A Coastal Space of The Republican Modernization: The Florya Gazinosu (Casino)

Abstract

This study examines the Florya Casino, constructed in 1938 along the coastline of Florya in Istanbul, through architectural, sociocultural, and political lenses. Designed by Rüknettin Güney, the building is not merely an entertainment venue but also a unique architectural embodiment of the early Republican ideals of modernization, public access to coastal spaces, and the promotion of summer leisure culture. The selection of Florya as an urban summer resort reflects both the planning vision of the period and the political intent to make the shoreline accessible to the public. The article analyzes the spatial organization of the Florya Casino, its relationship with nature, and its open-to-the-sea layout from an architectural perspective, while also addressing its place in collective memory. The symbolic significance brought to the area by Atatürk’s presence through the Florya Sea Pavilion, designed by Seyfi Arkan in 1935, also laid the ideological groundwork for the public-oriented modernism that shaped the Casino. The functional transformations the building underwent over time, the gradual erosion of its public character, and its ambiguous status today are critically discussed. In this context, the study aims to reinterpret the Florya Casino not only as a product of its era but also as a key case in understanding the intersections of publicity, memory, and coastal policy in architectural discourse.