ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the place of the Istanbul Hilton Hotel (1951–1955) in the emotional regime of postwar Turkey and the ways in which the building responded to and influenced a people’s expectations and aspirations regarding modernization, economic and cultural change, and democracy. Designed by Gordon Bunshaft of SOM, the Istanbul Hilton acquired a unique status in the popular imagination as an instantly recognizable symbol of the American good life. The building remained a touchstone of architectural debate and became one of the defining monuments of postwar modernism in Turkey. Gönlügür argues that the Istanbul Hilton was the object of a society’s emotional investment. The modern architecture of the hotel was embraced by the public as an emblem of modernity, as it represented a shift in Turkish modernization efforts towards a more open economic regime that was in sync with the consumer democracies of the West.
