Ottoman architectural and urban culture was transformed by momentous changes in the 19th century. Advances in transportation and communication technologies resulted in an explosion of spatial knowledge and an increase in its circulation. On the one hand, the number of architects, master builders, and patrons increased. The distribution of architectural knowledge in books, maps, photos, print media, and advertisements intensified. Actual architectural artifacts, like spolia, circulated as never before. On the other hand, novel architectural typologies, industrial materials, urban transformations, and an unprecedented number of newly constructed buildings altered the ways that Ottomans encountered the city. Their collective and individual representational modes diversified. Ottomans in and outside of the imperial lands moved from place to place, forming a network of inter-connectivity, transmitting architectural knowledge as they went. Publications, exhibitions, and the spread of historical knowledge also encouraged people to travel. Additionally, involuntary travel due to deportation, dispossession, and resistance complicated the modes of mobility throughout the 19th century. Overall, there was simply more data and objects of architectural knowledge for analysis than in prior centuries.
Against this background of the movement of people and the dissemination of knowledge, this session seeks to explore 19th-century Ottoman architecture. Tracing the narratives of networks, associations, and human and non-human actors helps us understand late Ottoman architecture in a way that lends nuance to discussions of ethnoreligious, national, socio-economic, and gender categories. The organizers welcome scholars from different backgrounds who employ a range of methods, and especially encourage those who uncover lesser-known patterns of movement, intersections, and encounters.
Individual researchers or teams are invited to submit their abstract on the session theme in the broadest sense. Abstracts must be sent via the website. The deadline for submitting abstracts is June 6th, 2023. The outcome of the evaluation will be communicated by August 2nd, 2023.