situated at both South and North sides. Therefore, this practice makes Onar an important figure to urge upon in the architectural context of the island. Within the scope of this article, after covering the colonial period briefly and depicting the beginnings of the post-independence period in general, Onar's design characteristics are unveiled throughout his housing projects in the capital city Nicosia and in the provinces like Agirdag and his own village, Kaleburnu. The projects, mentioned in the text, can be seen as remarkable specimens for the critical approaches towards modern architecture, where he is assumed to build a modern life for his clients. Abdullah Onar's own archive, interviews with his daughter, and some local architects of the period became the primary sources to trace Onar's design activity. On the other hand, the printed memoirs of the local architects, the books and the research articles on the colonial and postcolonial period including both regions of the island are utilized to comprehend the general atmosphere of the related periods. After covering Onar's design characteristics, the next part focuses on a unique example, which is treated under two subtitles. First one allocates the criticisms about modern architecture in the years of 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in general. It also concerns with the critical perspectives on modern architecture in the island during those years. The study underlines the fact that how postwar modernism coincided with the island's postcolonial period. At this point, situated modernism is presented as a relevant concept to approach the case. In the next section, when scrutinizing one of the most striking example in Onar's career (Ertogrul Guven house), the project is critically analyzed via the dichotomy between the modern and the local, and also