The Story of Furniture in Cyprus Modern Architecture Residences Between 1960-1983

Abstract

The industrial revolution and socio-economic developments in the field of technology have enabled the renewal of materials, techniques and building types in architectural design areas. These developments laid the foundation of modern architecture. 20th century, it is called the birth of modern architecture. In Cyprus, since 1930, Greek Cypriot architects Panayiotis Christakis Stavrinides, Charilaos Dikaios, Neoptolemos Michailides have been designed modern buildings in cities such as Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol. In 1954, the first Turkish Cypriot architect-engineer, Ahmet Vural Behaeddin, started to design modern residences.

As of 1960, while modern residences were designed, serious changes and differences occurred in the interiors. While designs were made with the influence of modernism, simplification and functionality were kept in the foreground in furniture. It is not known how the modern residential furniture designs in this period reflected on the technological possibilities of the industrial revolution and the effect of fabrication on the furniture. Over time, changes such as the alteration and abandonment of the houses, the wearing out of the furniture, the differentiation of the homeowners progress in the negative direction in the flow of life. Modern period furniture loses its design traces by changing and renovating the furniture.

Today, it has been observed that modern houses are documented in the literature studies on Cyprus, but there is not enough focus on interior space and furniture. In this study, it is aimed to document the stories of modern furniture. Two of the many modern designs of Abdullah Onar, one of the prominent architects in the modern housing designs of the 1960s, in Köşklüçiftlik/Nicosia were selected and studied within the scope of the analyze. By examining the space furniture of these selected houses, answers are sought to questions such as in which years, how it was built, by whom it was built, and by what needs and thoughts it came to life in the spaces. The working method includes analyzing, photographing and tabulating the furniture on site. In addition to these analyzes, the stories of furniture designs and choices of that period are revealed by interviewing the users.