Modern interior architecture history retold:
The stories of women designers in Turkey
Deniz Hasirci, Izmir University of Economics
Zeynep Tuna Ultav, Yasar University
Melis Örnekoğlu-Selçuk, Ghent University
Deniz Avci, Izmir University of Economics
The disproportionate recognition of men and women in modern interior architecture is evident in historical examples. Due to the field’s recent positioning in history, the lack of documentation, and the brief lifespan of interiors and their components, female designers’ works in the field of modern interiors have largely been missing from historiographic records. With the challenges posed by the archives that document the resourceful designs of women, the story remains inadequate and in dire need for documentation and reassessment, before the oral and physical evidence becomes out of reach. In the absence of visual and textual documentation, oral history has the potential to provide essential knowledge, enriching historical records, crediting women, and reshaping the understanding of the field today with trajectories for the future. Oral history depends on the subjective accounts of witnesses; thus, the method is instrumental in triangulation methodology as well as in forming comprehensive stories. At the same time, it is limited to the lifespan and memory of the interviewees and therefore requires a great deal of ingenuity on the part of the researcher to conduct faithful documentation and interpret the collected data accurately, placing it in the appropriate context.
The lack of focus on this matter in Turkish interior design historiography has led to this study, which aims to contribute to the recognition of Turkish female interior architects both on national and international scale. The presentation showcases a section of the book series titled “Reading the History of Furniture and Interior Design in Turkey with the Oral History Method” exploring the lives and achievements of the undocumented female interior architects: Bedia Çolak (1932-2009), Bediz Koz (1936), Gözen [Coşkun] Küçükerman (1939), Nilgün Çarkacı (1952), who are influential figures in the development of the interior and furniture design profession in Turkey. Acknowledging the various challenges that women in design face around the world, this discussion aims to highlight the local conditions, as well as relevant issues on a global scale by focusing on four key women designers in Turkey who worked prominently between the 1960s and the 1980s, using oral history and archival studies as means of collecting information about the designers which cannot be found in the existing literature. In addition to elaborate interviews and through private connections formed and dependent on trust, we also managed to access drawings, photographs, notes, and documents from personal archives, thus further informing the historical narrative.
Architecture, interior architecture, design and art are vital in enabling equal and equivalent social representation, gender expression, and spatial existence. The modern narrative, dominated by male designers, reflects a highly prioritized acknowledgment in historiography from whose main storyline female (interior) architects have faded and become anonymous over time, without an appropriate place either in academic literature or in mainstream media. This study investigates prominent female figures in Turkish modern interior design, highlighting their often-diminished influence in the field, and aims to respond to this absence by providing a platform for women’s voices and their neglected work in design.
